Investigator Invasion

Three teams from the Commission on Wartime Contracting have touched down in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of a 10-day investigative trip to the two war zones.

Investigators with experience ranging from auditing to military and diplomatic to management have begun their work inspecting job sites, reviewing documents, conducting interviews and participating in briefings. The commission said the team members have detailed agendas for topics, sites and programs to look into.

The Commission on Wartime Contracting, created by the fiscal 2008 Defense authorization act, is charged with investigating reconstruction, support and security contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan and reporting back to Congress. The commission will deliver an interim report this spring and a final report in the summer of 2010. The group will issue recommendations on the reliance of contractors in wartime settings, contractor performance and accountability, management practices, contractor use of force and potential violations of law.

“We can do a lot of work with stateside interviews and computerized research, but there's no substitute for first-hand investigation," said Commission Co-Chair Michael Thibault. “There are about 200,000 contract employees working in Iraq and Afghanistan, outnumbering U.S. troops in the area. The unprecedented reliance on contractors in support of our foreign-policy and military objectives has been accompanied by many problems."