Certainly nothing to challenge here.
Mr. O'Harrow's last paragraph says it all.

Mr. O'Harrow is a moron who thinks that most contractors and civil servants are either too stupid to do the right thing or corrupt. I think you need to experience the poor staffing levels, difficult technical challenges, and financial/schedules constraints that these folks have to overcome on a daily basis. Maybe then, you'll realize that its not as easy as you think it is. Then again, maybe you won't - you're a reporter who depends upon on "breaking" a story. Sure, not 100% of the government/contractors are the best people or most competent - they should be replaced. However, neither are all the members of the press - they too should be replaced. BTW - thanks for telling us what was already in the newspaper.

I must agree with the 8:02 am commenter that this is truly very old news--much covered in the MSM and trade press, as well as in several books.

But perhaps, Mr. O'Harrow, you could make up for lost time by getting into the widely well regarded documents of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. SIGIR has done a great job providing the evidence of US government employee, contractor, and Iraqi incompetence, and in some cases corruption.

More government employees than contractors have been indicted, tried and convicted than contractors, BTW.

It's also important to note that Stuart Bowen, the SIGIR, has said without hesitation that the number of corrupt contractors in Iraq is very, very small. If you just read press coverage and SIGIR documents, you will see the same troubling cases recounted over and over and over.

That said, it would be a rare government services contractor executive or manager who does not want to see the incompetent and corrupt ones held accountable. The bad ones make it convenient for the uninformed to smear an entire industry. Ditto for government employees.

Finally, there's always room for new facts and investigative reporting. Perhaps on the frequency of poor contract performance and who is responsible--government, the contractor, or both. You'd be following in many footsteps, but why not give it a try?

A much bigger problem than the occassional corrupt official or contractor (which will NEVER be eliminated no how "tight" Congress makes the laws) is the much more mundane one of poor planning and management of contracts as opposed to the award. We're all obsessed with who got what, but never bother to ask about the planning or how it was overseen once awarded.

Get those "little" and boring questions right, and much of the headlines go away.

Of course, that's not too good for newspaper sales, which is why you focus on scandal and failure, which are endemic in any system where $400B is spent annually.

As the Global War on Terror continues, we will continue to have problems concerning varifying work completed in foreign nations with foreign entities as subcontractors.

Who in a Government leadership position is advocating training for the program managers who execute these programs?

Same Old Story, Same Old Money

Ossama Bin Obama has a get-tough solution for Democrats...Invade a nuclear country like Pakistan where the very word "American" sparks riots of hundreds of thousands of people. Ya that's a Democratic solution!

It would seem that the Democrats do not have the American people's thoughts and wishes in view either. Obama's solution to an exit strategy is to go from Iraq to Pakistan & back to Afghanistan in force. Hillary Clinton does not even comment on Bamma's position. One might think that she is a closet supporter of War for big campaign dollars. The "Democratic House Speaker" Pelosi, does a 180 on Democratic position in Iraq withdrawal time table and leaves it up to Bush...is it me or does this seem a little bit like collusion with the Republicans?

Maybe it's collusion, and maybe it's just that both parties have the same old money masters who are all members of the "Council of Foreign Relations". I would bet that it has something to do with the CFR.

So now, how do you vote? Do you lay down and become sheeple or do you have a revolution and run for office under a third political party? The choice is really simple.

If you are still not convinced that the Democrats and Republicans are really the same group of idiots with the same group of idiots money then idiot propaganda has worked on you!

An exit strategy from Iraq belongs to the General in charge when his Commander in Chief so orders it. I do not believe that George Bush or any Democrat / Republican will actually remove the American Army out of the Middle East. The USA has a habit of occupying a country with its military for a long, long, long, long time. If the resolve were to exit then they would not be building 4 permanent military bases in Iraq. Nor would they be building the largest most fortified embassy in history. Face it! Complain all you want, but no matter what you think, they, the Democrats or Republicans, will never leave Iraq or the Middle East. Which means there will be a sustained War just like the old money masters want. If you are not sure what is meant by Old money, please look up Wikipedia under the name "Council of Foreign Relations" there is an abundance of information there and a list of members. If you do not believe the information that is in front of you, then you must also believe that the Rockefeller's no longer have an interest in money...or how to make lots of it.

If you want to make a change in the direction of your country, then run for office but do so under a new political party! You will not need big business to support you because no matter what party you voted for in the last election, big business will only support war profits.

Mr. And Mrs. America will fund you though, and what's wrong with that? All across the USA people are calling for change. Well change will not happen unless you run for congress or US President yourselves. Make the system work for you; don't wait until the system decides to share your opinion, because that will never happen.

Pain for by, "The United Party". (A total cost of 10 minutes.)

Regards,
Stewart Brennan
#123 456 789

http://worldunited-stewart.blogspot.com/