The Senate Armed Services Committee has requested a new investigation into military contractor KBR, based on accusations from a retired Army official who managed the contractor’s work in Iraq, CBS reported on its Web site Friday.

Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., and ranking Republican Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) sent a letter to the Department of Defense Inspector General on Dec. 12 requesting the investigation based on claims by former Army civilian Charles M. Smith who worked out of Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois, CBS reported.

Smith told CBS that one of the main points of contention was related to $200 million in costs, which he says KBR could not justify for troop dining facilities. He said in August 2004, as he was moving to sanction KBR, a general told him not to withhold any money from the contractor. Smith told CBS that within hours, he was told that he "was no longer a part of the program."

After he was removed, Smith told CBS, the Army outsourced the management of the KBR contract.

In a previous interview with The New York Times, the executive director of the Army Contracting Command said the military was not willing to withhold money from KBR out of fear that the company would in turn reduce its level of support for the troops in Iraq. A spokesperson for Army Contracting Command told CBS they will cooperate with any new Pentagon Inspector General investigation.

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