DOD: "It Doesn't Make Sense To Put Dollars In For A Program That Is Under Investigation"

The Pentagon has now pushed back a deal to lease and purchase 100 Boeing 767 aircraft to be used as refueling tankers because of the ongoing investigation into just how the world's biggest aircraft manufacturer got the job.

DoD Comptroller-General Dov Zakheim, told the London Financial Times, "It doesn't make much sense to put dollars in for a program that is under investigation."

Last month Boeing fired Michael Sears, its chief financial officer, and former Deputy Assistant Air Force Secretary Darleen Druyun, who had since joined the company as a senior vice president. Boeing said Sears approached Druyun with a job offer while she was overseeing negotiations on a deal to replace the military's decaying KC-135 fleet. Boeing got the deal and Druyun got the job.

Even though Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz called the delay a "pause," the Pentagon is apparently nowhere near making a finding. "The IG has to do his work and the staff have to do their work, at their pace to their satisfaction, and I don't think anything should impinge on that," said Zakheim.

FMI: www.boeing.com