WASHINGTON, Oct 6: Top officials who managed US reconstruction projects in Iraq have been hired by some of the same big companies that received those contracts and which are now involved in a rush of deals to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina.

A review of company statements and documents show that two former directors of the Projects and Contracting Office in Baghdad are now working — either directly or indirectly — with major Iraq contractors.

Top officials from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Pentagon’s inspector general office have also joined companies that are benefiting from Katrina contracts and subcontracts in what is expected to be one of the world’s biggest reconstruction efforts, worth as much as $200 billion by some accounts.

Some lawmakers and watchdog groups complain that contractors like Shaw Group Inc., Bechtel National Inc., and Halliburton Co. subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root are using inside connections to win lucrative deals.

Scott Amey, general counsel for the Project on Government Oversight, accused the government of “throwing money to the usual suspects” and warned that the “revolving door compounds the problem of the government steering contracts with little, or no competition, to non-responsible contractors.”

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday: “Under the Bush administration, the revolving door is spinning out of control;” Acting FEMA Director David Paulison said federal contracts for Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts that were handed out with little or no competition would be rebid.

Pentagon audits released by Democrats in June showed $1.03 billion in ‘questioned’ costs and $422 million in ‘unsupported’ costs for Halliburton’s work in Iraq. Vice President Dick Cheney is a former head of the company.

About six months ago Charles Hess stepped down as head of the Projects and Contracting Office in Baghdad, which oversees multibillion-dollar reconstruction projects in Iraq. In September, after Katrina struck, he was hired by Shaw Group, a Baton Rouge-based firm with more than $100 million in contracts in Iraq.—Reuters