Login HereFrom NBC Investigative Reporter Lisa Myers' report on MSNBC, entitled "Did Iraq contractor fleece American taxpayers?" The answer is, well, I'll let you figure it out. (Also, appended at the bottom of her report is a statement from Parsons CEO Jim McNulty.)
WASHINGTON - New revelations have emerged about how tens of millions of taxpayer dollars have been wasted in Iraq. A new report by government watchdogs singles out a big American contractor — Parsons — for shoddy work. Investigators charge that Parsons managed to turn a flagship project to help train Iraqi police into a hall of horrors using taxpayer money.
The Baghdad Police Academy was supposed to be a showcase to train Iraqi police — key to the U.S. strategy.
Yeah, and how did that work out?
Instead, Wednesday's report says the American construction company turned it into a disaster from the start: incomplete and substandard designs, shoddy construction and no real quality control.
"This is the worst project that my inspectors have visited," says Stuart Bowen, inspector general for Iraq.
Bowen says the Iraqis recently refused to take over the complex, calling the work disgusting. [emphasis added]
Oh.
Here's what Parsons delivered for taxpayers' $62 million:
- Shoddily built brick walls.
- Cracking concrete.
- Exposed reinforced steel bars.
- Buildings without enough power or with faulty electrical box wiring.
- Plumbing so bad that when cadets used it, human waste rained through light fixtures and ceilings.
That sounds eerily familiar.
Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we? All the way back to July 2006 when The Agonist's Sean-Paul Kelley provided us images of Parsons' great work for those 142 health centers.
The number actually built was closer to twenty, though I believe later reports put it lower.
In case you missed it, here is the video of from her January 31 report on Parsons from NBC Nightly News.
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FITZ AGAIN!!
Hey Perris, can you do “Fitz”? it’s the season, ya know?
Fitz!
ok, now for my real comment again
so why aren’t their more reports like this against haliburton?
now that cheney is considered a pox, wouldn’t excellant strategy be to bring up the financial rewards he and his family have enjoyed because we invade Iraq?
“Disgusting” (as the Iraqis said) is the right word. Other words: Criminal, fraud. Henry Waxman, Come on down!
OK, so NBC has finally cought up with “Iraq for Sale.” How long did that take? 6-7 months?
Parsons is New Orleanizing Iraq. They are making sure it doesn’t come back.
Too bad NBC or some other MSM company won’t do an in depth study of Bush family members and their war profiteering. After all, the family businesses are influence pedaling, graft and corruption.
Is Iraq just the icing on the cake? Some contend that the Bush family has been taking the American tax payer to the cleaners since before and during WWII.
perris @
4
Probably because Haliburton has done much of its work directly supporting the US troops. They don’t dare screw up the meals the troops get or the billets they live and work in.
That kind of failure would reach Congress within a week, and not just by whistleblowers.
The Iraqi police academy was something that no one but the Iraqis was looking at, and who listens to them? The mismanagement by the US political establishment (the CPA and then the US Embassy) is obvious. But they hire right-wing ideologues, not experiences contract officers and auditors. Experienced contract officers and ideologues are too bound up in paperwork to get anything done, you see.
You have to hire ideologues who want to let the free market work its “wonders.”
Where did the Bush family fortune originate from?
Oklahoma kiddo @ 11
War profiteering during WW2.
Rick B - Halliburton and gang have screwed up the meals for troops. They overcharge, charge for meals not eaten becuseud the insist on serving the meals at times soldiers are in the field … and then there was all that tainted water.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 11
Prescott married old money - George Herbert Walker’s daughter - and the contacts that came with it.
I don’t know about anyone else but I’ve been having a hard time staying on line all day. Bad connections or something. Good thing I had Marcy’s book to read today..
Ed*ard Teller @ 14
And those contacts presented the Bush family what? ;0)
This smells of more scape-goating to me. Don’t let them get away with it!
Look out for this meme in the news (I’ve heard it once already): the Iraq police/military training program was mismanaged, that’s why they aren’t able to “stand up.”
