Pentagon Investigates $6B in Contracts

The Pentagon is investigating widespread graft involving US war-zone contracts, with 29 soldiers and civilians charged so far, the New York Times reports. Most of the scrutiny focuses on a contracting office in Kuwait, where an Army major is charged with taking $10 million in bribes from companies seeking contracts in Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

More than 75 criminal investigations are under way, and the Pentagon is examining $6 billion in contracts, covering supplies from bottled water to tents. Two officers under investigation have committed suicide, the Times says. The Kuwait  office under investigation awarded about $150 million in contracts a year but was staffed by about a dozen people with limited experience, an Army colonel says. (More Army contracts stories.)