A Case Study in Postwar Chaos -LAT (fraud involving Custer, Battles)

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON — Mike Battles needed money fast. It was June 2003 and his cash-starved company had just won a contract to guard the Baghdad airport.

Battles turned to a lender that had lots of cash and few questions about how it would be spent: the U.S.-led coalition in charge of Iraq.

As Battles later told criminal investigators, he descended into a vault in the basement of one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces, where a U.S. government employee handed him $2 million in $100 bills and a handwritten receipt.

Battles "was informed that the contracting process would catch up" later to account for the money, according to a statement he gave investigators.
...
Court records, internal company memos, interviews with current and former employees and government investigators, and confidential documents from a Pentagon criminal investigation reviewed by The Times depict a company that ran into trouble almost from the moment it hit the ground in Iraq.

...........MORE..........

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-custer12mar12,0,852293.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[mhr]

1. And We Wonder Were The Missing 9 Billion Dollars Went -

Into the pockets of Bush supporters.

[liveoaktx]

2. Vid Clip from Democrat Hearing on Custer Battles

Alan Grayson

Will make you ill to hear this.

[rodeodance]

3. geeech!!

[Daphne08]

6. I watched part of this on C-Span and

no Republicans or administration officials were present for the "Oversight Hearing on Waste, Fraud and Abuse in U.S. Government Contracting in Iraq."

I also remember Senator Dorgan making remarks about it during the Bankruptcy bill debate. He stated that no one seemed to care.

Disgusting and discouraging... it was only OUR tax dollars that were wasted!

Here's an article: http://www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2005/02/custer_battles.html

and info about the Committee: http://democrats.senate.gov/dpc/dpchearing.cfm?A=19

[UpInArms]

4. kick

:kick:

[struggle4progress]

5. and again

:kick:

[UpInArms]

7. and again for the Monday morning news cycle

:kick: