The ties that bind

Larger CIA and DoD Privatization Scandal Emerging from Walter Reed Story, US Attorneys Firing
by leveymg
Sat Mar 10, 2007 at 03:58:42 AM PST
Rumsfeld and Top GOP Figures Profited from Privatization of VA Hospital, CIA Contractors

A large global hedge fund, Cerberus Capital Management (dba, Cerberus-Gabriel), is at the center of an emerging Pentagon and CIA contracting scandal that has the attention of three Congressional Committees.

In each case, the companies under investigation have links to prominent GOP figures, including Vice President Dick Cheney, former Vice President Dan Quayle, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and several Republican Congressmen indicted for corruption involving kickbacks from defense contractors. The Republican Congressional Campaign Commitee (RCCC) has also received substantial contributions from conservative fund managers running Cerberus, a virually unregulated $30 billion hedge fund, which owns the second largest bank in Israel.

This scandal involves the mismanagement of VA hospital facilities privatized during the Bush-Cheney Administration, as well as intelligence abuses by private CIA contractors.

MORE below the fold . . .

leveymg's diary :: ::
The lastest Cerberus scandal involving its holding, International American Products (IAP) Worldwide Services, awarded a $120 million contract to manage facilities at Walter Reed, is only the latest in a long line of serious problems involving the company and its officers. IAPâ??s President, Alfred V. Neffgen, was formerly Chief Operating Officer for KBR's government operations group, which was forced to repay tens of millions of dollars to the Defense Department for food and fuel overcharges in Iraq. IAP has other contracting connections with Dick Cheneyâ??s Halliburton/KBR. Most recently, IAP bid on part of the Iraq oil reconstruction project as a partner with Halliburton KBR. The Army Times reports about the Halliburton tie-in:

http://www.armytimes.com/...

Walter Reed also awarded a five-year, $120-million contract to IAP Worldwide Services, which is run by Al Neffgen, a former senior Halliburton official.

They also found that more than 300 federal employees providing facilities management services at Walter Reed had drooped to fewer than 60 by Feb. 3, 2007, the day before IAP took over facilities management. IAP replaced the remaining 60 employees with only 50 private workers.

"The conditions that have been described at Walter Reed are disgraceful," the letter states. "Part of our mission on the Oversight Committee is to investigate what led to the breakdown in services. It would be reprehensible if the deplorable conditions were caused or aggravated by an ideological commitment to privatize government services regardless of the costs to taxpayers and the consequences for wounded soldiers."

The letter said the Defense Department "systemically" tried to replace federal workers at Walter Reed with private companies for facilities management, patient care and guard duty â?? a process that began in 2000.

Cerberus owns, or had a major interest in, a string of now-bankrupt companies that had contracts with U.S. defense and intelligence agencies that were found to have a common pattern of large-scale fraud, security problems, and financial scandals involving GOP lawmakers and lobbyists.

IAP is also tied-in with Halliburton/KBR on multi-billion dollar Iraq contracts. Halliburton is a major defense contractor once headed by Vice President Cheney, that has had its own history of problems with fraud and overcharges related to its management of sole-source projects in Iraq, particularly the multi-billion dollar LOGCAP contract to repair and maintain Iraqâ??s oil fields and pipelines.

Just months before the invasion, DoD designated Halliburton/KBR as the sole potential bidder for potential large-scale pipeline repair contracts. Four years after the initial invasion and occupation of those fields, Iraq is still not producing at its prewar levels, a threshold that would require termination of the LOGCAP contract.

On October 16, 2006, IAP Worldwide Services issued this press release: "IAP Worldwide Services, Inc. Team Submits Bid For LOGCAP IV Contract," which included this quote from former Halliburton/KBR executive Dave Swindle:

"The LOGCAP IV contract is a major challenge," said Dave Swindle, IAP President. "Supporting the warfighter and the Army is a responsibility that allows no compromise. IAP and its team members understand the magnitude of this program and the issues associated with its complexity. We place a high priority on using our proven Business Operating System (BOS) to provide effective oversight and tracking to responsibly meet the customerâ??s needs from Day One. Through BOS we will act as one team through a management and business system that is completely transparent to the customer."

IAP Worldwide Services...