Pentagon IG Faults Early Iraq Contracts The Defense Department’s inspector general charged that contracting officers “cut corners” and ignored procurement rules in awarding contracts soon after the invasion of Iraq and recommended that some officers be punished administratively. “The Department of Defense did not plan for the acquisition support that the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance required to perform its mission,” the report said. “As a result, supplies and services were quickly acquired and contracting rules were either circumvented or liberally interpreted…DOD cannot be assured that it was either provided the best contracting solution or paid fair and reasonable prices for the goods and services purchased.” The IG report, dated March 23, examined 24 contracts worth $122.5 million that were awarded in 2003 by the Defense Contracting Command-Washington, primarily for humanitarian assistance, such as media support, and consultants to assist the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance and its successor, the Coalition Provisional Authority. Thirteen of the 24 contracts, accounting for 90% of the money, were sole source. A single company, SAIC, received $108 million in sole-source awards. The report said the problems were caused by “the need to react quickly to the rapidly changing situation in Iraq in early 2003 and that acquisition support was an afterthought to the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance.” The audit did not cover contracts that were issued later for rebuilding Iraq. A separate IG investigation is underway into the work of the largest contractor in Iraq, Kellogg Brown and Root, Defense officials have said. The IG recommended that the department establish procedures for procurement in future occupation and relief missions. The commander of the Defense Contracting Command-Washington rejected the IG’s recommendation that some contracting officers be punished, saying there is no evidence that any of them acted illegally or in bad faith, according to the report. The IG began the investigation after the Defense Contract Auditing Agency found irregularities in the contracts.