27.Oct.2010 New Report Offers First Look At 7,000 Afghanistan Reconstruction Contracts (Updated)
A special US government investigative body just released what it calls the first comprehensive audit of some 7,000 reconstruction contracts in Afghanistan.
To be clear, this isn’t an audit of each reconstruction contract. No. It was an audit whose goal was merely to figure out how many contracts have been issued, and for how much.
The takeaway from the 45-page report is that the departments of Defense and State, USAID and other agencies are “unable to readily report on how much money they spend” on contracts worth nearly $18 billion over two years.
The audit shows that navigating the confusing labyrinth of government contracting is difficult, at best. Within the Defense Department alone, there are four contracting organizations managing DOD funded reconstruction contracts. The audit found that not only do those four DOD contracting organizations not coordinate and share information with one another, there is minimal sharing of information across government agencies.
Minimal information sharing? Where have we heard that before?
Also, despite the large number of companies involved in reconstruction, “a relatively small number of contractors and other entities accounted for the majority of obligations.” For instance, approximately 75 percent of the $2.4 billion in State Department contracts went to one company, DynCorp International.
I’ve begun extracting information on contractors from the audit report, by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction—motto: “All Up In Your Shit”—and turning them into web-friendly tables.
It’s going to take a lot more work to suss out the ownership information for these companies. Ever heard of No Lemon, Ltd.? Me neither.
But the SIGAR auditors have done a great service in giving me, and other reporters, a starting point to continue the work of holding contractors accountable for the public money they spend.
Update 6:50pm BST: Well, well. Blackwater—seen here by its alter ego, US Training Center—got a $218 million Army contract. It’s an odd choice for “reconstruction,” work, considering the company is better known for shooting people indiscriminately.
Update December 6: This list has been updated with links to the new DIY • WIB form.
The numbers reported below are reported in millions of US dollars.
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