NEWS: Ongoing Iraqi Reconstruction Audit Reveals More Fraud and Mismanagement of Funds

The ongoing investigation into what's going on with the billions of dollars floating around Iraq, ostensibly earmarked for reconstruction, has uncovered even more instances of abuse according to a recent report. The special investigation revealed abuses ranging from failing to account for funds, to falsely certified repairs, to outright theft. In one such instance an American soldier was found to have gambled away somewhere between 20k and 60k of reconstruction money that he had misappropriated.



I think it's disgraceful, just how out of hand things have gotten. It's not right, the spectacle we're making. It reflects badly on every American.

That money rightfully belongs to Iraq, and it's not as though they don't need it! They need restoration of necessary services, construction of necessary infrastructure, new homes and schools and hospitals.

The situation is beyond manageable. We can only guess at how much has been stolen, because record keeping ranges between incompetent and non-existent, depending on where you go. Billions could have been flown out of the country already, and nobody would ever know.

Some additional info about the ongoing audit, released Thursday.

www.msnbc.msn.com...

Billions of dollars in projects to improve water, sewer and electrical systems in Iraq could not be completed because the money had to be used to increase security, according to a government audit released Thursday.

Nearly one-third — or a total of $5.6 billion — of the $18.4 billion that Congress appropriated for Iraq relief and reconstruction in 2003 was shifted to address the new priorities and heightened security as of last Sept. 30, the audit said.

Moving money to those projects ended many plans to repair dams, improve water quality and repair and build sewer systems needed to remove sewage that built up near schools, hospitals and public markets in cities across the country.

So not only is money floating around by the billions, largely unaccounted for, but the money that is being spent is being diverted into the coffers of defense contractors instead of going to build the infrastructure Iraq needs to return to normalcy.

I realize there's a war going on, but you can't expect the Iraqis to trust you when you promise to rebuild their country and in the end funnel a third or more of it back into the apparatus responsible for blowing the buildings up in the first place.

Obviously a complicated situation, and I am oversimplifying it a bit. It's just frustrating to see more of what appears to be circumstantial evidence linking this war, in inception and practice, to a group of ruthless, immoral profiteers. The money could have been strictly partitioned, to prevent this from happening. The contract process could have used a Hell of a lot more oversight as well.

wyrdeone

your link says it was diverted to security, thats not exactly a waste to protect people nor is it corrupt.

you cant build if the sites are unsecure and damaged repeatedly by insurgents.

[edit on 26-1-2006 by namehere]

The money has been redirected to protect the haliburton and the other American companies and their security mercs that are in Iraq.

In other words they have to keep them alive so they can keep making money.

Its an outrage and a shame.

“Because of the increase in insurgency activities, contractors have had to include better site protection, hardened vehicles for personnel transportation and trained security teams with special communications capability,” the audit said.

Who said that the people in Iraq deserved anything but the raping of their land for profits.

Got to protect investors and their security mercenaries.

[edit on 26-1-2006 by marg6043]

Is this fraud really a surprise to anyone paying attention?

Its obscene what is going on - at the US taxpayer expense.

Actually the 18 billions were supposedly spend on building the government in Iraq from elections, to the Saddam trial.

This was back in January this year, and that congress was not going to give anymore money for rebuilding.

But truly none of the money has been used for rebuilding at all.

Yes, you're right. Those folks who have literally sucked the blood out of us overseas ought to be the ones brought to justice, as Bush sez.

What have they done for Iraq or for our troops?

What I hear is that Halliburton (CHENEY) has fed our troops with a whole lot of bad water. For that Cheney should be horsewhipped in the public square.

And right on down the line......

namehere
There is quite a lot more to this story. The second link is only related to the first, in that it is additional findings presented by the ongoing audit. There is a great thread in RATS about contract (non)bidding, you might want to check it out. There has also been a great deal of discussion about certain companies, and certain practices that are definitely corrupt.

On the surface 'diverting money to security' is not so bad. Dig a little deeper though...

There's war profiteering at foot...

It bothers me that our troops are still having problem with protection of armor, and they are using money to protect the profiteers of this war.

Is very shameful, corruption indeed.

Good work.

Corruption, pillaging, looting. For shame, and a blight on all Americans.

...A few years ago I noticed that the normal corporate rip-offs had come right out of the closet and into the open air. Corpo-thieves don't even hide any more. Why is that? Is it because they know they're protected from the top? Or is it more than that?

Honestly, this all has the flavor of looting a city before it all goes up in flames. Do certain somebodies know something we don't? Cuz what's happening in Iraq and elsewhere does not look, smell, or feel like traditional business-as-usual thievery.


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