Hmmm....the new Democratic majority in Congress wouldn't have anything to do with this sudden interest in cleaning up corruption, would it?

Kansas City Star (h/t MrEMan)

Army investigators have opened up to 50 criminal investigations involving battlefield contractors in the war in Iraq and the U.S. fight against terrorism, The Associated Press has learned.

They include high-dollar fraud, conspiracy, bribery, and bid rigging.

Senior contracting officials, government employees, residents of other countries and, in some cases, U.S. military personnel have been implicated in millions of dollars of fraud allegations.

"All of these involve operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait," Chris Grey, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, confirmed Saturday.

Battlefield contractors have been implicated in allegations of fraud and abuse since the war in Iraq began in spring 2003. A special inspector general office that focused solely on reconstruction spending in Iraq developed cases that led to four criminal convictions.

The problems stem in part from the Pentagon's struggle to get a handle on the unprecedented number of contractors now helping run the nation's wars. Contractors are used in battle zones to do nearly everything but fight.

SilentPatriot reminds me that Robert Greenwald's Iraq for Sale shows why it's important that Congress not abdicate their responsibility of their own investigations just because the Army is holding their own.