These are issues that Sen. Dorgan has worked long and hard to expose. And for that, he deserves a lot of thanks. We hope you will join us later this morning for this discussion.
As if exposing workers and American military personnel to a toxic, carcinogenic chemical and then lying to them about it wasn’t bad enough, there are also accusations of a failure to use adequate care in installation of electrical wiring in military barracks and facilities that have resulted in electrocutions and deaths of a number of American service people.
Sen. Dorgan and the DPC (Democratic Policy Committee) held hearings last Friday on the electrical issues. This followed some devastating hearings on Thursday regarding the undercutting of DOD contract review personnel.
This is all of a piece: no-bid contracts, inadequately supervised nor held accountable because the contract review process and the inspection of performance processes have been deliberately undercut by the Bush Administration. (The name Bunnatine Greenhouse ring a bell?) This has led to substantial flaws in construction, failure to adequately practice safety and care for employees, and injuries, illnesses and deaths as a result.
There has been testimony to date of contractors who have fed US military personnel rotten food, microbe-laden water, over-billing, double-billing, and infrastructure efforts that have simply fallen to pieces once construction was complete.
And yet these contractors continue to get paid via their no-bid, cushy, cost plus contracts. Of course, since Sen. John McCain thinks that Congressional oversight, scanty as it has been because of GOP efforts to block it in Armed Services and other Congressional committees, is just a-okay, the DPC remains the best place to keep pushing this issue forward. We are committed to help get this more visibility, because war profiteering, rampant cronyism and dereliction in contract completion on the American public’s taxpayer dime are beyond shameful.
Sen. Dorgan will be here later this morning at 11 am ET/8 am PT to discuss all of this and more.
(YouTube — testimony of Charles Smith, Chief of the Army’s Field Support Command Division, regarding the impact of punishment of whistleblowers on their ability to oversee contract and contractor abuse.)
Related posts:
- Electrocution Deaths: DOD IG Finds Multiple Failures by KBR, Military
- Byron Dorgan Wants to Blow Up the WH/Baucus/PhRMA Deal
- SCOTUS: Selecting Justice, A Live Chat with CAC’s Doug Kendall
- Report Confirms Poor Electrical Work by KBR Endangers US Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan
- FDL Book Salon Welcomes Senator Byron Dorgan, Reckless!: How Debt, Deregulation and Black Money Nearly Bankrupted America
Spotlight
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
Advanced search
Morning everyone, who has the coffee? I could use a little more…
Good morning, Christy. I look forward to this discussion because the contractors are getting away with much too much and it has disturbed me for some time. Making a gazillion dollars is bad enough but what they are doing to our soldiers is unforgiveable. Thanks for doing this discussion.
Bunny Greenhouse !
Thanks for a great post and for bringing Senator Dorgan to us, Christy. I would add to your list the sexual abuse that has been allowed to occur and then covered up by contractors. Senator Bill Nelson has been doing some good work on this issue.
Good morning Here is an excellent vid by Rbt Greenwald on the subject (and please fight nad satire with goos humor on the cartoon caption post, too!
sorry. one handed typing + not enuff coffee= silly mistakes.
baD satire, gooD humor
*sigh*
Pups, we’re in for a real treat. Senator Dorgan [Byron to we homestaters] is a tireless and smart Senator. We are privileged he represents North Dakota not only on issues like this, regarding war profiteering, but wise use of energy resources, developing new technologies, and more.
He exemplifies the true pioneering spirit of North Dakota.
~ Prairie/Sandy Huseby
Isn’t Dorgan chair of the Indian affairs committee? Would it be out of line to ask him about the 750,000 Abramoff documents that McCain held back while head of the committee? I know it’s off topic for why he’s here, which is why I’m asking.
THANK YOU Christy!
Accountability NOW!
and taxpayer reparations
Whew! Got here. So, Prairie, are ya sayin’ your guy is better than our Normie Colemeleon?
I find these criticisms of contractors intolerable. They were doing their patriotic duty just like the telecoms, don’t you know. Brings a tear to my eye it does.
