Contractors

States have an obligation to prosecute perpetrators of war crimes in their courts

Private Contractors and Violations of the Law in Iraq and Afghanistan

Private contractors (also known as private military or security contractors) provide a range of services for and on behalf of the US armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Contractors prepare meals for soldiers, drive supply trucks, provide military training, and provide security for US civilian officials.    » read more »

WASHINGTON - Today, Presidential candidate Chris Dodd released the following statement on the State Department's decision to outsource the investigation of Blackwater's shooting of Iraqi civilians to Blackwater:

"By outsourcing the investigation of Blackwater's shooting of Iraqi civilians to Blackwater, the State Department has allowed the fox to guard the hen house.

"This tragic incident, and the string of others involving Blackwater, remind us that unregulated military contractors can put American troops, policy, and reputation at risk when their actions create strife in Iraq."    » read more »

02 October 2007 -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he expects to order several steps to improve the supervision of security contractors working for the U.S. military in Iraq.

Secretary Gates said he read a report early Tuesday from a five-member team he sent to Iraq last week to assess the use and supervision of security contractors. The secretary ordered the review two weeks ago after contractors from the Blackwater security company working for the State Department were accused of killing at least 11 Iraqi civilians during a shootout in Baghdad.    » read more »

Settlement is Commonwealth’s Largest-Ever Groundwater Natural Resource Damage Recovery

October 01, 2007 -- BOSTON – Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles today entered into a $1 million Natural Resource Damages (NRD) settlement with Textron Systems Corporation of Wilmington, a defense contractor that conducted weapons testing in a section of the Massachusetts Military Reservation that constitutes a major groundwater recharge area for the Cape Cod Aquifer.    » read more »

Iraq Reconstruction, Defense and Security

October 01, 2007 -- Previously undisclosed information reveals (1) Blackwater has engaged in 195 “escalation of force” incidents since 2005, an average of 1.4 per week, including over 160 incidents in which Blackwater forces fired first; (2) after a drunken Blackwater contractor shot the guard of the Iraqi Vice President, the State Department allowed the contractor to leave Iraq and advised Blackwater on the size of the payment needed “to help them resolve this”; and (3) Blackwater, which has received over $1 billion in federal contract    » read more »

September 27, 2007 -- On February 7, 2007, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing to initiate an investigation into the performance and accountability of private military contractors in Iraq. The hearing included the examination of one prominent case study: a pivotal event of the Iraq War in which four Blackwater USA security contractors were ambushed and killed in Fallujah on March 31, 2004, while escorting a convoy.    » read more »

Legislation demands answers on role of contractors in Iraq

September 28, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last night, the United States Senate accepted an amendment to the Defense Department Authorization bill introduced by U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) that will require federal departments to compile and report information to Congress on the role of private security contractors in Iraq.    » read more »

September 26, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today released the following statement after Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ decision to investigate the role of security contractors in Iraq:

“Secretary Gates’ decision to investigate the Pentagon’s oversight of security contractors in Iraq is a welcome development, but it’s important for the Bush Administration to provide a more complete accounting of the role of contractors generally in Iraq.”    » read more »

September 27, 2007 -- TRENTON - New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine today signed an executive order regarding prevailing wage requirements for contractors who provide building services for State-leased government buildings.

The executive order ensures that prevailing wage requirements apply to situations where the State is a tenant in the building but the building owner, rather than the State, contracts for the provision of building services.

The full text of the executive order is below.

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 86    » read more »

Men Were Subcontractors On Big Dig

September 28, 2007 -- BOSTON – Two Marshfield men have been indicted on charges they ran two schemes to steal more than $250,000 from the state while hauling construction materials as subcontractors on the Central Artery/Tunnel project. James Roderick, Sr., age 61, owner of now-defunct Y2Krush Corp. and James Roderick, Jr., age 37, owner of Durod Ltd., all of Marshfield, were each charged with larceny over $250 by continuous scheme (2 counts), fraud in procurement, presentation of false claims, and conspiracy (3 counts).    » read more »

September 20, 2007 -- Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that the Department of Economic and Community Development, in partnership with the Hartford Economic Development Corporation (HEDCo), has established a $1 million Minority Bonding Guaranty Program that will expand opportunities for minority contractors in Hartford.    » read more »

Manufactured homes dealer must pay $110,925 in refunds

September 4, 2007 -- Springfield, Mo. — A Springfield manufactured homes dealer has been ordered to refund $110,925 to consumers after accepting payment from customers for homes but failing to deliver them as promised under an amended preliminary injunction obtained today by Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon. Today’s court order in Green County Circuit Court is against Michael Jackson, who does business as Dogwood Homes, and Kay Jackson, who works for the business.    » read more »

More than $250,000 in Disputed Down Payment Never Returned

September 3, 2007 -- Chicago - Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court on Friday alleging that two Chicago area real estate developers have violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act by failing to complete construction on 39 homes and by further failing to refund $250,000 in down payments to the customers – most first-time home buyers with dreams of homeownership.    » read more »

Noble Construction allegedly violated prevailing wage laws; Owner/operator face prison, restitution

ALBANY, N.Y. (August 23, 2007) – New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo announced the arrests and arraignments of the owner and operator of a Watertown-based construction company on charges that they underpaid 11 flooring installers in excess of $90,000 while working on renovations of Albany’s Alfred E. Smith State Office Building.    » read more »