Foreign Policy: The List: Private Profits in Iraq

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Heavy metal: Bechtel manages power plants in blackout-plagued Baghdad.

Bechtel

An engineering and construction firm based in San Francisco, California

What it’s doing: Repairing key components of Iraq’s infrastructure, including the power grid, water system, schools, healthcare clinics, bridges, and telephone service

Value of contracts in Iraq: $2.3 billion, including its undisclosed profit

Major missteps: Before pulling out of Iraq last month, Bechtel failed to complete several tasks it had agreed to take on. Its biggest failure? Not completing the construction of a new children’s hospital in Basra. The hospital, which was trumpeted by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and First Lady Laura Bush, fell a year behind schedule and overran its original budget by as much as 150 percent.

Bechtel’s take: The company claims security was the biggest obstacle to its operations in Iraq, pointing to 52 company casualties (47 of whom were Iraqi nationals). As to why the company failed to finish building the children’s hospital, Bechtel also points to difficult soil conditions in the area.

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On the fence: Legal issues remain over the use of contracted interrogators at prisons in Iraq.

CACI

Information technology contractor based in Arlington, Virginia

What it’s doing: Interrogation services and intelligence gathering

Value of contracts in Iraq: More than $66 million

Major missteps: More than 30 CACI interrogators have operated alongside U.S. Army counterparts in Iraq, and at least one was implicated in the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison that was uncovered in 2004. The abuse scandal led to private lawsuits accusing the company of torture. CACI responded in September 2005 by announcing it would no longer perform interrogations in Iraq.

CACI’s take: None of the company’s employees was ever charged for the Abu Ghraib scandal, and the company continues to assert that its employees met the requirements stipulated by its contract with the U.S. military.

AFP PHOTO/DAVID FURST
Gobbling up profits: Last year, Halliburton served 300,000 pounds of Thanksgiving turkey to U.S. troops overseas.

KBR

The major engineering and construction arm of Houston, Texas-based Halliburton.

What it’s doing: Reconstruction of Iraq’s oil industry, as well as providing logistical support and services to the U.S. military

Value of contracts in Iraq: More than $10 billion

Major missteps: U.S. government auditors have slammed Halliburton for weak cost controls, mismanagement, and overbilling. Overhead costs accounted for 55 percent, or $163 million, of its contract to restore Iraq’s oil industry to working order. It also billed the government for work it didn’t do and overpriced gasoline it imported into the beleaguered country.

Halliburton’s take: The company blames the high overhead costs on poor planning by the U.S. government, including requiring the company to prepare for work that did not begin for nearly a year.

www.parsonsiraq.com
Down to the wire: A Parsons detention center.

Parsons Corp

A Pasadena, California, engineering and construction company

What it’s doing: Rebuilding Iraq’s infrastructure, including healthcare and security facilities and water and sewage systems

Value of contracts in Iraq: More than $5 billion

Major missteps: The Pentagon terminated one of its contracts with Parsons when only six of the 142 health clinics the company was contracted to build were completed after more than two years. The company also cut corners on a $75 million police academy, leaving bathrooms that leak into student barracks.

Parsons’ take: The contractor cites a lack of security in Iraq when explaining its construction shortcomings. The company’s executives also blame subcontractors for the mess.


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