Inspector general report: U.S. cannot account for $1.7 billion spent in Iraq

[unhappycamper]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/06/inspector-general-report-u-s-cannot-account-for-1-7-billion-spent-in-iraq/



Stuart Bowen, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, attends a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill on November 18, 2010 in Washington, DC.

Inspector general report: U.S. cannot account for $1.7 billion spent in Iraq
By Agence France-Presse
Wednesday, March 6, 2013 15:07 EST

After invading Iraq ten years ago, the United States spent $60 billion on a vast reconstruction effort that left behind few successes and a litany of failures, an auditor’s report said Wednesday.

The ambitious plan to transform the country after the fall of Saddam Hussein has been marked by half-finished projects and crushed expectations, according to the final report of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Stuart Bowen.

The aid effort was plagued by in-fighting among US agencies and an improvised “adhocracy” approach, with no one clearly in charge of a massive investment that was supposed to put Iraq on a stable footing, said the report to Congress.

~snip~

Some of the reconstruction money was stolen, with a number of US military officers and contractors now imprisoned for fraud, while other funds remain unaccounted for to this day, it said.



unhappycamper comment: Lest you think only $1.7 billion dollars disappeared in Iraq, there was also this little gem from 2004:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,129489,00.html

Audit Shows $8.8B Missing in Iraq
Published August 20, 2004
FoxNews.com

A soon-to-be-released audit will show that at least $8.8 billion in Iraqi money that was given to Iraqi ministries by the former U.S.-led authority there cannot be accounted for, FOX News has confirmed.

~snip~

The draft audit by the Coalition Provisional Authority's (search) inspector general chastises the CPA — formerly led by L. Paul Bremer — for "not providing adequate stewardship" of at least $8.8 billion from the Development Fund for Iraq. The audit is not expected to be released for at least two or three more weeks, possibly longer.

The audit was first reported on a Web site earlier this month by journalist and retired Col. David Hackworth. A U.S. official first confirmed to Reuters the contents of the leaked audit cited by Hackworth were accurate.

~snip~

One of the main benefactors of the Iraq funds was Texas-based firm Halliburton, which was paid more than $1 billion of that money to bring in fuel for Iraqi civilians. The monitoring board said it had not been given access to U.S. audits of contracts held by Halliburton (search).


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Color me surprised. Not.....