Politics As Usual
Shining a Light on Power and Policy
Tom Shine covers congressional politics for ABC News.
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"ALL RESULTED IN INCREASED RISK TO THE LIVES OF THE SOLDIERS"
July 12, 2007 8:55 AM
The WASHINGTON POST has a copy of a new PENTAGON I.G. REPORT that will be released to congress Thursday and reporter Renae Merle says it shows that a Ladson, S.C. firm, FORCE PROTECTION, FAILED TO DELIVER ON TIME BLAST RESISTANT TRUCKS and CREW PROTECTION KITS ORDERED BY THE MARINES FOR IRAQ.
Under a 2005 contract FORCE PROTECTION "FAILED TO DELIVER 98% of 122 MINE-RESISTANT VEHICLES ON TIME DESPITE GETTING $6.7 MILLION FROM THE MARINES TO UPGRADE ITS FACILITIES."
According to the article, Force Protection got a SOLE-SOURCE $416.7 MILLION contract from the MARINES for BLAST-RESISTANT TRUCKS and crew protection kits. Merle says the report shows that of the 233 vehicles ordered from Force Protection, "60% WERE MORE THAN 30 DAYS BEHIND SCHEDULE BUT THE MARINES DECIDED NOT TO COLLECT $6.6 MILLION IN LATE FEES FROM FORCE PROTECTION, BECAUSE THE COMPANY WAS HAVING CASH FLOW PROBLEMS."
The article says the Marine Corps defended the contracts claiming delays were "NOT UNEXPECTED" given the fact that they were trying to "PROCURE AND FIELD A COMPLEX, NEW VEHICLE SYSTEM WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF A LENGTHY AND COSTLY DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM.
But the I.G. says the MARINES KNEW OF OTHER BIDDERS and ADVOCATES OF COMPETITION for the contract "WERE OVER RULED and therefore it ended up being a SOLE-SOURCE DEAL. The I.G. concludes "ALL RESULTED IN INCREASED RISKS TO THE LIVES OF SOLDIERS."
July 12, 2007 in Politics of Iraq | Permalink | User Comments (2)
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You people are incredibly [and certainly purposely] bad at reporting the truth. This article is so wrong, and you don't, or don't want it to be truthfull. Tom Shine really needs to return to grade school and try to learn [or re-learn] the difference between telling the truth and not telling the truth. Maybe that should come from his parents!
Posted by: boots | Jul 12, 2007 4:40:24 PM
This is a good story about how we procure shipment of goods necessary to aid us in our endeavors...Go IG!!!!!Apache
Posted by: Apachecheynne | Jul 16, 2007 7:50:25 PM
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