Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Miami Herald
October 19, 2007 A criminal probe into the construction of the new U.S. Embassy in Iraq is under way.
By Warren P. Strobel and Jonathan S. Landay
WASHINGTON -- A mortar shell smashed into the hulking new U.S. Embassy that's under construction in Baghdad last May, damaging a wall and causing minor injuries to people inside the building. It also exposed enormous problems in the management of what has become a $592 million government construction project.
The State Department contract employee in charge of the project, James L. Golden, attempted to alter the scene of the blast, according to government officials familiar with the incident. The State Department inspector general prevented Department officials from investigating the incident, according to interviews and documents.
A congressional committee is examining whether the walls of the still-unfinished embassy complex, which are supposed to be blast-resistant, performed as they should have during the mortar attack.
U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker banished Golden from Iraq, but he continues to oversee construction of the embassy in Baghdad; to be the liaison with the contractor, Kuwait-based First Kuwaiti General Trading and Contracting Co.; and to supervise other projects for the State Department's Overseas Buildings Operations bureau.
The embassy -- actually a 104-acre, Vatican-size compound of 21 buildings meant to house and sleep about 1,000 U.S. officials -- was originally meant to open in June, then in September. Now, due to problems with the sprinkler system, the latest in a series of deficiencies blamed on First Kuwaiti, it remains unclear whether it will be ready for occupancy this year. Golden didn't return phone calls seeking comment.
McClatchy has also learned that:
• Aspects of the embassy's construction are the subject of at least one U.S. government criminal investigation, according to officials in Congress and the administration. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter and declined to divulge more details for publication.
• In order to rush the project, the long-time head of the Overseas Building Operation, retired Army Maj. Gen. Charles Williams, signed a waiver in July 2005 allowing a sole-source contract to be awarded to First Kuwaiti.
''The only acquisition option that can be considered is to issue Sole Source Awards to contractors capable of completing the design and construction in accordance with the required schedule, budget and performance parameters,'' Williams wrote in a memo reviewed by McClatchy.
• Columbia, Md.-based Cosmopolitan Inc., which was awarded the lead contract to build the embassy's classified spaces, where intelligence officers and others work, meet and store information, was kicked off the job for alleged non-performance. It was replaced by Kaseman Corp. of Chantilly, Va.
As recently as August, Williams assured the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the embassy would be ready for occupancy by the end of September.
''This and other incidents involving separate embassy construction projects raise concerns about the adequacy of the Department's management of our overseas building operations,'' committee chairman Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Cal., wrote to Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte on Oct. 4.
The State Department declined to make Williams available for an interview and directed questions to Patrick Kennedy, director of management policy.
''The plan was to complete it in two years. It is not done. It is very close to being done,'' said Kennedy, who toured the new compound last week.
Asked when the structure would be ready to occupy, he said, ``Soon. But I'm not going to tell you whether soon is in two weeks, or six weeks or eight weeks.''
Kennedy acknowledged that the problems with the fire suppression system were ''serious'' -- joints in water mains supplying the sprinklers leaked -- but he emphasized that this and other problems were discovered in the Overseas Building Operation's rigorous inspections.
The embassy has been plagued by deficiencies. The wiring in the dining facility of a nearby guard camp malfunctioned when tested in May. The Overseas Building Operation blamed Houston-based KBR Inc., the operator.
In a statement Thursday, First Kuwaiti said it ``stands by the quality of its work on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad . . . and anticipates full acceptance of the system when the final inspection occurs.''
October 19, 2007 A criminal probe into the construction of the new U.S. Embassy in Iraq is under way.
By Warren P. Strobel and Jonathan S. Landay
WASHINGTON -- A mortar shell smashed into the hulking new U.S. Embassy that's under construction in Baghdad last May, damaging a wall and causing minor injuries to people inside the building. It also exposed enormous problems in the management of what has become a $592 million government construction project.
The State Department contract employee in charge of the project, James L. Golden, attempted to alter the scene of the blast, according to government officials familiar with the incident. The State Department inspector general prevented Department officials from investigating the incident, according to interviews and documents.
A congressional committee is examining whether the walls of the still-unfinished embassy complex, which are supposed to be blast-resistant, performed as they should have during the mortar attack.
U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker banished Golden from Iraq, but he continues to oversee construction of the embassy in Baghdad; to be the liaison with the contractor, Kuwait-based First Kuwaiti General Trading and Contracting Co.; and to supervise other projects for the State Department's Overseas Buildings Operations bureau.
The embassy -- actually a 104-acre, Vatican-size compound of 21 buildings meant to house and sleep about 1,000 U.S. officials -- was originally meant to open in June, then in September. Now, due to problems with the sprinkler system, the latest in a series of deficiencies blamed on First Kuwaiti, it remains unclear whether it will be ready for occupancy this year. Golden didn't return phone calls seeking comment.
McClatchy has also learned that:
• Aspects of the embassy's construction are the subject of at least one U.S. government criminal investigation, according to officials in Congress and the administration. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter and declined to divulge more details for publication.
• In order to rush the project, the long-time head of the Overseas Building Operation, retired Army Maj. Gen. Charles Williams, signed a waiver in July 2005 allowing a sole-source contract to be awarded to First Kuwaiti.
''The only acquisition option that can be considered is to issue Sole Source Awards to contractors capable of completing the design and construction in accordance with the required schedule, budget and performance parameters,'' Williams wrote in a memo reviewed by McClatchy.
• Columbia, Md.-based Cosmopolitan Inc., which was awarded the lead contract to build the embassy's classified spaces, where intelligence officers and others work, meet and store information, was kicked off the job for alleged non-performance. It was replaced by Kaseman Corp. of Chantilly, Va.
As recently as August, Williams assured the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the embassy would be ready for occupancy by the end of September.
''This and other incidents involving separate embassy construction projects raise concerns about the adequacy of the Department's management of our overseas building operations,'' committee chairman Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Cal., wrote to Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte on Oct. 4.
The State Department declined to make Williams available for an interview and directed questions to Patrick Kennedy, director of management policy.
''The plan was to complete it in two years. It is not done. It is very close to being done,'' said Kennedy, who toured the new compound last week.
Asked when the structure would be ready to occupy, he said, ``Soon. But I'm not going to tell you whether soon is in two weeks, or six weeks or eight weeks.''
Kennedy acknowledged that the problems with the fire suppression system were ''serious'' -- joints in water mains supplying the sprinklers leaked -- but he emphasized that this and other problems were discovered in the Overseas Building Operation's rigorous inspections.
The embassy has been plagued by deficiencies. The wiring in the dining facility of a nearby guard camp malfunctioned when tested in May. The Overseas Building Operation blamed Houston-based KBR Inc., the operator.
In a statement Thursday, First Kuwaiti said it ``stands by the quality of its work on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad . . . and anticipates full acceptance of the system when the final inspection occurs.''