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August 10, 2005
Army Whistleblower Exists
I've heard it said in many circles that the army procurement system is a joke - a rubber stamp on war profiteering by Halliburton and other Bush admin cronies. I never realized there was a procurement officer in the Army who agreed with me - Bunnatine "Bunny" Greenhouse.
When Gen. Ballard hired her in 1997 she was overqualified — three master's degrees and more than 20 years of contracting experience in private industry, the Army and the Pentagon.By the way, Ballard retired which is part of the reason Ms. Greenhouse is facing such an uphill battle within the Army. She's been demoted for pointing out that many of Halliburton's contracts are illegal because there was no competitive bidding process and because they are bilking American taxpayers for millions of dollars (charging for meals that were never served; serving military personnel rotten food; over-charging for oil)."She is probably the most professional person I've ever met, " Ballard said. "And she plays it straight. That created problems for her after I left."
Ballard used her, he said, to help him revolutionize the Corps — by ending the old-boys practice of awarding contracts to a favored few, and by imposing private industry standards on a mammoth, 230-year-old government agency with 35,000 workers. He felt the Corps, which had overseen everything from building hydroelectric dams to the Soo Locks to the Manhattan Project, needed a hard boot into the new age of contracting.
"The Corps is a tough organization. And I'll tell you, it's not easy to be a woman in this organization, and a black one at that," said Ballard, who was the first black leader of the Corps.
He is not optimistic about her future.
"I think you can put a fork in it," he said. "Her career is done."
More info:
"Army Whistleblower Draws Fire," by Deborah Hastings, AP National Writer via Yahoo News and the Feminist Peace Network.
Posted by cj at August 10, 2005 9:32 AM
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