Political saliva test

[Lanya]

ABC: "The Pentagon rejected qualified experts for reconstruction work in Iraq because they were not deemed loyal to the Republican party, according to the former chief of staff of the Washington Office of the Coalition Provisional Authority, Frederick Smith. 'Some people were overlooked because they didn't meet the political saliva test,' Smith, now retired, told ABC News. Smith said political appointees at the Pentagon, including a special assistant to the secretary of defense and White House liaison, James O'Beirne, led the screening. ... In a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Waxman complained the Pentagon was refusing to cooperate and threatened to issue a subpoena for O'Beirne's testimony and Pentagon documents."

More on the House Oversight and Government Reform committee Iraq hearings from the WSJ's Scot Paltrow:

    A congressional investigation into waste in Iraq reconstruction work by U.S. contractors threatens to mushroom into a wider inquiry into Pentagon contracting practices in general.

    Under questioning by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Defense Contract Audit Agency chief William Reed confirmed that unsupported and questionable costs found in Iraq reconstruction contracting total more than $10 billion -- nearly three times the previous public estimate.

    David Walker, head of the Government Accountability office, Congress's audit agency, said lax contracting practices in Iraq are merely "the tip of the iceberg." They are symptomatic of loose Defense Department contracting practices over all, he said, and he urged the committee and Congress in general to conduct a broad investigation into the way the Pentagon awards and oversees contracts.

    Mr. Walker said, "There is no accountability. Organizations charged with overseeing contracts are not held accountable. Contractors are not held accountable."
via War and Piece
http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/005671.html

[BT]

The vast majority of the appointments Smith laments were temporary political appointments and perfectly legal under existing law.

Hopefully that will come out during the Waxman Inquisition.

[Lanya]

LOL at Inquisition.  Is that what you call it when law is followed and corruption is investigated?

[domer]

The question is not whether the appointments were legal as a matter of "normal" patronage, but whether the alleged political screening spawned fraud, waste and abuse -- illegal matters -- or caused them to be overlooked, to the public's detriment.

[BT]

The question is not whether the appointments were legal as a matter of "normal" patronage, but whether the alleged political screening spawned fraud, waste and abuse -- illegal matters -- or caused them to be overlooked, to the public's detriment.

Unfortunately Smith did not frame it like that, since perhaps in his capacity as chief of staff that might put the focus too close to his pencil cup.

[BT]

LOL at Inquisition.  Is that what you call it when law is followed and corruption is investigated?

What law is being followed?

[domer]

While you speculate ("close to his pencil cup"?), the fact is that Smith's formulation or introduction of the problem does not rule out my understanding of both its import and its ramifications. So too, reading between the lines (are you better at this than me?), one can be led rather directly to the concerns I express as they are central to public administration, the whole point of the exercise of which he was a part.

[Lanya]

LOL at Inquisition.  Is that what you call it when law is followed and corruption is investigated?

What law is being followed?

The process, maybe I should have said, of the Congress doing its job of investigating and oversight.  Waxman is certainly doing that.

[BT]

Waxman is certainly doing that

I certainly hope he is rooting out violations of the law and refers same for prosecution. But if his game is 6 o'clock soundbites he could save the taxpayers a boatload of money by simply airing repeats of Air America.