Afghanistan Reconstruction: U.S. Soldiers At Risk Because Of Private Contractors' Fraud, SIGAR Warns

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/23/afghanistan-private-contractors-fraud_n_3639665.html



Afghanistan Reconstruction: U.S. Soldiers At Risk Because Of Private Contractors' Fraud, SIGAR Warns
The Huffington Post | By Eline Gordts
Posted: 07/23/2013 11:58 am EDT | Updated: 07/23/2013 3:56 pm EDT

Thousands of simple systems that were commissioned to ward off IED attacks on troops and civilians in Afghanistan have not been installed or were put together incorrectly, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) announced in a report on Tuesday. The agency is investigating whether the failure may have lead to the deaths of several U.S. soldiers in the country.

The systems, called culvert denial systems, are gratings that are placed over culverts under roads and embankments that have frequently been used by militants to conceal explosive devices. According to SIGAR, the U.S. Department of Defense has awarded millions in contracts to private contractors to install the grids across the country, yet several of them have failed to properly execute the contracts.

"The loss of life because individuals were not doing their job is horrific and unacceptable," said Special Inspector General John Sopko in a statement to the Huffington Post. "This case shows so clearly that fraud can kill in Afghanistan. We will find out if contracting officers did not do their job and if that proves to be true and Americans have died, we will hold those individuals accountable," he added.

The report says two Afghan contractors have been arrested on accusations of defrauding the government by failing to install 250 of the systems. The contractors had received more than $1 million to execute the contract.