The US Army has cancelled a $US327 million contract to equip the Iraqi army, citing technical problems with the bidding process.
An Army official told reporters that new proposals for the work would be sought after a review found a huge spread in competing bids, an indication that competing suppliers had not understood the contract requirements in a uniform way.
He denied political considerations played a role in awarding the original contract.
Losing companies have claimed their bids were not properly assessed, that Virginia-based Nour USA had made an unrealistically low bid and that it did not have the experience to fulfill the contract.
Nour USA has said it stands by its proposal and insists it won the deal on merit.
Chairman Houda Farouki is a close friend of Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi.
OK, so let’s see. The US military is desperately trying to cobble together an army for Iraq, so they award the contract for the equipment to some fly-by-night Chalabi crony, and now are forced to concede that the crony can’t really produce. I wonder how Chalabi’s relatives guarding the pipeline are doing.
Crossposted at UnFairWitness
