Could it be? Could it possibly be that the biggest problem in the War in Iraq is also the biggest problem with the Walter Reed scandal?

OK, there are lots of problems with the War in Iraq, but one big one has been about outsourcing. Outsourced security has been blamed for torture at Abu Ghriab, outsourced suppliers have been blamed for price gouging on oil and other products, and outsourced contractors have been blamed for shoddy and even nonexistent work.

Of course, we’re all familiar with the biggest of the outsourcing companies, Halliburton and its subsidiary KBR, who have been heavily fined for their crimes incompetence shoddy bookkeeping. While Dick Cheney was once head of Halliburton, and there’s lots of whining that they got contracts because of his influence, it is probable that they got contracts because he influenced Rumsfeld to privatize and outsource so much of the military, and that Halliburton was well-placed to take advantage.

Either way, Rumsfeld and Cheney are culpable for the shoddy service given by these contractors to our troops while the troops are in Iraq. It turns out the troops are getting shoddy service from contractors providing outsourced services at Walter Reed as well, and there’s a Halliburton connection. (Like this surprises anyone with a brain.) And the Army was warned of the problem at Walter Reed long ago:

Weightman, the fired commander, had said he was unaware of the substandard conditions.

But in a memo signed by a deputy to Weightman in September 2006, five months before reports of the problems at Walter Reed came to light, concerns were raised about care at the facility after the Army’s decision to privatize support services there.

The memo obtained by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee says Walter Reed “operations and patient care services are at risk of mission failure.”

Harvey had been the Army’s top civilian official since November 2004. Before President Bush appointed him to the position, he spent much of his career working for defense contractors, according his Army biography.

So, we’ve got the civilian head of the Army, who spent most of his career working for Defense Contractors, privatizing support services at Walter Reed during his tenure. Does Frank Harvey have Halliburton connections? Or does he have connections to the outsourcing company involved here? Turns out, as revealed on CNN last night, the possiblity certainly exists. The CEO of the outsourcing company used to work at Halliburton:

KOPPEL (voice over): Just one day after the commanding general at Walter Reed was removed from his post, House Democrats released a possible smoking gun — this internal memo from Major General George Weightman’s deputy to the Army’s medical command.

Dated September 2006, the memo describes how the Army’s recent decision to privatize support services at Walter Reed had sparked a exodus of “highly skilled and experienced personnel.” And as a result, Weightman’s deputy warned that Walter Reed’s “… base operations and patient care services are at risk of mission failure.”

Democrats investigating the situation say the Army awarded the five- year, $120 million contract in January 2006. At that time, they claim Walter Reed had over 300 federal employees in support services. By February 2006, a year later, that number had dropped to under 60.

Democrats say the company that took over, IAP Worldwide Services, was among the companies that had problems delivering ice during FEMA’s response to Hurricane Katrina. The CEO of IAP, Al Neffgen, is a former senior Halliburton official.

In a letter to General Weightman, Congressman Henry Waxman says it would be “reprehensible if the deplorable conditions (at Walter Reed) were caused or aggravated by an ideological commitment to privatize government services…” Even before news of this memo broke, Democrats were already calling for more heads to roll.

Someone needs to connect the dots here. How many of the Generals and civilian overseers involved in the Walter Reed scandal were well-connected to Pentagon contractors? How many have worked the revolving door between the military and the Defense Industry? How many Halliburton and KBR and affiliated companies have vital connections to Dick Cheney’s office? Yes, now that we know Dick Cheney’s office is the center of lies and deceit, as evidenced by the Libby case, we need to root out the corruption concerning the privatization of our military, which is responsible for poor vcare for the troops, the destruction of their reputation via Abu Ghraib, and many other sins.

Sure, the urge to outsource and privatize military services will be seen by history as the biggest folly of the Bush Administration, and much of the blame will flow to Cheney and Rumsfeld. But this is getting ridiculous. Halliburton shows up in every situation, and the Bush Administration doesn’t even look at the record of these companies before signing the contract — this IAP company, run by a former executive at Halliburton, failed in a Katrina contract.

Are the Bushies so stupid that they continue to go to failures. . . my bad. Yes, Republicans repeatedly went to the well of the Bush regime’s greatest failures. It is therefore not surprising that the Incompetence Party would also continually tap failed contractors.