This is something about which we all should be upset.
CONTRACTORS
It's Enough To Make You SAIC
Problems with the FBI's antiquated computer system may have "prevented agents
from sharing information that could have headed off the attacks" on 9/11.
Realizing the seriousness of the problem, Congress handed the FBI a blank check
to overhaul its decrepit system. The new improved system, known as "Virtual Case
Files," was scheduled to be in place by December 2003. No such luck. Last week,
the FBI announced that the new, $171 million computer system hit a little snag:
it doesn't work
(http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fbi13jan13,0,1621416.story?coll=la-home-headlines)
. Now the agency is back at square one. Creation of the software was contracted
out to the Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), which will still
pocket a cool $100,000, even thought its product was a total bust. SAIC has a
long history of using government money fraudulently and for shoddy work. Lucky
for SAIC, it also has close ties to the current administration. Here's a little
more about this company, which in 2003 pulled in $5.4 billion
(http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040704/news_mz1b4nation.html) in
government revenue:
BROADCAST 101: SAIC received seven no-bid contracts
(http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040704/news_mz1b4nation.html) for
work in Iraq. For example, even though the group has absolutely no broadcasting
experience, after the fall of Baghdad SAIC received an $82 million no-bid
contract to run the country's first post-Saddam TV network. The result? An
unmitigated disaster. Requests for basic news gear like amplifiers and batteries
were denied. SAIC was "supposed to build an infrastructure that would let it
beam programming to the Iraqis." But a surprise government visit found that
while SAIC had been paid for the work, it had never happened
(http://corpwatch.org/article.php?id=7884) . Gear and expensive equipment went
missing. SAIC had no real programming for the station, and relied on a mix of
announcements from the U.S. military and rehashed U.S. newscasts
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A40257-2003May10) -- like coverage of
the Laci Peterson case.
TARNISHING THE GOLDEN RULE: Although SAIC paid its executives in Iraq $273 an
hour and security officers up to $1,000 a day, it paid the Iraqis it hired as
news anchors as little as $60 a month. When the Iraqis pointed out that wasn't
even enough to pay for decent clothes to wear on air, SAIC agreed to pay to
dress them...but only from the waist up
(http://corpwatch.org/article.php?id=7884) .
ITS OTHER OBLIGATIONS: In Iraq, SAIC was also awarded the contract to train
Iraqi soldiers and police officers; the Iraqi security force is currently in
shambles. While the Pentagon wanted 145,000 Iraqis
(http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/091204C.shtml) trained and equipped by the end
of last year, currently there are only about 4,000 Iraqi soldiers " trained and
on hand
(http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-military18jan18,0,2773590.story?coll=la-home-headlines)
."
PRIVATE JET, PERSONAL COSTS: In March 2004, a Pentagon audit found SAIC
improperly charged the government to fly a Hummer and pickup truck to Iraq on a
private jet
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A22522-2004Mar24¬Found=true)
for the personal use of an SAIC employee. In all, the audit recommended that the
company repay the government $634,834 for unsubstantiated costs.
THE PLAYERS: One trick to continuing to obtain lucrative government contracts:
have guys on the inside. Adm. William Owens
(http://store.publicintegrity.org/report.aspx?aid=91&sid=200) , for example,
went from heading up SAIC as president and CEO to becoming an influential member
of Secretary Rumsfeld's Defense Policy Board. Christopher Henry
(http://www.public-i.org/wow/archives.aspx) , former senior vice president at
SAIC, became a key aide to Douglas Feith, who just so happened to be in charge
of supervising contract work done by SAIC in Iraq. Gen. Wayne Downing
(http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040704/news_mz1b4nation.html) , SAIC
board member, was the chief counterterrorism expert at the National Security
Council. Also a lobbyist for disgraced Ahmad Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress,
he was a vocal advocate for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein before the war.
THE PAST RECORD: In 1990, SAIC was fined $1.3 million after being indicted on 10
felony counts for fraud for "falsifying testing of samples from Superfund toxic
waste sites." Then-U.S. Atty. William Braniff told the LA Times on 8/27/91 it
was "the largest environmental fraud fine we've had here in recent memory." USA
Today on 8/25/95 reported that in 1993, the company was charged with fraud over
a contract to develop cockpit systems for aircraft like the F-15 fighter, after
SAIC demanded an additional $4 million from the government, even though it
already knew its design could not work. And two years later, the company paid
$125,000 over allegations that it lied about the results of tests on the Fort
Worth project, a security system for a Treasury Department currency plant.
FOLLOW THE MONEY: Another way to make sure contracts keep rolling in: cold, hard
cash. In the last election cycle, SAIC's PAC
(http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/expend.asp?strID=C00300418&Cycle=2004) gave
$45,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National
Republican Congressional Committee. On top of that, the PAC also donated over a
million dollars (http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.asp?strID=C00300418)
to individual congressional candidates since 2000 -- over 60 percent of which
went to the GOP. |
