Eideard

Congress calls this nation-building
Daylife/AP Photo used by permission

The U.S. Defense Department is unable to properly account for over 95 percent of $9.1 billion in Iraqi oil money tapped by the U.S. for rebuilding the war ravaged nation…

A report by the U.S. Special Investigator for Iraq Reconstruction offers a compelling look at continued laxness in how such funds are being spent in a country where people complain basic services like electricity and clean water are sharply lacking seven years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

The audit found that shoddy record keeping by the Defense Department left the Pentagon unable to fully account for $8.7 billion it withdrew between 2004 and 2007 from a special fund set up by the U.N. Security Council. Of that amount, Pentagon “could not provide documentation to substantiate how it spent $2.6 billion.”

The funds are separate from the $53 billion allocated by Congress for rebuilding Iraq.

Which was wasted directly by the idols of the indolent Right – Bush and Cheney.

The audit cited a number of factors that contributed to the inability to account for most of the money withdrawn by the Pentagon from the Development Fund for Iraq. It said most of the Defense Department organizations that received DFI money failed to set up Treasury Department accounts, as required.

“The breakdown in controls left the funds vulnerable to inappropriate uses and undetected loss,” the report said.

Ever notice how right-wing beancounters never seem to get round to setting up oversight or regulation on the actual spending of the money so important to their lives and well-being?

Just because a self-serving political creep talks about cutting waste and reducing deficits doesn’t mean they’re ever going to do anything other than rant their slogans in the media. That’s usually enough to get them elected. And re-elected.