Never mind it was only a year ago that Bush started getting briefings on the differences between Shia and Sunni.
War is always a bad idea. This war was always a horrible idea.
This has been translated (inexactly) into English as:
Behind every great fortune is a great crime.
I have no position on the Bush fortune but I thought I would just throw that out there.
Rumor has it the Bush family was involved (banking interests, steel, etc.) with the Nazis before and during the last world war.
Lisa (closeted lesbian douchebag) Myers is finally doing some real reporting?
MAN has the MSM started to turn on BushCo.
Slowly to be sure.
Very old news.
amazona @ 6
Rajiv Chandrasekaran began writing about this for WaPo from almost the very beginning of the summer of 2003. His reports never got the traction or the feel you get from his book, _Imperial Life in the Emerald City_, but his prescient criticisms of contractors’ abuses were published. And carried widely on the web.
David Ehrenstein @ 21
Perhaps. But nonetheless, perhaps relevant? When does dealing with the devil become old news?
I don’t know why no one is calling for an independent prosecutor to begin a RICO prosecution against this administration. Is there any doubt of a continuing criminal enterprise that includes the White House, the RNC, the DOD, and both the House and Senate? If any Dems are implicated, FUCK ‘EM let them pay the price as well. Let’s have some actual ACCOUNTABILITY inside the Beltway, in Houston, and elsewhere.
When the Devil Wears Prada (like Pope Ratzi does.)
For those who really want to know where the Bush money may have come from, you can see the census reports through 1930 at this site: http://www.wargs.com/
and go to the page of US political figures. They were mostly into banking and stocks at that point.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 16
Beelzebub, the family’s patron deity.
I want accountability. I want justice. I cling to the perhaps quaint notion, that the rule of law is paramount.
So, when will right-wing ABC jackass John Stoessel get on this? He’s always doing those reports on how your tax dollars are getting wasted on socialist boondoggles like public schools.
Yes, but is Parsons connected? We already know Parsons is corrupt; my God, he was given the contract. But we do not know his links to the Bush-boy. That is all that remains to explain for any Iraq contractor. (Halliburton is obvious. Just connect the dots for us concerning the other corporate whores).
Ok, and when is Parsons going to start repaying the US taxpayer the money they fleeced from us? Dream on. How much do you want to bet that this was a no-bid contract to one of Bush’s cronies.
All the scum is floting to the surface, just waiting for someone like Waxman to remove it and examine it up close. It won’t be pretty, but it is necessary.
“You know, I welcome debate in a time of war and I hope you know that,” Bush said in opening remarks at the guest speaker at a retreat that drew about 200 lawmakers to a Virginia resort.
He said disagreeing with him over the war — as many in the room do — does not mean “you don’t share the same sense of patriotism I do.”
“You can get that thought out of your mind, if that’s what some believe,” the president said. “These are tough times, but there’s no doubt in my mind that you want to secure this homeland as much as I do.”
Bush told Democrats in private that he empathizes with their anguish on Iraq, saying the war is “sapping our soul,” according to two officials who attended the session. They spoke on condition of anonymity because it was a closed meeting.
Rick B @ 10
haliburton has definately been bilking both the tax payers and the soldiers regardless of the implications
they’s served tainted food, tainted water, they’ve lost no less then 9 billion dollars and they charge for whatever they can think of since they have profit guarantee contracts
these items are known but no conventioanl media source has made it an issue
Is Parsons still in business, Matt? Their web page’s press release page doesn’t appear to have been updated since April, 2004, but I know they were still in the game last year. Interesting…
http://www.parsonsiraq.com/english/pressroom.asp
McCain aid says, We’ll win a “knife fight” fight campaign.
