Pentagon warns British firms (must give 10% of work to US businesses)

[Barrett808]

Pentagon warns British firms
David Gow
Saturday March 27, 2004
The Guardian

The Pentagon yesterday warned British firms winning contracts under its $18.4bn (£10bn) Iraqi reconstruction programme that they would be thrown out if they failed to give a minimum 10% of the work to US small businesses.

Mark Lumer, assistant deputy secretary of the US army, said there could be grounds for default if prime contractors failed to meet that criterion. Ideally, the US would like 23% of sub-contracting work handed to American businesses.

"We will be enforcing the terms and clauses of these contracts very strictly," he told a London seminar on federal acquisition rules (FAR) organised by UK Trade & Investment, the government agency.

...

But participants, including expatriate Iraqi executives, said the reality was different from the US rhetoric, with firms facing 20% of costs in providing security and unable to meet the FAR, which are set out in 10,000 pages.

John Payne, chief executive of construction company TCI, said the bulk of the work in Iraq had been funnelled through Lebanese middle-men to Jordanian and Saudi companies.

"By the time it gets back there's nothing left for British or Iraqi firms."

(more)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1179139,00.html

[thebigidea]

1. say, wouldn't it be weird if the Iraqis had some involvement in this

Why, it'd almost be like we were liberating them instead of sucking them dry.

[MSgt213]

3. That would be too weird. You mean like letting them make decisions on who

does business in their country and how? Man, it would be like we let the Iraqi people choose their own leaders instead of us installing our own puppets.

[htuttle]

2. This is known as a 'vig' in da bidnez...

And to think of all those years John Gotti wasted his time with small potatoes rackets like gambling and numbers running. If he were still alive today, he'd be kicking himself for not getting into government work...

[aquart]

4. Pity they don't do this with American firms.