[quote]McCain: Air Force leaders must answer for contract

WASHINGTON - Sen. John McCain called Friday for "full accountability" for Air Force officials involved in a controversial contract to acquire tanker aircraft from Boeing, accusing them of incompetence or corruption.

"Either way, full accountability among Air Force leadership is in order," said McCain, `R-Ariz`.

Reading from previously unreleased internal Air Force `e-mails`, McCain charged that Air Force Secretary James Roche, who resigned this week, and other Pentagon officials conspired with Boeing to fix the bidding on a $23.5 billion contract that would have added 100 Boeing 767s to the Air Force tanker fleet.

Roche wrote "Go Boeing!" in one `e-mail`, McCain said. Roche also disparaged one of Boeing's competitors, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) and its North American chief executive officer, Ralph Crosby. EADS owns 80 percent of the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus.

"Ralphie is the CEO and chairman of a marketing firm, for that's all there is to EADS, North America," Roche wrote.

A Roche aide said the secretary was traveling and unavailable for comment. Air Force spokesman Doug Karas said the `e-mails` are old news. "The `e-mails` . . . reflect negotiations on an acquisition program that is now behind us," he said.

McCain has long criticized the tanker deal. But his speech Friday was unusually harsh, apparently an effort to prevent Roche's resignation from ending the controversy.[/quote]

McCain Statement on US Air Force Accountability Regarding the Boeing 767 Tanker Lease Deal