U.S. Inspector Probing $293 Mln Aegis Award for Iraq Security

Posted By: March 29, 2013

By Tony Capaccio

July 30 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. inspector general for Iraq
reconstruction is investigating the May award of a $293 million
security contract to a London-based consulting firm as critics
said it should be rescinded, according to a new report.
The audit related to the Aegis Defence Systems Ltd.
contract, to be completed next month, was requested by U.S.
officials in Baghdad, Coalition Provisional Authority Inspector
General Stuart Bowen said.
“The objective of the audit is to evaluate the awarding of
the security contract,” Bowen wrote. “The audit will evaluate

procedures the Army used to plan the acquisition, select the
source and negotiate the contract.”
Funding for the work will come from the $18.4 billion in
congressionally approved U.S. tax dollars for use in Iraqi
reconstruction efforts. The Army has issued orders against the
contract worth about $92 million to provide security for
contractors and U.S. Program Management Office personnel,
according to a spread sheet included in the audit.
The Washington-based Irish National Caucus is pressing the
government to terminate the contract, alleging that the president
of Aegis commanded a British Army unit in Northern Ireland that
gunned down an unarmed civilian in 1992.
The group wrote this month to President George W. Bush;
Senator John Warner of Virginia, chairman of the Senate Armed
Services Committee; and Democratic presidential nominee Senator
John Kerry of Massachusetts.

Computer Sciences

Another protest was filed on June 22 with the U.S.
Government Accountability Office by competitor Computer Sciences
Corp.’s DynCorp International unit, which is trying to reopen the
competition, according to Daniel Gordon, the office’s contracts
attorney.
The Government Accountability Office reviews contract
protests. The review will be completed by Sept. 30, Gordon said.
“We have filed a protest,” Computer Sciences spokeswoman
Janet Herin said in an e-mailed statement. “It is under
protective order. We cannot discuss the matter any further.”
Aegis Defence’s Washington-based attorney John Pachter
referred all calls to company spokeswoman Sarah Pearson in
London, who did not immediately reply to a phone call and e-mail
requesting comment.

–Editor: Davidson