:: NEWS COCKTAIL aka BlahBlahBlog ::

:: 5.22.2003 ::

:: War & Iraq ::

From The Guardian UK:
CIA to review pre-war advice

The CIA has launched a review of intelligence assessments of Iraq's banned weapons programme and its links with al-Qaida, to see how the intelligence community's pre-war pronouncements compared with reality.

The idea of a review, which emerged yesterday from interviews with unidentified officials by the New York Times, had first been raised with the CIA last October by the defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld.

However, the failure of US forces in Iraq to find hard evidence for repeated claims by US intelligence agencies that Saddam Hussein was building weapons of mass destruction could make the review politically explosive, the New York Times said.

US contracts come under scrutiny
Reconstruction offers rich pickings, but must you be a Bush supporter to benefit? Guardian reporters investigate

Two official watchdogs are to review every contract awarded by the US government agency for international development, USAid, for reconstruction work in Iraq, the Guardian has learned.

The awards have been criticised because foreign firms are not allowed to bid, leading to allegations of a US carve-up.

The general accounting office (GAO) is due to examine how the eight contracts came to be handed out.

The award of the biggest contract, potentially worth $680m, to the Bechtel conglomerate is the most controversial. Bechtel has close ties to the Bush administration, making big donations to the Republican party and its candidates.

From The NY Times:
Senators Sharply Criticize Iraq Rebuilding Efforts

posted by me

:: 9:43:00 PM [+] ::
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