McCain’s Advisers Once Made Ads That Drew His Ire
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02.....r=homepage
Oklahoma kiddo @ 33
excuse me, telling a democrat they share the same patriotism as he does is an insult, this man is not a patriot, he has squandered our integrity, our treasure, our childrens legasy, the ability of our armed forces and he has laid to waste the reputation of this great nation
sorry, I am positive the democrats he was speaking to are much more patriotic then he is
and much more concerned with “securing the homeland”
the statement he made to democats is an insult
saying the democrats are as patriotic as he is would be the same thing as saying the democrats are inteligent as he is.
errr
quite a bit more
I see Kos has decided to trim his Blogroll.
I don’t fully understand what that means, but he seems to indicate that analysis of the past is passe; only bloggers talking about the 2008 elections are to be listed.
I encourage Kos to maintain his blog the way he sees fit. Leave analysis of why we in the US are in the state we are to other blogs like FDL to present the why and the whereto hither to folk like us.
It’s just that I smell sour grapes. Why does Kos hate historians and their analysis? The live-blogging by FDL has made history before history has occurred.
Siun @
13
Yes! Thanks for bringing that up, and let me add to it — Halliburton served GARBAGE (and I don’t mean that metaphorically or hyperbolically) to the troops — serving “leftovers” scraped from the plates of soldiers who had already eaten, food that was “past its prime,” to put it kindly, and food with shrapnel in it (which had been stored in vehicles which suffered hits).
All this while the execs in Iraq had the very best of food served to THEMSELVES — at constant parties and barbecues. Food they themselves enjoyed which was charged, of course, to US, the taxpayers.
This is what my mom used to call “the sins that cry out to heaven.”
Of course there’s a lot of that type of sinning going on today — and Halliburton’s sins, sadly, aren’t the worst of it.
Sadly.
Kick their butts, Henry Waxman! Kick ass, take names, and make them pay for their crimes!
Balrog @
38
OK, I already hate what I typed.
I should be glad that analysis is left to other sites, and Kos is focusing on the next election.
FDL!!!
Balrog @ 38
Let’s see how it turns out. Lotsa Kossacks write excellent diaries about history, so…
perris –
As you say “no conventional media source has made it an issue” (regarding Halliburton).
Let me guess why:
Cheney.
The Dark Lord wouldn’t like it.
Boy, am I looking forward to him getting his comeuppance. For a thousand different (evil) reasons.
– UHHH, LETS LOOK AT THIS GREATLY ADMIRED PIECE OF LEGISLATION THAT SAYS WE CAN BUST DRUG DEALERS AND SEIZE THEIR ASSETS — AND SELL THEM OFF. WHY CAN NOT THIS BE APPLIED TO THE ILL GOTTEN GAINS OF THESE BUSH CHENEY BEDFELLOWS? // MY GOD, RECOVERY OF A LOT OF THE IRAQ WARS COSTS COULD BE REALIZED BY HOW MANY BILLIONS? /// WE COULD USE THE RECOVERED FUNDS FOR COMPLETE FUNDING OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS, HOMELAND SECURITY, AND OUR INFRASTRUCTURES. I’M GOING TO HATE WHEN THE DEMOCRATS OPEN THE BOOKS AND FIND WE’RE BROKE, AREN’T YOU?
NBC is late to this story, as others note. The Parsons disaster was covered as part of the reconstruction scandal as a whole in the the BBC series The Baghdad Billions, broadcast in November 2006. Downloadable here: Part 1 and Part 2.
Mrs. K8 @ 42
now is the time to make it an issue
all we need to do is point out all the profit he and his family have enjoyed through haliburton becuase of the war in Iraq
he is now considered a pox on the administration and they might actually welcome the diversion from number one to number two
delbert, I’m enjoying your posts but your caps lock is killin me
Speaking of history and blogging!
Check out this wonderful place (with connections to Kossacks and My Left Wing-ers) –
www.progressivehistorians.com
Lots of goodness to be found there.
Ed*ard Teller @
41
I know. Are they to be turned away with the new policy?
perris –
Agreed. Cheney’s at his weakest now. And he appears to be losing it (cf. the interview with Blitzer).
The Libby trial is heating things up almost unbearably for him.
