gpatmac

iTrader: (3)

I certainly hope that some of y'all watched that. That is what true journalism means to me.

Y'all may not agree with the war and the money you're spending on it, but at least you have your vote and many watchdog/protest groups who think like you to [as best as possible] keep the military accountable.

There is NOTHING to force contracters, eating up arguably as much as or more money than the combat operations, to account for their activity. There are a few, small, almost invisible investigations into KBR activity, but I wouldn't necessarily call that full accountability to the American public. Granted, much of that money they are receiving is sunk costs to provide the ice cream and lobster that the REMF soldiers (like myself on my most recent visit) get to eat.

Who was it that oversaw the 'downsizing' of the military back in the early 90's?

Good read: http://www.bintjbeil.com/articles/20...216_mayer.html
-especially starting nearly halfway down; starting at the paragraph, " For most of the eighties, Cheney served in the House of Representatives. In 1988, after the election of George H. W. Bush, he was named Secretary of Defense. The end of the Cold War brought with it expectations of a “peace dividend,” and Cheney’s mandate was to reduce forces, cut weapons systems, and close military bases. Predictably, this plan met with opposition from every member of Congress whose district had a base in peril."

Good read: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/warriors/

lojasmo

Frontline is the only worthwhile source of television journalism, in my opinion.

Magish

iTrader: (2)

I agree. It can push right and it can push left but it always ends up about as central as any television news program out there.

gpatmac

iTrader: (3)

I don't disagree with you, but I don't think there is any push. Sometimes, in order to find fact, you have to ask questions. I believe that they consciously try to subdue any personal bias and doggedly seek fact.

For instance, I had to question myself before I posted this; "am I being disloyal?" However, right is right.

I've said it before. I am not a big fan of how this war is being prosecuted. I support the administration and I definitely support the military, but there are a few things I'd certainly change in the execution.

I feel that the American people are not receiving enough information. I am not certain if the limited disclosure approach is more for protecting sensitive information (that which can be used against you by the enemy) or for protecting certain individual's and group's personal interests.

Although I am well aware of the plodding, necessary nature of the Army in that, like any humongous(sp) organization to be beauracratic; I've never been a fan of its reactive nature. Will situations like Abu Ghiraib occur? Sure. People are people. It was just a terrible chain of events and responsibility that allowed that to get out of control. Unfortunately, some otherwise good [..and bad. I'm not forgiving anyone] people had lapses in judgement and must pay the price.

I think that the miltary's Public Affairs personnel should all be fired summarily.

Anyhow, I was just refreshed to watch Frontline and how they handled this issue. I was obviously disappointed to hear some of the information they were relaying, and be reminded of how it really is; but I asked myself, "why is it so hard for CNN, Fox News, MSNBC...to be this zealous about the truth and not about ratings?" Frontline is well respected and while I don't know, I'm sure would probably be rated higher by Neilson if it were on a network. I dunno.

deyes

I watched it, very eye opening. Contractors in many cases are a bad idea, with little accountability.

MVWRX

iTrader: (1)

^^ No kidding. And everyone wondered why some of us were pissed that Haliburton gets all the Iraq contracts...

deyes

What killed me was the $20.00 per plate cost to feed the soldiers at Camp Anaconda if I'm not mistaken. My problem with Halliburton is not that they are getting all of the contracts, in my mind from an organizational standpoint thats better than having hundreds of smaller contractors stepping on each others toes and getting in the way of the armed forces and communicating poorly in general, as seems to be the case with the security contractors. My problem is that its being alleged that Halliburton is charging an unsupported 1.8 billion and an alleged 108 million dollar overcharge for fuel! And contractors in harms way without the means to defend themselves! If we don't allow these people to be armed and train them how and when to use weapons they should not be doing that job, a soldier should, period.

lojasmo

Not alleged....The GAO invistigation supported that theory, as well as showing that Halliburton has lost 1/4 of the heavy equipment it was responsible for.

gpatmac

iTrader: (3)

As to the per plate, that one stopped me too seeing that we ordinarily get $7 per meal when we're stateside. But then I started thinking about the transportation costs, with a large part of the food hauled in reefers with drivers who have to get paid. The flatware costs. The servers and preparers cost. The refrigeration/overall power to the dining facilities.

Then, factor in that we're Americans and are over-indulgent. We don't eat all of the food that is prepared. We have become accustomed to ice cream and sodas (though, I really wonder if those Arabic labeled Cokes are really cokes. They do taste different.)

Finally, the cost to trasport waste and then maintain the waste disposal site.

Hmmm, I wonder who absorbs the cost of the periodic inspections from the Preventative Health personnel.

Yeah, the answer to all of this is the American taxpayer, but for book keeping purposes its important to point out that ANY service that a contracter provides doesn't necessarily jack up the expenses that the taxpayer is covering. For whatever the dollar amount that the contract stipulates, there are a set number of services that the contractor provides. Sometimes we ask more of them than their fees to us cover, sometimes less (much less.)

However, the big issue to me are KBR's subcontractors. They ALSO hire subcontractors, which obviously further clouds accountability. This, as is my understanding, is the crux of the five or six investigations going on currently. Jethro from Halliburton/KBR hires Butch from ContractorX to build 600 C-Huts on the western side of camp to accomodate the new coalition partner's soldiers. Butch then calls his brother-in-law Rastus, the owner of a cement making company in Arkansas, to provide 600k tons of cement @ $10 per ton (although the job only requires 300k tons and cement only costs $3 per ton.)

No one is able to audit to that level.

gpatmac

iTrader: (3)

I'm not even going to comment about the contracted civilians on the battlefield without a means to defend themselves. That's a whole other thread and I'm much less sensitive and sympathetic as to that topic.