22. Bechtel
Bechtel is yet another
Iraq contractor who seems to have benefited from close ties to the Bush
Admistration. How else would a company recommended by the man who oversaw the
Big Dig disaster possibly be awarded a $2.4 billion, no-bid reconstruction
contract for Iraq’s infrastructure? Journalists and competitors are scratching
their heads at why the Bush Administration trusted the choice of USAID chief
Andrew Natsios after his woefully ineffective tenure at the head of the
Massachussetts Turnpike Authority. While in that capacity, the Big Dig’s
operating costs ballooned from an initial $2.6 billion to $14.6 billion, and the
job still took years to complete!