That means that now’s the time to hit him with his crimes.
I’m hoping Waxman agrees, and has been fine tuning his strategy and tactics in accordance with the current lay of the land.
perris @ 46
— Sorry. Im visually handicapped. //
info on Parson’s from the Center for Public Integrity:
…”Company founder Ralph Parsons, an aeronautical engineer, was one of the founding members of the pioneering engineering company Bechtel-McCone-Parsons Corp. in the 1930s. Parsons sold his shares in that company and started his own engineering firm—the Ralph M. Parsons Co.—in 1944. Partner John McCone later went on to head the CIA.
Today, Parsons is a leader in many diverse markets such as infrastructure, transportation, advanced technologies, telecommunications, aviation, commercial, environmental, planning, industrial manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and homeland security. Parsons provides technical and management solutions to federal, regional and local government agencies as well as private industries worldwide.
Since the 1980s, the company has been destroying chemical weapons for the U.S. military. When regulations were changed to ban the incineration of such weapons, Parsons developed a new process involving steam. Parsons has also worked on numerous civilian projects, including bridges, rapid transportation systems, and even the restoration of the Florida Everglades.
Parsons is no stranger to the Middle East or to the oil and gas industry. The company was in the process of building a subway system in Baghdad in 1990 but had to abandon the job when the first Gulf War broke out. Parsons built oil wells and power systems in Kuwait in the 1960s and then won contracts to go back and rebuild those facilities following the 1991 Gulf War. The company also did extensive rebuilding work in Bosnia.
In 1996, then Parsons Chairman and CEO Len Pieroni perished in the same plane crash in Bosnia that killed Commerce Secretary Ron Brown. Current Chairman and CEO James McNulty took over the reins of the company after the accident.”…
publicintegrity.org
Mrs. K8 @ 49
I have a differant take on cheney’s performance with blitzer
blitzer was let loose, I believe he was instructed to unload some tough questions and I believe those instructions came from the vp’s office themself
I think cheney wants to warm up for the libby cross examination and he was practicing his;
“how dare you”
I believe that was a test run for his stragegy on the stand
DELBERT MATHANEY @ 50
you can increase the size of the text, depending on which browser you use, usually go to tools or view, then text size
Lots of comments in that Kos diary (about the modification to the blogroll) make the point that folks don’t use the blogroll very much.
That made me realize — yes, that’s true for me, too. I rarely use a blogroll (FDL’s list is an exception - I trust the taste of the folks who run the joint here!) — instead (especially at dKos) I follow the links in a diary or in a front page post.
perris @ 52
That’s an interesting notion. Hadn’t thought of that.
If it’s true, it’s very encouraging. The test run (just like the “star wars” missile defense shield weapons) flunked miserably, pathetically.
Cheney came across as irrational, mean, arrogant (with no good reason!), and believing himself worthy of all sorts of entitlement.
If that’s how he comes across to jurors, great!!!
perris @ 53
It’s very simple in Firefox. There are shortcuts - Control & plus sign increases the size of text, and can be done repeatedly to make the text HUGE!
The to reduce text size (maybe you’ve made the text TOO big), you just use the shortcut Control & minus sign.
Mrs. K8 @ 55
ya mrs k8, I believe he is going to try to get his old “you must defer to what I say” shtick going for the men and women on the jury
it’s worked for him to the majority of people in the past (not us), it’s only just stopped working recently
he’s gonna go with what has worked for him in the past and cross his fingers that it works on the jurors
Here’s a story I want to hear more about:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2....._0202.html
still can’t find an answer on the web. If Parsons is still in business, they’re not easy to find. So these guys pay off the GOP, get their huge contracts, blow the money, hope to disappear into the aethers. How many hundreds, if not thousands, more examples out there? Bushco….
OT - great interview with Ennio Morricone on NPR this evening. The radio network I’ve hated/loved for 36 years. Every time I’m ready to never dial up these guys again, they pull off a segment like the Morricone to keep me listening.
