Rep. Henry Waxman is hot on the trail of more fraud surrounding the US Embassy in Iraq. He has obtained documents showing not only fraud, but bribery and some of the shoddiest building practices I have never seen and I was in the construction field for over 20 yrs. While Waxman didn't come right out and say it, he seems to feel members of the State Dept. also may have committed perjury before his committee. That is a hell of a lot to cram in my first paragraph, and you will need to read the entire letter he sent to Rice to understand it all.
I could post the entire letter but it would take up way too much space. I will quote a few important points and send you over to read all the nasty details. I will only post one quote before the break because it says so much, then if you are interested follow after the break.
● "[T]he entire installation is not acceptable."
As I was about to post this diary I realized I han't mentioned the total cost of the embassy so far so I googled a bit and it's seems others are way ahead of me on this already. In a report from Reuters dated tomorrow, I ran across this article with a few added details.
The sprawling complex, whose cost is edging toward $750 million, was set to open last month but U.S. lawmakers say shoddy work by the contractor and poor oversight by the State Department have delayed it.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack rejected claims of inadequate oversight and said there was no indication how long it would be before the new embassy opened....
"Anytime you have a large construction project you have punch list items, and we shall see in, I would hope, the not-too-distant future whether or not ... these delays ... fall outside the norms that one might expect for this kind of project," McCormack said. http://in.reuters.com/...
This no normal punchlist and McCormack is full of crap. There is no way to spin this shit away unless the press just falls in line as usual. You can see this for yourself by reading the article and/or the letter itself. One of the stranger things about the article is that there is no mention of the Bribery Issues. I guess we should not really be surprised by that, not anymore.
The new Embassy was scheduled to open in Sept. of this year, and at a hearing on the Embassy Maj. Gen. Charles Williams (Ret.), the Director of Overseas Building Operations for the State Dept. told the Committee this.
I am pleased to report, Mr. Chairman, that the project is on schedule and on budget. We are slated to complete the project in September of this year and personnel can begin to move into offices and residences shortly thereafter. As to project quality, OBO is proud of its employees and contractors work on this project. We have received numerous accolades as to the extremely high quality of construction. It is among the best that OBO has managed.
Sound good right? Just what we would want to hear. There are a few problems with that testimony according to Henrys letter to Condi. Here are a few of them.
This weekend, however, it was disclosed that the Embassy construction project has gone $144 million over budget and the State Department has delayed its opening indefinitely.
Trust me when I tell you it's downhill from there. How the State Dept. expected to hide all this is beyond me, and I can only guess that they don't really care. If you remember Condi has refused to testify in front of the Committee, saying she didn't have the time and had more important things to do. If she can duck the Committee for another 14 months, she will ride off into the Sunset with GW and his crew, never held to account for things like this.
● "The NEC [New Embassy Compound] is not ready for tests and the Contractor could not provide a timeline for completion."
● "Because the fire service mains are deficient, there is no reliable automatic fire sprinkler system coverage in any building on the compound."
● "None of the fire alarm detection systems were ready for testing at the time of arrival and none were completed during this site visit."
● "The Contractor continues to struggle with an understanding of the project specifications."
● "Most buildings have a complete lack of firestopping in fire rated walls and floors. Unless all openings in rated walls and floors are firestopped using approved methods and materials, a fire could spread very quickly from one area to another. This is especially true because the sprinklers are not in service."
● "[T]he entire installation is not acceptable."....
The fire service mains are installed using non-approved materials and this was noted in a trip report dated 16 October, 2006. The Contractors has not corrected this situation despite having more than 20 breaks on the system since being place in service in July 2007.
The report further noted:
[S]ome of the leaks repaired prior to our arrival failed a second time during our visit. These failures are occurring during normal use of the system and will continue to occur. There are at least 600 joints on the system, and the entire installation is not acceptable.
In the course of their work, the inspectors documented hundreds of violations of the contract specifications and the fire codes and regulations. These problems were so severe and widespread that the inspectors concluded that none of the buildings on the New Embassy Compound could be approved for occupancy. The report included the following findings:
• "The fire service underground piping and the repair methods used by the Contractor do not meet the project specifications or NFPA 24, Standard for Underground Fire Service Mains."
• "Four leaks in the fire service mains were discovered and repaired while OBO/FIR Staff were on site. The Contractor is repairing leaks by replacing the coupling(s) and encasing the new joints in concrete. This method is also not in compliance with project specifications and NFPA 24 (referenced in the project specifications)."
• "Because the fire service mains are deficient, there is no reliable automatic fire sprinkler system coverage in any building on the compound. ... A few fire sprinkler systems were placed in service, but most were not sufficiently completed to place in service. However, without the fire service mains, the sprinkler systems remain inoperative."
• "The NEC is not ready for tests and the Contractor could not provide a timeline for completion."
Oh yeah, "on schedule and on budget" is how Maj. Gen. Charles Williams put it. Hard to do without even the water mains working. But it gets even worse from here on out. Wrong building materials, shoddy workmanship, and even not performing the repairs when they are pointed out seem to be SOP in Baghdad according to more of the report.
The inspectors observed wiring problems with electrical panels, smoke detectors, and light fixtures. Many of these problems were found to be endemic throughout the Embassy. For instance, describing a photograph of faulty electrical work, inspectors noted: "Wrong wiring method. Free-wiring and open splices do not meet code or specifications." Another observation notes: "Improper wiring methods used on light fixtures. Typical throughout building."
Ok, I haven't even started on the bribery issues, and there are still many more problems with the construction itself. I think it's time to just turn you loose to go read the whole letter and let your outrage run free. The odds on anything getting done to fix these issues is what really bothers me. The illusion of any real oversight or power to change these behaviors has worn way too thin for me to buy. Chairman Waxman Writes to Secretary Rice on US Embassy in Iraq
There is a lot to digest in this letter, and the more I read it, the less I feel like talking about it. My comments will be few in this diary due to that, and the fact I need to cook dinner. Feel free to point out whatever details you feel are important, or more important than those I have highlighted already. I know there are many. Enjoy the angry, internalize it, process it, and put it to good use. You know the drill.
Update: In Sundays WaPo is another added twist to all this .
The Baghdad project has been complicated by a dispute between the U.S. ambassador in Iraq, Ryan C. Crocker, and the top Washington-based official charged with overseeing the project. That official, James L. Golden, has been barred from entering Iraq by Crocker because he allegedly disobeyed embassy orders during an investigation of a worker's death, sources said.
The sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were revealing sensitive internal matters, said Golden -- who is a contract employee -- was suspected of destroying evidence in the case. When confronted by embassy officials, he allegedly told them he worked for Washington, not the embassy. Crocker then banished him from the country. http://www.washingtonpost.com/...