Don’t they deserve immunity, too? /s
If you get a chance, do take a peek at the DPC video page. Testimony they have elicited over the last week or so has really been infuriating. And it hasn’t gotten much media play at all — which means far too few folks know about it.
And medals too at the least.
And more and bigger contracts.
Big Gold Commemorative Presidential ones!!
Nah. Flag pins.
And more and bigger NO-BID, CRONYS-ONLY contracts.
There, fixed it for you
BBC reporting that Bush will allow drilling in outer coastal waters. Stooge at the BBC is talking this up as a good thing. Media rot has just become completely pervasive, hasn’t it?
The new American export!
OH! I want to know too.
War profiteers, Corporate Treason and dead Americans! Accountability?? Summary Execution just as Private Eddie Slovak was executed
desertion?PTSD?http://www.americanheritage.co…..6_97.shtml
looks like Blue Texan is upstairs
It’s up too early — was a mis-time.
oopsie!
Those are excellent. The enormity of this scam is beyond belief.
And as Whitehouse says, it’s coming right out of the hides of our troops.
Dorgan stands head and shoulders above the Colemeleon…
…and the wallets of our children and grandchildren….
Hope everyone is doing well this morning. It’s absolutely gorgeous here today.
All of their videos have been very pointed and well done — and they also have full hearings on the DPC site for viewing as well.
After pouring all night, it’s steaming up here; but it’s a beautiful day at the Lake today with Sen. Dorgan coming to chat about contractor abuse.
Bookmarked the DPC site. PS, you should be proud of your Senator. I’m proud of Boxer, but DiFi….not.
Christy, is there really a chance that something will be done about these people who have literally robbed our treasury? I sometimes despair that anyone is listening.
It’s very nice here,too. I’m hoping for light rain today; I just re-seeded another pasture over the weekend and want good germination. Today I’ll rest a bit…
Truman made his name running war-profiteering invesigations and was so effective that he ended up on the ticket as FDR’s Veep.
Dorgan is our Truman.
I am looking forward to this conversation!
Jim, do you live on a farm? a ranch? I’m always interested in your comments about your pastures. I grew up on a farm and enjoy farm talk.
OK, now this time there really is a new thread
Sen. Dorgan is upstairs
We have a small farm with pastures for our horses. It’s in an older neighborhood that was set up for equestrian families with several miles of trail surrounding it. It was tough redoing this last pasture. The riding mower I was using to drag the disk decided its drive train was no longer up to the task, so I had to bite the bullet and buy a utility ATV. That did the job really well and now the teenagers are going to be congregating at the house. They won’t like my rule: strictyly “grandma” driving on it or they lose privileges. The rules still apply on this farm: no pardons for breaking them.
Thank you for this post and for the DPC Video link, Christy. I’m still over there watching. Open-mouthed, I might add.
Just another example of how impossible it is to keep up with hearings regarding and the sheer number of scandals ongoing in the Bu$h Administration.
Thanks again, Christy.
Thank you. Southwest Colorado is overcast, seriously overcast and we’ve been smelling rain for 3 days now, with nary a drop. And Phoenix is flooding. It’s a lush and beautiful summer this year here due to all the snow from last winter. We spent the weekend hiking and camping on a friends property north of Cortez, explored ruins on his land and had a lively political discussion around the campfire at night. Oddly, everyone there (7 people in all) were not only on the same page with what’s happening in our country today, but were exceedingly well informed as to details of any issue that was raised. Everyone’s hurting financially, and everyone’s really p.o’d.
Everyone also discussed what they are doing to reduce their carbon footprints, as well as to help others around them to do the same. I invited them to pop in here at Firedoglake, I hope they do. They were “pups” and didn’t even know it. hehe
It is impossible to grasp the enormity of every aspect of what is happening around us. Finance, Iraq, Afghanistan, Torture, Civil Rights, and that is the tip of the iceberg in significant events. Failure of our press to cover anything of real importance. The day that FISA failed they covered Christie Brinkley and Jesse Jackson.