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CBS' Exclusive label for David Martin's lead was misleading, since the bulk of his coverage concerned the public release of a report entitled Urgent Reform Needed calling on the USArmy to hire more managers to handle its $100bn in contracts for supplies in Iraq and Afghanistan. "There are currently 160,000 contractors working for the United States in the warzone but only 75 contract managers--and most of them are not trained." The "exclusive" appeared to refer to just one of those contracts: a kickback scheme "worthy of Tony Soprano" at Bagram AFB in Afghanistan. A pair of workers for Kellogg, Brown and Root have been arrested for signing false receipts for 80 tanker loads of aviation fuel that were never delivered and diverted to the black market. The KBR contractors are accused of pocketing $800,000 in kickbacks.
ABC and CBS filed a couple of other Iraq-related stories. As noted on Monday (text link), CBS continues to keep a closer eye than its rivals on the investigation into September's killing of 17 Baghdad civilians by diplomatic bodyguards working for the paramilitary Blackwater USA. Now Jim Axelrod files an update from the FBI. Detectives have purchased the wrecks of two of the bullet-ridden cars from Nisoor Square and shipped them back to its forensic laboratories at Quantico Va where they will use 3-D reconstructions to determine "the trajectory of the bullets, as well as the speed and direction of the vehicles."
ABC filed from the Pentagon, where Defense Secretary Robert Gates heralded a moderation in Iraq's carnage since it peaked four months ago. The civilian death toll has returned to the levels of this time last year; the frequency of US military deaths and attacks by roadside bombs have reverted to October 2004 levels. Gates argued that "the reduction in violence would not have been possible without the surge of 30,000 additional troops," Jonathan Karl pointed out. "Those troops are going home in the coming months raising the question of whether the violence will go up when they leave."
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