News & Politics - Auditors: Billions wasted in Iraq

Lexis · 02-15-2007, 02:22 PM

Quote:

The U.S. government is at risk of squandering significantly more money in an
Iraq war and reconstruction effort that has already wasted, overcharged or poorly tracked $10 billion in taxpayer money, federal investigators said Thursday.

The three top auditors overseeing contract work in Iraq told a House committee that Defense and State department officials condoned or otherwise allowed poor accounting, repeated work delays, bloated expenses and payments for work shoddily or never done by U.S. contractors.

That problem could worsen, the
Government Accountability Office said, given limited improvement so far by the
Department of Defense even as the Bush administration prepares to boost the U.S. presence in Iraq.

David M. Walker, comptroller general of the GAO, Congress' auditing arm, said his agency has been pointing out problems for years, only to be largely ignored or given lip service with little result.

"There is no accountability," Walker said. "Organizations charged with overseeing contracts are not held accountable. Contractors are not held accountable. The individuals responsible are not held accountable."

...

Senate Democrats, calling recently cited cases of waste "outrageous rip-offs of the American taxpayer," quickly moved to introduce legislation Thursday to stiffen punishment for war profiteers and cut down on cronyism in contracting.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Byron Dorgan (news, bio, voting record), D-N.D., and 22 other senators, would impose penalties of up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $1 million for war profiteering and restore a rule that prohibits awarding federal contracts to companies exhibiting a pattern of breaking the law in performance of government contracts.

That rule, put in place by
President Clinton, was dropped by the Bush administration upon taking office, Dorgan said.

...

According to their testimony, the investigators:

_Found overpricing and waste in Iraq contracts amounting to $4.9 billion since the Defense Contract Audit Agency began its work in 2003, although some of that money has since been recovered. Another $5.1 billion in expenses were charged without proper documentation.

...

Of the $10 billion in overpriced contracts or undocumented costs, more than $2.7 billion were charged by Halliburton Co., the oil-field services firm once headed by Vice President
Dick Cheney.

"According to the Pentagon auditors, more than one in six dollars they have audited in Iraq is suspect," Waxman said.

Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., the top Republican on the panel, pointed to ongoing, "systemic" problems in Iraq contracting.

"This much is clear: Poor security, an arcane, ill-suited management structure, and frequent management changes have produced a succession of troubled acquisitions," he said.

Auditors: Billions wasted in Iraq - Yahoo! News

Whatever happend to financial responsibility?

Jacob1983 · 02-15-2007, 02:30 PM

Who freakin cares? America is in debt up to its eye balls and we still function as a great country.
Besides, when did supporting and funding the military become a bad thing? I mean shouldn't we want our military to the best and strongest so they can protect us?

ceilirose · 02-15-2007, 03:07 PM

Seriously..I work hard for my salary and I have no problem paying taxes. I just don't want companies skimming money to get richer. It's been a continuing problem these last four years and hopefully there will be some oversight.

That's doesn't even begin to go into the billions that have gone to directly to the Iraqi government and can't be accounted for.

JohannafromIHJ · 02-15-2007, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jacob1983 (View Post)

Who freakin cares? America is in debt up to its eye balls and we still function as a great country.

Except when it comes to public schools, apparently.

Lexis · 02-15-2007, 03:21 PM

Quote:

"The irony is that the three countries in the world adding to reserves the fastest, and thus buying the most U.S. debt now, are China, Saudi Arabia and Russia, none of them democracies," says Brad Setser, director of research at Roubini Global Economics. Not far behind are Venezuela and Iran, countries eager to use their oil riches to undermine the U.S. "We are increasingly counting on a group of creditors who are not our closest friends but have a bigger and bigger stake in America."

Thinking Global - WSJ.com

I personally find that a little worrying. Plus, wouldn't those 10 billion dollars be better spent on armor for the troops than lining the pockets of war profiteers?

So I "freakin' care".

**sunnykerr** · 02-15-2007, 07:34 PM

I think, even when you're already in debt in the trillions of dollars, ten billion still counts for something. You would think, when you're dealing with such a huge debt, that there would be some care taken as to make sure that government moneys are well spent or, at the very least, accounted for.


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