hundreds of Millions of US funds wasted/missing in Iraq
El_Kabong
Posts: 4,141
way to go guys, maybe we can go to war w/ iran and lose a bunch of more money! fools
video here
Video: Congress to investigate Iraq waste reports AP
http://video.ap.org/v/en-ap/v.htm?g=c015ff34-6700-4916-ba2b-329b46133cc9&f=aporg&fg=email
and an article
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2576814,00.html
Millions of dollars intended for the rebuilding of Iraq have been squandered amid continuing incompetence, corruption and a deteriorating security situation, American government auditors have revealed.
A damning report by Stuart Bowen, the US special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, described a string of misguided and expensive initiatives that have failed to deliver any real benefit for the country, among them the construction of a police camp in Baghdad that cost $43.8 million (£22.4 million) but has never been used.
The facility, built near Adnan Palace by the US contractor, DynCorp International, was even extended by the Iraqi Interior Ministry — to the tune of an Olympic-size swimming pool and $4.2 million (£2.1 million) of improvements — without proper American approval.
Today's report also included revelations that $36 million (£18 million) was spent by US officials on armoured vehicles, body armour and communications equipment that cannot be accounted for because invoices were vague and there is no back-up documentation.
Mr Bowen's study, which comes as President Bush is preparing to ask Congress to approve a further $1.2 billion (£612 million) in aid for Iraq, also asks serious questions of the Iraqi Government's ability to manage funds given to it. At the end of 2006, Iraqi officials had failed to spend billions of dollars specifically budgeted for capital projects since 2003, the report said.
Iraqi prisons and police forces have also struggled to function amid the serious sectarian violence that has cost tens of thousands of lives in the country in the last year, the audit said, observing that the US has "spent billions in this area, with limited success to date".
"The security situation continues to deteriorate, hindering progress in all reconstruction sectors, and threatening the overall reconstruction effort," the 579-page report adds.
Speaking from Iraq today Stephen Farrell, The Times' Middle East Correspondent, said Iraqi people would not be in the slightest bit surprised by the findings.
"Certainly among Iraqis there is — and has been almost from day one since the US-led invasion — a perception that reconstruction was badly handled and inadequately financed, and what money did pour into the country disappeared at an alarming rate, both by corruption among Iraqis, or due to the US contractors who were responsible for managing it," he told the Times Online.
"We started to hear claims of corruption really early on in this war, and that has never stopped.
"Whatever they thought about the necessity for the war to remove Saddam Hussein, you won't find a single Iraqi who thinks that the reconstruction has been well-handled."
Mr Bowen’s office is responsible for overseeing the use, and potential misuse, of US funds for Iraq’s reconstruction. Today's audit is the latest of his quarterly reports to the US Congress on how the cash is being spent.
video here
Video: Congress to investigate Iraq waste reports AP
http://video.ap.org/v/en-ap/v.htm?g=c015ff34-6700-4916-ba2b-329b46133cc9&f=aporg&fg=email
and an article
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2576814,00.html
Millions of dollars intended for the rebuilding of Iraq have been squandered amid continuing incompetence, corruption and a deteriorating security situation, American government auditors have revealed.
A damning report by Stuart Bowen, the US special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, described a string of misguided and expensive initiatives that have failed to deliver any real benefit for the country, among them the construction of a police camp in Baghdad that cost $43.8 million (£22.4 million) but has never been used.
The facility, built near Adnan Palace by the US contractor, DynCorp International, was even extended by the Iraqi Interior Ministry — to the tune of an Olympic-size swimming pool and $4.2 million (£2.1 million) of improvements — without proper American approval.
Today's report also included revelations that $36 million (£18 million) was spent by US officials on armoured vehicles, body armour and communications equipment that cannot be accounted for because invoices were vague and there is no back-up documentation.
Mr Bowen's study, which comes as President Bush is preparing to ask Congress to approve a further $1.2 billion (£612 million) in aid for Iraq, also asks serious questions of the Iraqi Government's ability to manage funds given to it. At the end of 2006, Iraqi officials had failed to spend billions of dollars specifically budgeted for capital projects since 2003, the report said.
Iraqi prisons and police forces have also struggled to function amid the serious sectarian violence that has cost tens of thousands of lives in the country in the last year, the audit said, observing that the US has "spent billions in this area, with limited success to date".
"The security situation continues to deteriorate, hindering progress in all reconstruction sectors, and threatening the overall reconstruction effort," the 579-page report adds.
Speaking from Iraq today Stephen Farrell, The Times' Middle East Correspondent, said Iraqi people would not be in the slightest bit surprised by the findings.
