WARSAW — A state-owned Polish arms company that lost the bidding to equip the new Iraqi army announced Wednesday that it has lodged a protest, throwing into doubt one of the United States' largest and most prominent nation-building projects.
Bumar Group accused the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority of ignoring key documents in the company's $558-million proposal while failing to determine the credibility of the winner, Virginia-based Nour USA, which undercut the Poles' bid with a $327-million offer.
Nour USA, formed in May, has no experience in supplying weapons. Its president, A. Huda Farouki, is a friend of Ahmad Chalabi, a member of the U.S.-chosen Iraqi Governing Council who has had close connections to the Pentagon.
Another company, Cemex Global, backed by Jordan-based Shaheen Business & Investment Group, also has filed a protest, charging that the authority "improperly" evaluated its bid to supply items including rucksacks, rifles, helmets and heavy jeeps for 26 battalions.
"This protest is 100% justified," Bumar Group Chairman Roman Baczynski said during a news conference here in the Polish capital, noting that it was the first the company had filed in its 30-year history. "We are questioning their credibility."
Farouki, a well-known Washington financier and political donor who has been a White House guest during several administrations, said the charges were groundless. He noted that his firm had delivered communications equipment and vehicles to Iraq under a 2003 contract.
Farouki said Bumar was frustrated because it had turned down a chance to partner with Nour in the bid, which was accepted Jan. 30. As recently as Tuesday, he added, Bumar offered its services to Nour USA to help fulfill the contract.
"This is all nonsense. There's no credibility to their allegations," said Farouki, who is represented by the lobbying firm of former Defense Secretary William S. Cohen. "They are grasping and grabbing at straws."
The protest, filed with the General Accounting Office, could delay the equipping of the planned 40,000-man Iraqi army, which the coalition authority is training in preparation for the planned hand-over of sovereignty to Iraq this summer.
The complaint is also a major legal test of the rules governing how the $18.4 billion in U.S. taxpayer money earmarked for Iraq's reconstruction is being spent. At issue is whether the coalition authority is subject to the same contracting rules that apply to U.S. government agencies.
