Shoddy equipment, questionable billing practices and suspicious hiring. Sound familiar? It should, because unfortunately this seems to be the pattern that emerges when the Pentagon tries -- often with the best of intentions -- to quickly buy something. The Washington Post today reports that lucrative contracts provided after the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole are the latest example of this dilemma:
Invoices, e-mails and audit documents obtained by The Washington Post also show that the General Services Administration, the agency that awards and oversees federal contracts, allowed the Navy to sidestep federal procurement rules designed to ensure competition and protect taxpayers from abuse and fraud.
"Millions of taxpayer dollars went out the window, given to companies who did nothing in return," said Eugene L. Waszily, a former deputy GSA inspector general who reviewed spending under the boat-barrier contract. "This was particularly disturbing because it was a national security project."
Another problem emerged for the project, which cost at least $100 million. "Navy officials advised us that the barriers were prone to leaks, can deflate completely, and that defects caused barrier gates to remain open," the GSA auditors said in a 2004 report.
Trying to balance proper oversight (which this contract appeared to lack) with the need to respond quickly to the military's needs for new equipment (for example, protected vehicles) is no easy task.