"Certainly among Iraqis there is — and has been almost from day one since the US-led invasion — a perception that reconstruction was badly handled and inadequately financed, and what money did pour into the country disappeared at an alarming rate, both by corruption among Iraqis, or due to the US contractors who were responsible for managing it," he told the Times Online.
"We started to hear claims of corruption really early on in this war, and that has never stopped.
"Whatever they thought about the necessity for the war to remove Saddam Hussein, you won't find a single Iraqi who thinks that the reconstruction has been well-handled."
Mr Bowen’s office is responsible for overseeing the use, and potential misuse, of US funds for Iraq’s reconstruction. Today's audit is the latest of his quarterly reports to the US Congress on how the cash is being spent.
standin above the crowd
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
Come on man, the government waste money domestically on an epic scale daily. I wish there were more storys about that.
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Camden 5-28-06
Washington, D.C. 6-22-08
so, it doesn't bother you that almost $9 BILLION came up missing in iraq lat year and now over a hundred million more has been wasted or lost???
may pretty horses come to you as you sleep
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
Sure... Of course it bothers me. Some of that money was more than likely mine.
Does it shock me? To that I give you a resounding No.
Besides, the only things that ever come to me in my sleep are nightmares and Vida Guerra. Sometimes both...
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Camden 5-28-06
Washington, D.C. 6-22-08
It's no surprise to me.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
What should we do? Vote new leadership in?
What's it matter what standard we hold government to? It would require revolution to change that. And my friend, we've become a nation of malcontents content on being just that. Our revolutionary days are over I'm afraid.
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Camden 5-28-06
Washington, D.C. 6-22-08
I think they're just beginning. Never in history was there protests of the size we saw prior to the invasion of Iraq.
They didn't start protesting the Vietnam war until it was well underway, 5 or 6 years at least, and there was some pretty heavy carpet bombing and atrocities going on. For the first time in recorded human history the public stood up in protest before a war started, Iraq in this case.
I think the public today is well-informed, upset with the status quo, and on the verge of some serious social unrest.
Whatever, if you like being part of a group of people that won't even stand up for themselves. 'Fine, screw me over, I don't care....where's my prozac, honey?'
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
Finally, a voice of reason and hope.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
Anytime.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
I believe it to be just the natural evolutionary process of the anti-war movement. News spreads faster than ever before with an endless supply of sources. Each citizen has the means to have his/her voice heard among the masses in todays world. Plus, many of the more visual anti-war folks are the Hollywood type. Something that did not exist until the Vietnam war. Many of the Hollywood elite are nothing more than arrogant knownothings who just happen to get a whole hell of a lot more face time than the rest of us.
Besides... I imagine it took several years for most of '60s America to find their way out of the haze...
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Camden 5-28-06
Washington, D.C. 6-22-08
C'mon now.
You can say that but let's be serious...the people protesting the Vietnam war were by all accounts younger Americans who were actively involved in the country, politics and foreign affairs. This is a generation that were children of WW2 vets. What do we have now? We have people sitting behind computers bitching and moaning about the world and not doing a damn thing about it except for posting on message boards and blogs who come out and vote at incredibly small proportions.
It's not the same by any stretch of the imagination.
I agree, the bullshit that has been put before us is perhaps some of the worst moments in American history, but we, unlike our elder citizens don't do shit about it!
That younger generation you speak of happend to be a lot of college kids. When useful, some folks enjoy calling these people draft dodgers. Are these really the worst of times when 40 years prior America's youth were forced into military service rather than fulfilling an obligation?
As for this generation being lazy. I totally agree.
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Camden 5-28-06
Washington, D.C. 6-22-08
I disagree.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
Ever heard of John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, CCR, Jane Fonda, Country Joe McDonald just to name a few??
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
Yep. Those would be some of the Hollywood types. Ever heard of Gimme' Some Truth?
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Camden 5-28-06
Washington, D.C. 6-22-08
That didn't exist back then, right?
edit: Ah, I just read your 'until'...sorry for the misread.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
How do you mean? I said the anti-war movement didn't really exist until the Vietnam war. That's when your Hollywood types started to become the generic centerpieces that still exist today. Actors, actresses, musicians etc...
Edit: 10-4 n/p
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Camden 5-28-06
Washington, D.C. 6-22-08
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Camden 5-28-06
Washington, D.C. 6-22-08
How?
Centerpieces? I hardly look to celebrities for information or leadership. If they want to express themselves and get out there, well that's very cool...good for them. But I don't see how it means anything more than any other person out there.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
Well, let's see...500,000 came out for Saturday's protest. I've been to a few now and I've seen it with my own eyes, joined the groups being organized, donated to their causes. These people aren't just doing nothing...they're getting their message out and it's priority for them...all this without a draft hanging over our heads. I've felt great relief and happiness at these marches where I had once had feelings of apathy creeping in.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde