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By Viola Gienger, Bloomberg News
Xe, the provider of security services formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, failed to supply enough personnel to protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq, creating "unnecessary risk," auditors found.
The company probably should have paid $55 million in fees for failing to comply with manpower requirements, the auditors said in a report released Monday. The State Department last month replaced Xe - which is based in Moyock, N.C. - 1-1/2 years after a September 2007 shooting incident that left at least 14 Iraqi civilians dead.
"We found that Blackwater did not maintain the required number of personal security specialists, designated defensive marksmen, emergency medical technicians and explosive detection dog handlers on-site and available for duty," the joint audit by the State Department inspector general and the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction said. "Insufficient manning exposed the department to unnecessary risk."
The auditors examined more than $1 billion in contracts Xe held to provide security for U.S. diplomatic personnel in Iraq during a four-year period that ended in May 2008. Five security guards employed by Xe were charged in December with manslaughter and weapons violations in the deaths of 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in the 2007 incident.
Anne Tyrrell, a spokeswoman for Xe, said the company is reviewing the audit.
"The government contracting officer determined that Blackwater was compliant with the terms and conditions of the contract at the time for which they were reviewing and therefore did not apply any deductions or penalties," Tyrrell said in an e-mail. "Blackwater only billed for services provided."
The auditors recommended designating a full-time contracting officer in Iraq to monitor security providers.
Triple Canopy won the right to take over the work in the capital of Baghdad after the Iraqi government in January refused to grant Xe an operating license.
The audit released Monday also said the State Department failed to confirm the accuracy of labor costs that Xe used as the basis for billing, and that it also paid $127,364 in travel costs in excess of coach fare.
The auditors determined that the company won its contracts through proper procedures and said oversight of weapons and vehicles provided to Xe was "commendable."
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Pilot Poor Reporting
"Xe, the provider of security services formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, failed to supply enough personnel to protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq, creating "unnecessary risk," auditors found."
You would think that reporting on a local company, the Pilot could do more that rehash the wire service reports AND slant against Blackwater. Since no employee of the US State Department was killed or injured while being protected by Blackwater, then there were enough personnel and there was not unnecessary risk.
I also wonder at the cause of the manpower shortages. Were positions not filled due to injury and death? If the contract requires 25 personnel at a site but if a car got hit and one guy was killed and two more were injured, maybe the contract administrator did not consider that three man shortage a breach of contract. But the auditor safe in his foggy bottom cubical would.
after thought at the end?
"The auditors determined that the company won its contracts through proper procedures and said oversight of weapons and vehicles provided to Xe was commendable."
I'll hold my breath waiting for people to acknowledge their mistake on accusing BW of getting no bid contracts.
Re-read the article
They didn't say Blackwater overcharged $55 million. The audit notes that the company charged only for services provided. What the company didn't do was provide all the manpower specified in the contract. The story isn't quite clear as to whether or not the $55 million figure is a fine they could have been compelled to pay for failing to comply with the terms of the contract, or whether it was the gap between what the contract specified and the lesser amount that Blackwater charged for its service.
So aside from the additional risk that occurred due to the lack of full manpower, which isn't an inconsequential thing, the taxpayer isn't out a penny on this. If you want to be really strict about this and overlook the additional risk to which American representative were exposed, this actually saved taxpayers money.
I'm not a fan of President Bush. But blaming this on some strategy of his administration is far-fetched. It was a matter of poor contract management way down within the system. As silly as it sounds, $55 million is a rounding error, a few minutes of funding, in the big scheme of Iraqi war costs.
Just another bit of Bush's Legacy
Regardless of the quality and outcome of their protection in Iraq, they did not supply the service for which the American taxpayer paid them, apparently to the tune of $55 million dollars. Why am I not surprised? How many more millions (sorry, that's billions) of dollars wasted on this aggression were actually stolen from our pockets by greedy contractors?
grow up
Lack of govt contract oversight costs us (taxpayers) millions. This hasn't changed under Obama. Contract oversight is the responsibility of the contracting agency, most of which fail miserably at it.
Blaming Bush because a contracting officer authorized payments for services that weren't rendered is childish and partisan (but not surprising).
it's your money
I guess you didn't actually read my post. I never stated that it is not happening under the current administration. I merely said that these are the things for which the previous one will be remembered. Hey, it's your money. The fact is that BW submitted invoices for services which were not rendered. They just happened to get caught after the fact. It's your money. If your attorney, physician or home improvement contractor did it to you, would that be OK?
Too Much
"Insufficient manning exposed the department to unnecessary risk." Isn't this the same company that had NOT ONE of their protectees killed or seriously injured in all the trips they made? Neither of the other two companies doing the same work in IRAQ have the same record, even though they were operating in less volitile areas. This is not about truth or money...this is about politics.
Why can't our fourth estate report on SOMETHING positive about BW? How many lives have they saved? How important to the economy of NE North Carolina are they? The K-9 that caught the shooter in the police shooting in Chesapeake is ruomored to be a Blackwater training dog. Is this true?