A not-so-startling report from the Center for Public Integrity only increases our skepticism in the way money is being spent to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Washington nonprofit released a report last week that tracked the political contributions of the 70 companies and individuals and the amount of work they have been hired to do in America’s two largest battle zones.

The donors in the study contributed more than $500,000 to President Bush’s political war chest and have received more than $8 billion in government contracts. The largest contract award has gone to Kellogg, Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton – the Halliburton that continues to pay Vice President Dick Cheney a deferred salary. Kellogg, Brown and Root has received work worth more than $2.3 billion.

The 10 biggest contracts went to political benefactors who had contributed $1 million or more each to various political campaigns and both political parties. Having friends in high places appears to grease the wells for lucrative work in war-torn parts of the world.

According to the watchdog organization, transparency in awarding the contracts has been replaced by confusion and no single government agency is able to provide a clear picture of how many contractors are at work and what they are doing.

Also last week, the Associated Press reported on the explosion in the number of contract workers hired for jobs ranging from cooking eggs to acting as para-military bodyguards for U.S. officials. According to the report, private armies assembled from former U.S. military personnel, troops for countries such as the Philippines, and perhaps even mercenaries are protecting the new president in Afghanistan and Paul Bremmer, our administrator in Iraq. They are also feeding our soldiers, building barracks and repairing infrastructure.

The work of the contractors is conducted away from scrutiny. Who they work for is often kept secret, even from parts of our own government.

If we are expected to donate $87 billion to rebuild these countries, we should be able to expect accountability in the way the money is spent.

We do not approve of shadow armies of “civilians” enforcing the policies of the United States. They remind us too much of extra-military organizations that have operated above the law in Latin and Central America, enforcing the will of the government in ways a legitimate military could not.

These soldiers of fortune and other contract workers fight and die alongside our troops, but are not counted in official casualty numbers and do not receive the military benefits of the soldiers for whom many of them provide support.

This seems unfair and dangerous.

For the American people to have faith in the work that is being done in our name, we must be assured that merit, not cronyism, wins government contracts. And that the activities of the government are conducted openly.

The responsibility for oversight falls to Congress. They cannot be lulled into inattention by pressure from the executive branch, and they should not be swayed from their duties by partisan priorities. There is too much at stake.


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