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| Iraq |
| US News: Broadcast Blues |
| 2004-01-19 |
| 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... SAIC’s 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 hadn’t 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 couldn’t be located. "We have no information about any missing equipment on this project," says SAIC’s Van Dillen. A Pentagon audit agency is conducting an equipment inventory; SAIC says that’s routine. I expect to see this one get ugly. Sen Lugar is shining the congressional spotlight on this failed effort. |
| Posted by:Super Hose |
| #2 SAIC has a long history of failing to meet Government contracts. I've had quite a number of "encounters" with SAIC, not all of them pleasant. The company has a habit of buying up other companies, failing to adequately research what those companies do, and continue to bid on contracts the former companies could have met, but which the new SAIC "affiliate" cannot, due to lack of corporate knowledge at the top. I know quite a few people that have worked for SAIC in the past. The problem is, they've gotten so big, with fingers in so many pies, that even they don't know what they've agreed to do. They're definitely well overdue for a major investigation. I only hope it doesn't get swept under the rug. I'd hate for some of my friends to lose their jobs, but I'd much more hate to see SAIC continue to fail to meet its government contracts without serious repercussions. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-1-19 4:21:01 PM |
| #1 I hope this one get's ugly. Sounds like a serious rip job. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-1-19 3:23:03 PM |