From today's
Wall Street Journal:
More than 18 months after the Pentagon disbanded the Coalition Provisional Authority that ran Iraq, neither the Justice Department nor a special inspector general has moved to recover large sums suspected of disappearing through fraud and price gouging in reconstruction.
Earlier audits by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction -- a post Congress created in late 2004 -- found that oversight of contractors by the Authority was so lax that widespread abuse was likely. An audit in April 2005, for example, found "significant deficiencies in contract administration," which meant that "there was no assurance that fraud, waste, and abuse did not occur in the management and administration of contracts" the U.S. awarded with Iraqi oil money administered by the United Nations.
Our government, like Dick Cheney during Vietnam, claims it has "other priorities" than accounting for the $38 Billion in booty:
Nevertheless, there hasn't been a concerted effort to trace what happened to the money and make recipients pay back any ill-gotten gains. The inspector general's office said it doesn't plan to ask the Justice Department to file lawsuits or to conduct widespread audits of individual contracts to look for fraud.
Instead, it says, it is using its limited resources to pursue higher priorities, including investigating charges of bribery to win some Iraqi work and auditing current controls on the spending of redevelopment aid.
WTF? Investigating bribery? Sounds like Herr Cheney is upset that Halliburton didn't get ALL of the work contracted in Iraq.
Bremer raises a McNamara like excuse to avoid responsibility (and criminal investigation):
Paul Bremer, who ran the Authority, wrote in response to one critical audit that it unfairly assumed that "Western-style budgeting and accounting standards" should apply "in the midst of war."
So, how much money is $38 Billion? What else could be done with it? Here are a few annual budget figures for comparison, from the FY2006 Budget summary:
Total budget for Homeland Security for 2006 - $31 Billion
Total budget for Department of Agriculture for 2006 - $19 Billion
Total budget for Department of Education for 2006 - $56 Billion
Total budget for HUD for 2006 - $28 Billion
Total budget for Department of the Interior for 2006 - $10 Billion
Total budget for Department of Justice (includes FBI) for 2006 - $19 Billion
Total budget for Department of State for 2006 - $31 Billion
Total budget for Department of Transportation for 2006 - $11 Billion
Total budget for Department of Veterans' Affairs for 2006 -$31 Billion