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US News: Broadcast Blues
EFL of a three page article on the pro-Coalition Iraqi/Arabic broadcast station that we all expected to see but which never appeared. What happened? Some U.S. officials and others critical of the project say the principal contractor stumbled, almost from the beginning. Science Applications International Corp. won $82 million in contracts to create the Iraqi Media Network, or IMN. But the operation was amateurish at best, according to the critics, who point out that the big defense contractor had no special expertise in broadcasting and publishing. The IMN was also seen as far too close to American officials in Baghdad to be credible. "The Iraqis," says a former SAIC consultant, "know state-run TV when they see it." American officials described widespread problems with the IMN project. Pentagon contracting officials found that SAIC failed to account for transmitters and other equipment that were paid for but never delivered to Iraqi TV stations in the field, according to a source with firsthand knowledge. Separately, the contractor spent top dollar for executives--up to $273 an hour--but skimped on basic equipment for its Iraqi journalists. SAIC also paid bloated fees for security officers, up to $1,000 each a day... SAICâs problems stem, in part, from a November visit to Iraq by four Pentagon contracting officials who reviewed the project. SAIC was supposed to build an infrastructure that would let it beam programming to the Iraqis. But the officials discovered that SAIC had been paid for work it had not completed, according to a person familiar with their visit. They found that 11 of 16 large shipping containers of gear hadnât been unloaded, although a U.S. official in Baghdad certified that the work had been done. At one TV station, the Pentagon visitors expected to find a transmitter, antenna equipment, and feeder cables, but the gear couldnât be located. "We have no information about any missing equipment on this project," says SAICâs Van Dillen. A Pentagon audit agency is conducting an equipment inventory; SAIC says thatâs routine. I expect to see this one get ugly. Sen Lugar is shining the congressional spotlight on this failed effort. Posted by: Super Hose 2004-01-19 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=24643 |