Dare you to take a drive through this when it is completed. Dare you.
George Bush and his “intellectual” pals are pushing us into Armageddon.
Oh Hillary. Some of us had such high hopes.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 61
george bush is what’s called a “dispensationalist”
this is scary stuff, a group of religous zealots that believe armageddon is a good thing and they believe they can bring it apon us themselves
scary scary group, more scary then the pnac
perris @ 57
Oh goody.
That guarantees us a Captain Queeg or “A Few Good Men” moment on the stand.
NO ONE has ever put Cheney unrelentingly on the spot — making him answer follow-up after follow-up, catching his inconsistencies and making him account for them, forcing him to stay on topic and not pull out a bright, shiny object.
Fitzgerald, however, will not be intimidated. And with his having studied with the Jesuits, I guarantee he understands every rhetorical trick in the book, every false analogy, every straw man argument, etc. etc. (too numerous to list).
I’m really looking forward to it.
In fact, I can hardly believe Cheney will allow himself to be put on the stand.
And some of us smelled a rat from day one.
That’s why I love him.
He’s too arrogant not to.
Mrs. K8 @ 64
I’m not sure he will…this might be just a shiny object
he might video tape, he might answer wells and then simply say;
“you don’t know what I know and if you did you would understand this trial undermines national security
scooter libby is a patriot and was doing what needed to be done to protect our country and anyone that decides otherwise is a traitor”
don’t put it past him
Ed*ard Teller @ 59
Hi ET -
Parson’s corporate HQ is in Pasadena just south of the 210 - the place seemed quite busy when I was in the neighborhood before Christmas.
Their website shows a “project of the month” for Feb, 2007.
perris @ 67
He can’t just cough up a videotaped segment and call it testimony. He has to be able to be cross-examined. I don’t believe for a minute that the judge would allow such a thing.
Hey, attorneys in the house? That’s not permitted in a trial, is it? For a witness to testify without being cross-examined?
Greeeaat….
Parsons is the lead engineering design firm for the contractor for the rebuild of I-64 in St. Louis. This is already a boondoggle, as they’re supposedly going to start in April and have this all finished by 2010. Right. This is going to go WAAAAY over budget and will be a disaster.
David Ehrenstein @ 66
I too was educated by Jesuits, something that’s stood me in good stead all my life. When in graduate school I had professors stop me and ask me where I’d gone to school (and bemoan the fact that other students seemed to lack the rigor of critical thinking).
Did you too go to a Jesuit institution? [Not that that’s the only way to become a great critical thinker!]
viget @ 70
Are there bridges in that stretch of roadway? And can you avoid driving on it?
eRiposte Part 4 is upstairs.
Not to defend Parsons, but in the pictures at the bottom, some of that debris and damage could be from weapon fire, rather than shoddy construction.
For example, the piles of dirt and debris on the staircase, or the holes in the walls showing daylight. The latter photo has a bunch of debris on the ground, as I’d expect to see if people had been taking potshots at the building.
It wouldn’t be unusual for people to take potshots at a vacant building for kicks - except in Iraq they’d use weapons heavier than bb guns and slingshots.
Parsons? As in Boston Big Dig? I imagine those pigs are livin’ high on the hog with all OUR money. They’d be unworthy of contempt, but I enjoy hating people who think they’re cool when, in fact, they’re nothing but fucking criminals.
Jon Hendry @
74
That’s interesting speculation, I suppose.
However, the Inspector General has seen and reported on the evidence that the construction was unbelievably shoddy. I just saw him talk about it on the news the other day in an interview. It was staggering — it was hard to believe the buildings they “constructed” were actually standing. And there was plenty of film footage in the segment to show the gory details.
barrelhse @ 75
Were they the Big Dig prime? I thought I recognized that name from somewhere. Looks like they had a big, expensive piece of it, anyway.
They’re also involved with a project called the T-REX Corridor.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 11
Samuel Bush, through his munitions company “Buckeye Casting”, was reportedly a major war profiteer during WW1.