Thursday, May 22, 2008

Yet More Fox Like Bush Appointees for Federal Chicken Ranch


The White House announced "the President intends to appoint the following individuals to be Members of the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan:

Grant S. Green, of Virginia (Chairman of consulting firm GMD Solutions)
Dov S. Zakheim, of Maryland (VP for Booz, Allen & Hamilton's Defense Clients)

This is the second time President Bush appointed Mr. Green to a key role in his administration. In February 2001, George W. nominated him for for the position of Under Secretary of State for Management. Grant left his job as Chairman and President of GMD Solutions, a consulting firm specializing in growing government business for private companies. He rejoined the company after five years of government service. QD Technologies, a partner of the firm, had this to say about GMD:

GMD Solutions, Inc. assists clients in identifying and capturing new markets in North America for their products and services in both the government and commercial sectors through market research & market analysis, business strategy development, direct marketing and sales, and all aspects of government contracting.

Mr. Grant S. Green is chairman of a company selling consulting services to the very firms he could well hear about in investigations? That seems odd for a Commission member charged with finding and addressing contracting abuse. (Another odd finding is GMD's website has not been updated since October 26, 2006, hardly a professional presentation for a worldwide consulting firm.)

The employer of Dov Zakheim, Bush's other appointee will need to update their website soon. Booz, Allen & Hamilton's government division is being acquired by The Carlyle Group, a politically connected private equity underwriter (PEU). Dr. Zakheim is BAH's Vice President "leading Booz Allen Hamilton's work for global defense clients", "working with U.S. Combatant Commanders and allied and coalition ministries of defense worldwide." Dov, the former Chief Financial Officer for the unauditable Defense Department, recently authored a paper titled "One Stop Defense Shopping". His soon to be new employer, The Carlyle Group, is taking that strategy to another level, one stop federal government shopping.

Well there you have it, two foxes ready to guard the Pentagon's contracting chicken ranch. They should be able to stifle numerous investigations while selling their consulting services to military contractors. Only in Bushworld's government industrial monstrosity! Hmmm, Blackwater could benefit from having ex-State and Defense Department high ups like Green and Zakheim on their side. Did Blackwater's Vice Chair Cole Black call his old counterpart for consulting assistance? Grant Green and Cole Black left for the private sector in early 2005. Or did Condi Rice farm out the State Department investigation to an ex-government insider at BAH or GMD?

Her boss sent one sensitive investigation outside when he hired James Baker's law firm for the British Petroleum Texas City explosion? It let BP CEO Lord John Browne off the hook, such that he could find future employment with none other than the aforementioned Carlyle Group. Then again, George W. kept another critical investigation inside when he tapped Fran Townsend for "bust" Katrina Lessons Learned report. She omitted the hospital with the largest number of patient deaths post landfall. Weeks before LifeCare Hospitals had been acquired, by none other than The Carlyle Group. So many choices, so little time, and so much to hide...