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On Feb 6, 4:12 pm, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or www.mantra.com/jai (Dr. Jai Maharaj) wrote: > Water Deal Exposes Secret Iraq Contracts > > By Katherine Shrader and Allison Hoffman, > Associated Press Writers > The Associated Press > San Francisco Chronicle > Tuesday, February 6, 2007 > > Washington, (AP) -- CIA officers operating in northern Iraq > bought drinking water from a bottling plant there for years > prior to the 2003 invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. > > That changed soon afterward. A CIA officer handling > logistics for the Middle East and other regions recommended > that an American company provide water and other supplies, > according to former government officials. > > The U.S. contractor that benefited from the multimillion- > dollar deal wasn't just anyone. The company had personal > ties to the officer, Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, who would soon > leave his logistics post in Frankfurt, Germany, and move to > Washington to become the CIA's third-ranking official. > > In at least one written communication, a Baghdad CIA > officer complained about the no-bid contract. According to > one official, the officer believed the deal was simply > unnecessary because safe water was available commercially > but he was ignored. > > The water contract, while small on the scale of the > billions that flowed into Iraq, raises questions about why > U.S. taxpayer dollars went to well-connected businessmen > rather than Iraqis who could have benefited from a share of > postwar reconstruction business. And the case provides a > window into the murky world of covert government business > arrangements. > > Foggo retired from the CIA last year. He is now at the > center of a federal investigation, nearing completion, into > whether he improperly steered contracts to companies > controlled by his best friend, San Diego defense contractor > Brent Wilkes. > > Federal prosecutors in San Diego are preparing to seek > indictments against Foggo and Wilkes on charges of honest > services fraud and conspiracy, two government officials > familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press > last week. > > Those officials and others spoke on condition that they not > be identified because the charges have not been finalized > and because CIA contracting is classified. Justice > Department and law enforcement officials in San Diego and > Washington declined to comment. > > Honest services fraud is a charge combining mail and wire > fraud often used in public corruption cases involving > officials who have engaged in a pattern of improper > activities, such as accepting gifts, trips or promises of > future employment from private individuals. > > The probe of Foggo and Wilkes stems from a broader federal > investigation involving at least five federal agencies into > how associates of former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham > directed government business to a favored network of > national security contractors. Cunningham, a San Diego > Republican elected to eight terms in Congress, is currently > serving more than eight years in jail for taking at least > $2.4 million in bribes. Another defense contractor has > pleaded guilty to paying some of them. > > In June 2002, Wilkes created a government contractor called > Archer Defense Technologies, which was registered to the > address of his flagship, Wilkes Corp., in Poway, Calif. The > company also used the name Liberty Defense Technologies. At > the beginning of 2004, his nephew and apprentice, Joel > Combs, formed a new company called Archer Logistics, run > out of a small Virginia office. > > Despite the short history of Wilkes' company, Foggo > recommended that the CIA buy water from it, current and > former officials said. He was a supervising officer at the > CIA supply hub in Germany, and the purchasing officer there > went along. > > Foggo didn't tell the purchasing officer about his personal > ties to Combs or Wilkes, a government official says. With > CIA officers literally under fire and other large issues to > deal with, the CIA station didn't put up a fight, former > officials say. > > The issue in the investigation isn't the price but that the > contract was awarded without competitive bidding and that > Foggo had an obligation to disclose his personal > connections, according to these officials. > > Foggo's former attorney publicly acknowledged before he > died last summer that the investigation includes Archer, > but he said his client had no idea that the company was > associated with Wilkes. Foggo's current attorney, Mark > MacDougall, declined to comment, as did Wilkes' attorney, > Mark Geragos. > > CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield declined to comment citing the > investigation, which includes the spy agency's inspector > general. "As a rule, we don't comment publicly about which > firms may or may not have a contractual relationship with > the agency," he said. > > From the beginning of the Iraq invasion, the CIA was forced > almost constantly to revise its game plan. Early > predictions were that the CIA station set up in Baghdad > would move to a peacekeeping mission by fall of 2003 and > need less than 100 officers, with the Army handling most > key functions. > > Instead, the CIA had a station of more than 500 that fall, > the former officials said. Sorting out where the water came > from had never been a top priority, they recalled. > > A veteran officer who served in Central America, Foggo rose > through the ranks to become a leading logistics officer for > the CIA based in Frankfurt, one of a few CIA bases of its > kind in the world. In that position, he handled shipments > of supplies on C-130 cargo planes to nearly a third of the > CIA's overseas operations -- outfits in Central Europe, > Africa, the Balkans and the Middle East that required > everything from food and water to phones and computers. > > Foggo, 52, was described as a guy who could get things > done. When the U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq in 2003, > Foggo was in charge of ensuring CIA personnel in the war > zone had what they needed, including bottled water. > > The officials say the CIA turned to Foggo's friends, > including Wilkes and his nephew, Combs. Wilkes, also 52, > was Foggo's best friend from high school, and the two > football teammates named their sons after each other. Combs > used an address at an office park called Thunderbolt Place > in Chantilly, Va., which was also used by other Wilkes' > companies. The space in a two-story brick office park has > now been vacated. > > The review of the logistics operations in Iraq did not > begin until after Foggo had been tapped by then-CIA > Director Porter Goss to be the agency's No. 3 -- the > executive director -- who would run the agency's day-to-day > operations. > > Such a significant promotion for a logistics officer came > as a surprise to many in the agency. > > Observers said Foggo embraced the role. He started sending > out memos to agency personnel, signed "Yours in Service." > He had a nickname for everyone, and he could be seen glad- > handing his way through lunch at the CIA's seventh-floor > executive dining room. > > He and Wilkes also dined at a Washington steakhouse at the > foot of Capitol Hill frequented by lobbyists, which caught > the attention of a House Intelligence Committee > investigator looking into ties between defense contractors > and Cunningham. Foggo and Wilkes kept a private wine locker > at the restaurant stocked with Cunningham's favorite, a > pricey California cabernet. > > The meteoric rise ended with a crash. > > Foggo retired from the agency in May under investigation by > five agencies: the FBI, the IRS, the Defense Criminal > Investigative Service, the CIA's inspector general and the > U.S. attorney's office in San Diego. A local news > helicopter circled his house in the Northern Virginia > suburbs as agents sifted through his belongings. > > Wilkes' business and personal fortunes have also suffered. > In the past two months, his wife has filed for divorce, and > he has defaulted on a $7.5 million personal mortgage loan. > His company, the Wilkes Corp., defaulted on $12.1 million > owed on another note. > - - - > Associated Press writer Allison Hoffman reported from San Diego. > > More > at:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/02/06/national/... > > Jai > Maharajhttp://tinyurl.com/yhjyp5http://www.mantra.com/jaihttp://www.mantra.com/jyotish > Om Shanti > > Hindu Holocaust Museumhttp://www.mantra.com/holocaust > > Hindu life, principles, spirituality and > philosophyhttp://www.hindu.orghttp://www.hindunet.org > > The truth about Islam and Muslimshttp://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate > > o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational > purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not > have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the > poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for > fair use of copyrighted works. > o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read, > considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current > e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number. > o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are > not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article. > > FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of > which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright > owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the > understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, > democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed > that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as > provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title > 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without > profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included > information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by > subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information > go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml > If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of > your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the > copyright owner. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
