Public Integrity
Posted: 2007-11-21 20:34:47 [1]
KBR, Inc., the global engineering and construction giant, won more than $16 billion in U.S. government contracts for work in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2004 to 2006—far more than any other company, according to a new analysis by the Center for Public Integrity. In fact, the total dollar value of contracts that went to KBR [2]—which used to be known as Kellogg, Brown, and Root and until April 2007 was a subsidiary of Halliburton—was nearly nine times greater than those awarded to DynCorp International [3], a private security firm that is No. 2 on the Center's list of the top 100 recipients of Iraq and Afghanistan reconstruction funds.
Another private security company, Blackwater USA [4], whose employees recently killed as many as 17 Iraqi civilians in what the Iraqi government alleges was an unprovoked attack, is 12th on the list of companies and joint ventures, with $485 million in contracts. (On November 14, the New York Times reported that FBI investigators have concluded that 14 of the 17 shootings were unjustified and violated deadly-force rules in effect for security contractors in Iraq, and that Justice Department prosecutors are weighing whether to seek indictments.) First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting [5], which immediately precedes Blackwater on the Top 100, came under fire in July after a pair of whistleblowers told a House committee that the company essentially "kidnapped" low-paid foreign laborers brought in to help build the new U.S. embassy in Baghdad. First Kuwaiti and the U.S. State Department denied the charges.
Other key findings from the Center's analysis:
• Over the three years studied, more than $20 billion in contracts went to foreign companies [6] whose identities—at least so far—are impossible to determine.
• Nearly a third of the companies and joint ventures on the Top 100 are based outside the United States. These foreign contractors, along with the $20 billion in contracts awarded to the unidentified companies, account for about 45 percent of all funds obligated to the Top 100.
• U.S. government contracts for work in Iraq and Afghanistan have grown more than 50 percent annually, from $11 billion in 2004 to almost $17 billion in 2005 and more than $25 billion in 2006.
According to David Walker, the comptroller general of the United States, the outsourcing of government has escalated across the board over the past five years, although oversight of the process has shrunk during this same period. In an interview with the Center for Public Integrity, Walker noted particular problems with military contracting. "We have identified about 15 systemic, longstanding acquisition and contracting problems that exist within the Defense Department—which is the single biggest contractor within the U.S. government—that we are still not making enough progress on," said Walker, who heads the Government Accountability Office. "I mean, this stuff isn't rocket science."
While KBR earns the top spot among individual companies and their subsidiaries, the firm's $16 billion in obligated contracts is eclipsed by $20.4 billion in contracts that went to a nebulous collection of companies identified by the U.S. government only as "foreign contractors." The Center has filed a Freedom of Information request for the 50 largest contracts—collectively worth some $19.6 billion—awarded to these unnamed companies. The largest of these contracts is worth more than $6 billion—a sum that would catapult the unidentified recipient to the No. 2 spot on the Top 100.
In October 2003, when the Center published "Windfalls of War," Halliburton's Kellogg, Brown, and Root was also the top recipient of U.S. government contracts for the postwar effort, with more than $2.3 billion in awards over two years (see the story here [7]). By contrast, Bechtel, the only other company on that 2003 roster to have received more than $1 billion in awards, won a second large contract in January 2004—this one for $1.8 billion—but left Iraq after completing its work in March 2007. Since this Top 100 represents contracts newly awarded in fiscal years 2004 to 2006, Bechtel is not on the list.
When the 2003 study was published, federal agencies did not comprehensively distinguish war contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan from other government contracts; therefore, Center researchers had to flush out these contracts one by one. Since then, however, most such contracts list Iraq or Afghanistan as their "place of performance," making the contracting process more transparent and the search for data—available from the General Service Administration's Federal Procurement Data System—more methodical.
