Army Official Fired For Refusing To Pay Questionable Contractor

The New York Times:

WASHINGTON -- The Army official who managed the Pentagon's largest contract in Iraq says he was ousted from his job when he refused to approve paying more than $1 billion in questionable charges to KBR, the Houston-based company that has provided food, housing and other services to American troops.

The official, Charles M. Smith, was the senior civilian overseeing the multibillion-dollar contract with KBR during the first two years of the war. Speaking out for the first time, Mr. Smith said that he was forced from his job in 2004 after informing KBR officials that the Army would impose escalating financial penalties if they failed to improve their chaotic Iraqi operations.

Read the whole story: The New York Times

Comments

[kikomnipotent]

The article is good, but didn't go quite deep enough. Kellog Brown & Root was a Bush family started company. When Gdub was Texas governor, some folks I knew would jokingly refer to the KBR building on or near Congress Ave (can't remember) as his real office; because that's where the money came from while he played politician. Of course, KBR is a giant entity & Gdub can't know what they're up to, but this is just too sinister. Does money from KBR won contracts still filter back to our acting president through company holdings? They can't be THAT stupid or arrogant. Somebody check it out.