U.S. paid $32M for an Iraqi base never built

The U.S. military paid a Florida company nearly $32 million to build barracks and offices for Iraqi army units even though nothing was ever built, Pentagon investigators reported.

The Ramadi construction contract is one of many problems Pentagon investigators cited in this month’s report on the military’s oversight of $5.2 billion Congress approved in 2005 to help train and equip the Iraqi military and police.

The report said the military didn’t keep adequate records of equipment for the Iraqis ranging from generators and garbage trucks to thousands of guns and grenade launchers. Separately, the U.S. has launched a criminal investigation into allegations that weapons it bought for the Iraqis ended up in the hands of insurgent and terrorist groups.

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/12/gns_iraqibase_071214/