Unidentified Foreign Entities [8]
Who Got What in Iraq and Afghanistan, 2004–2006
| Rank | Contract ID | Department | Contractor | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DAAA0902D0007 [109] | Defense | KBR Inc (formerly known as Kellogg Brown and Root) | $15,447,831,814 |
| 2 | W91GY006D6001 [110] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $6,083,781,531 |
| 3 | SLMAQM04C0030 [111] | State | DynCorp International (Veritas Capital) | $2,022,231,411 |
| 4 | W91GER06D6001 [112] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $1,199,856,920 |
| 5 | W91GXY06D6001 [113] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $1,143,080,801 |
| 6 | DACA6303D0005 [114] | Defense | KBR Inc (formerly known as Kellogg Brown and Root) | $1,110,850,779 |
| 7 | W91GXX05D0001 [115] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $1,068,938,580 |
| 8 | W91GY005D0001 [116] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $1,036,119,038 |
| 9 | W91GEU06D6001 [117] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $1,017,216,015 |
| 10 | W91GET06D6001 [118] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $788,908,449 |
| 11 | W91GXY05D0001 [119] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $713,018,409 |
| 12 | FA890304D8672 [120] | Defense | Environmental Chemical Corp | $701,631,608 |
| 13 | F3460197D0425 [121] | Defense | L-3 Communications Holdings Inc | $537,120,730 |
| 14 | W912ER04D0003 [122] | Defense | Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) | $515,202,184 |
| 15 | W91GFB06D6001 [123] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $507,222,972 |
| 16 | W91GY105D0001 [124] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $486,913,401 |
| 17 | DACA7803D0004 [125] | Defense | Washington Group International Inc | $459,372,435 |
| 18 | F0863702D6999 [126] | Defense | IAP Worldwide Services Inc (Cerberus Capital Management LP) | $450,116,220 |
| 19 | W91GXZ06D6001 [127] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $446,141,452 |
| 20 | W91GY106D6001 [128] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $442,275,450 |
| 21 | W91GF506D6001 [129] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $439,013,996 |
| 22 | W912ER04D0008 [130] | Defense | Perini Corp | $433,558,489 |
| 23 | SAQMPD05D1098 [131] | State | Blackwater USA | $422,390,292 |
| 24 | W912ER04D0004 [132] | Defense | Fluor Corp | $419,799,032 |
| 25 | W91GXZ05D0001 [133] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $393,031,178 |
| 26 | W91GXX06D6001 [134] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $390,415,902 |
| 27 | W91GFL06D6001 [135] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $379,300,565 |
| 28 | W91GF906D6001 [136] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $376,017,573 |
| 29 | W912DY04D0005 [137] | Defense | Parsons Corp | $368,376,897 |
| 30 | W52P1J05D0004 [138] | Defense | AECOM Technology Corp | $322,500,160 |
| 31 | DACA7803D0005 [139] | Defense | Fluor Corp | $321,841,969 |
| 32 | DACA7803D0006 [140] | Defense | Perini Corp | $317,265,394 |
| 33 | W91B4M06D6001 [141] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $305,186,209 |
| 34 | W912ER04D0005 [142] | Defense | KBR Inc (formerly known as Kellogg Brown and Root) | $305,015,561 |
| 35 | FA890304D8690 [143] | Defense | Laguna Pueblo (Laguna Construction Company Inc) | $289,549,156 |
| 36 | W91GET05D0001 [144] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $288,181,096 |
| 37 | FA890304D8669 [145] | Defense | AMEC PLC | $287,772,409 |
| 38 | W91GER05D0001 [146] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $243,730,393 |
| 39 | W914NS04D0010 [147] | Defense | Washington Group International Inc | $242,594,658 |
| 40 | FA890304D8677 [148] | Defense | Tetra Tech Inc | $238,686,311 |
| 41 | W91GEU05D0001 [149] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $234,820,178 |
| 42 | W9126G04D0001 [150] | Defense | KBR Inc (formerly known as Kellogg Brown and Root) | $228,100,000 |
| 43 | FA890304D8681 [151] | Defense | Weston Solutions Inc | $222,054,165 |
| 44 | W91GXE06D6001 [152] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $208,278,256 |
| 45 | SALMEC05C0020 [153] | State | First Kuwaiti General Trading And Contracting Company Wll | $199,172,106 |
| 46 | SP060006D1010 [154] | Defense | Red Star Enterprises Ltd | $196,931,826 |
| 47 | W912ER04D0010 [155] | Defense | Washington Group International Inc | $189,043,588 |
| 48 | W913TY05D9001 [156] | Defense | U.S.-Afghanistan Reconstruction Council | $182,700,305 |
| 49 | FA890304D8678 [157] | Defense | Toltest Inc | $177,348,475 |
| 50 | W912DY04D0006 [158] | Defense | USA Environmental Inc | $175,692,711 |
| 51 | W91GFL05D0001 [159] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $168,316,446 |
| 52 | W916QW04D0011 [160] | Defense | IAP Worldwide Services Inc (Cerberus Capital Management LP) | $155,805,900 |
| 53 | W91CRB04D0004 [161] | Defense | General Dynamics Corp | $152,899,140 |
| 54 | FA890304D8680 [162] | Defense | Washington Group International Inc | $151,177,806 |
| 55 | SALMEC04C0008 [163] | State | Lockheed Martin Corp | $144,323,011 |
| 56 | SAQMPD04D0061 [164] | State | Blackwater USA | $144,107,095 |
| 57 | DJJ05C1161 [165] | Justice | L-3 Communications Holdings Inc | $141,948,189 |
| 58 | W912DY04D0011 [166] | Defense | Tetra Tech Inc | $130,406,881 |
| 59 | W91GF505D0001 [167] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $127,926,159 |
| 60 | W912DY04D0018 [168] | Defense | EOD Technology Inc | $127,428,620 |
| 61 | W912CM05D0011 [169] | Defense | L-3 Communications Holdings Inc | $121,940,367 |
