Mil-Tech

Mar 19, 2009, post by Marcin Frackiewicz

U.S. Moves to Replace Contractors in Iraq

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Since 2003, we provide satellite Internet in Iraq and Afghanistan globally enabling Iraqi and Afghan citizens, businesses and remotely deployed personnel to have broadband Internet access, enterprise connectivity, VoIP and videoconferencing services at affordable costs. Contact: phone +48 22 630 70 70 www.ts2.pl

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The decision not to renew Blackwater Worldwide’s security contract in Iraq when it expires in early May has left the State Department scrambling to fill a protection gap for U.S. diplomats and civilian officials there.

 

Two other U.S. security contractors with a far smaller presence in Iraq — DynCorp International and Triple Canopy — have been asked to replace the ousted company, according to State Department and company officials. To meet time, training and security-clearance pressures, officials said, one or both of the firms are likely to undertake the task by rehiring some personnel now working for Blackwater.

 

The Iraqi government refused to issue Blackwater a license to perform security services after a 2007 incident in which company guards on a diplomatic protection mission shot and killed 17 civilians in Baghdad. U.S. prosecutors have indicted five of the guards on charges of manslaughter. Blackwater (which recently changed its name to Xe) still has State Department contracts for air transport in Iraq and security for U.S. diplomats in Afghanistan.
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Meanwhile, fallout from the shootings — including a new U.S.-Iraq status-of-forces agreement that places contractors under Iraqi legal jurisdiction for the first time — has led both the Pentagon and the State Department to create new categories of “full-time, temporary” federal jobs to handle some tasks currently done by contractors.

 

The Blackwater incident helped fuel a wider debate on the overall cost and conduct of contractors. President Obama last week ordered a government-wide review of federal contracting procedures, saying that his administration “will stop outsourcing services that should be performed by the government.”

 

Nowhere has that outsourcing been larger or more contentious than in Iraq, where contractors have long outnumbered the U.S. military presence, even at its peak of 160,000 troops.

 

The days of massive U.S. reconstruction contracts in Iraq are over, with little to show for tens of billions of dollars spent, according to government auditors. While the military continues to outsource much of its supply chain, contracts for services such as transport and food will diminish as combat forces begin to draw down.

 

More in The Washington Post

Mar 12, 2009, post by Marcin Frackiewicz

Gibson Dunn Wins for Military Subcontractor in Rare Trial Over Iraq Reconstruction Costs

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Since 2003, we provide satellite Internet in Iraq and Afghanistan globally enabling Iraqi and Afghan citizens, businesses and remotely deployed personnel to have broadband Internet access, enterprise connectivity, VoIP and videoconferencing services at affordable costs. Contact: phone +48 22 630 70 70 www.ts2.pl

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Among critics of America’s reliance on military subcontractors in Iraq, Parsons Corp. became particularly notorious in 2006, when its $75 million Baghdad police academy building was found to be leaking human waste–literally. The giant construction firm, which has been fighting a negative image ever since, finally got some good news Tuesday, when a California state court jury found that it was not liable for damages in a rare breach of contract case tied to Iraq’s reconstruction.

 

Fiber Technologies Corporation sued Nevada-based Parsons in state court in Los Angeles in 2006, claiming that the company breached a contract to purchase $11.4 million worth of water tanks, and seeking damages up to the full contract amount. On Tuesday, a jury found that Parsons had breached its agreement, but agreed with the military contractor’s defense that it had negotiated in good faith and should not be held liable for damages or any other recovery.

 

Parsons was represented by David Battaglia of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Barry West of L.A.’s Gaims, Weil, West & Epstein represented Fiber Technologies.