It looks like we've got an Iraqi equivalent to Michael Brown, except in this case he was a used car dealer instead of running an Arabian Horse organization. It's also different because the slap-dash, flying-by-the-seat-of-their-pants, ad libbing the war and reconstruction seems the engine behind it rather than cronyism.
Some quotes from the LA Times article:
"Ziad Cattan was a Polish Iraqi used-car dealer with no weapons-dealing experience until U.S. authorities turned him into one of the most powerful men in Iraq last year -- the chief of procurement for the Defense Ministry, responsible for equipping the fledgling Iraqi army."
"Upon his return, he rose quickly through the new ministry's ranks, becoming the director of military procurement after the first director's assassination. Cattan was chosen partly because he had done a good job obtaining furniture for the ministry building, one source said."
Makes sense - from office interior decorator to weapons procurement.