| 62 | FA890304D8676 [170] | Defense | The Shaw Group Inc | $116,889,535 |
| 63 | W91B4P06D6001 [171] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $114,817,914 |
| 64 | SP060004D1017 [172] | Defense | Refinery Associates of Texas Inc | $108,533,683 |
| 65 | FA890306D8511 [173] | Defense | Environmental Chemical Corp | $108,491,178 |
| 66 | FA890304D8694 [174] | Defense | Ellis Environmental Group LC | $104,892,373 |
| 67 | SAQMPD05C1189 [175] | State | Triple Canopy Inc | $104,344,007 |
| 68 | W56HZV06DD044 [176] | Defense | Mac International FZE | $99,443,490 |
| 69 | FA890306D8513 [177] | Defense | Innovative Technical Solutions Inc | $99,344,752 |
| 70 | FA890304D8683 [178] | Defense | Cape Environmental Management Inc | $99,128,868 |
| 71 | W91GFC06D6001 [179] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $97,799,343 |
| 72 | W912BU05D0002 [180] | Defense | IAP Worldwide Services Inc (Cerberus Capital Management LP) | $95,251,029 |
| 73 | W912ER04D0006 [181] | Defense | Odebrecht-Austin Joint Venture | $92,778,821 |
| 74 | W911S004C0003 [182] | Defense | Aegis Defence Services Ltd | $92,310,681 |
| 75 | SALMEC05C0019 [183] | State | First Kuwaiti General Trading And Contracting Company Wll | $90,991,466 |
| 76 | FA890306D8519 [184] | Defense | Toltest Inc | $89,246,654 |
| 77 | W91GY306D6001 [185] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $86,717,215 |
| 78 | SP060005D1014 [186] | Defense | Petrol Ofisi A S | $85,320,240 |
| 79 | SALMEC05C0030 [187] | State | First Kuwaiti General Trading And Contracting Company Wll | $85,319,830 |
| 80 | DACA8700D0038 [188] | Defense | Parsons Corp | $80,317,591 |
| 81 | SALMEC05C0021 [189] | State | First Kuwaiti General Trading And Contracting Company Wll | $77,740,502 |
| 82 | SLMAQM99D0144 [190] | State | Ronco Consulting Corp | $72,695,582 |
| 83 | FA890304D8689 [191] | Defense | Innovative Technical Solutions Inc | $71,032,378 |
| 84 | FA890306D8520 [192] | Defense | URS Corporation | $68,229,301 |
| 85 | W912DY04D0008 [193] | Defense | Environmental Chemical Corp | $68,196,805 |
| 86 | W913TY05D9002 [194] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $65,896,024 |
| 87 | W916QW05D0012 [195] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $65,716,041 |
| 88 | FA890304D8671 [196] | Defense | Tyco International Ltd | $64,436,896 |
| 89 | FA890304D8670 [197] | Defense | CH2M HILL Companies Ltd | $61,342,832 |
| 90 | SOPRAQ98C0051 [198] | State | DynCorp International (Veritas Capital) | $61,029,210 |
| 91 | FA300206D0006 [199] | Defense | IAP Worldwide Services Inc (Cerberus Capital Management LP) | $60,664,067 |
| 92 | SP060004D1016 [200] | Defense | Turcas Petrol A S | $59,265,078 |
| 93 | W912BU05D0004 [201] | Defense | I and S Acquisition Corporation | $59,160,571 |
| 94 | W917PM05C0008 [202] | Defense | Rizzani de Eccher SpA | $56,705,000 |
| 95 | W91GFB05D0001 [203] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $55,446,589 |
| 96 | W912ER04D0009 [204] | Defense | The Shaw Group Inc | $55,331,004 |
| 97 | W91B4N06D6001 [205] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $53,794,262 |
| 98 | W917PM04D0005 [206] | Defense | Technologists Inc | $53,683,896 |
| 99 | W91B4L06D6001 [207] | Defense | Unidentified Foreign Entities | $52,500,049 |
| 100 | W91CRB05D0014 [208] | Defense | L-3 Communications Holdings Inc | $51,111,434 |
Methodology
This list was created from data covering contract transactions executed in fiscal years 2004, 2005, and 2006, where the reported place of performance was Iraq or Afghanistan. The data—available from the General Service Administration's Federal Procurement Data System—is limited to the 100 vendors receiving the most obligated funds during this three-year period.
When the Center for Public Integrity published its first "Windfalls of War" investigation, in October 2003, up-to-date data on federal contracting activity was not available. As a result, Center staff gathered contract amounts from documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. Since then, however, most such contracts for the post-war efforts list Iraq or Afghanistan as their "place of performance," making the contracting process more transparent and the search for data—available from the General Service Administration's Federal Procurement Data System—more methodical.
Contract amounts in the new data represent actual dollars obligated for products or services. Because of variability in how amounts were reported in the 2003 documents, amounts from the original report cannot be accurately combined or compared with dollar amounts in the 2007 update.
The updated data does not include all Iraq reconstruction contracts. For example, contract transactions handled by the Army Joint Contracting Command Iraq/Afghanistan is maintained in a separate system. Though summary information about those contracts is available from various sources, including the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction quarterly reports to Congress, detailed transaction information is not generally available to the public.
The Center has requested information about these contract transactions under the Freedom of Information Act. That information will be added here as it is made available.
To the best of our ability, we have attributed contract amounts in the new data to the parent companies of the various divisions and subsidiaries reported. Parent companies were identified using such sources as the GSA's Central Contractor Registry, online business information services, and company websites.