The Carpetbagger Report » Blog Archive » A stunning tolerance for corruption in Iraqi reconstruction aid

I try not to do this too often but this time I just have to. The following post was made on The Carpetbagger. I think you'll see why I quoted the whole thing:

"Occasionally, I think I can no longer be surprised. Stories like this one in the Wall Street Journal prove me wrong.

The Senate last week approved $109 billion in additional spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including $1.5 billion in added Iraq reconstruction money. The administration has spent $20.9 billion to reconstruct Iraq's infrastructure and modernize its oil industry, but the effort hasn't restored the country's electricity output, water supply or sewage capabilities to prewar levels.

A behind-the-scenes battle among legislators has made a crucial distinction between the new reconstruction money and that already spent: The new funds won't be overseen by the government watchdog charged with curbing the mismanagement that has overshadowed the reconstruction.

The administration's main vehicle for rebuilding Iraq has, in the past, been designated 'Relief and Reconstruction' funds, which by law are overseen by a special inspector general, Stuart Bowen. The new money going toward similar reconstruction goals will be classified as coming from 'Foreign Operations' accounts. The State Department is responsible for spending both pools of money.

Here's the deal: Stuart Bowen has led the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. When the White House tapped Bowen for the job in January 2004, Bush critics were deeply disappointed — Bowen was widely recognized as a close Bush ally, so few expected him to be thorough and aggressive.

The critics were wrong. Bowen has not only taken his job as inspector general seriously, he's been the leading figure in exposing fraud and corruption. The Wall Street Journal reported in July that Bowen 'has become one of the most prominent and credible critics of how the administration has handled the occupation of Iraq,' and considering his record, it's a more-than-fair description. The guy even took on Halliburton.

So, what do Republicans do in response? They quietly make it easier for corruption to take place by going around Bowen.

By law, Mr. Bowen can oversee only relief and reconstruction funds. Because the new money technically comes from a different source, Mr. Bowen, who has 55 auditors on the ground in Iraq, will be barred from overseeing how the new money is spent. Instead, the funds will be overseen by the State Department's inspector general office, which has a much smaller staff in Iraq and warned in testimony to Congress in the fall that it lacked the resources to continue oversight activities in Iraq.

Wait, the story gets even better.

Now that the secret change that allows more corruption has come to light, everyone's asking how and why this measure was included in the Pentagon spending bill.

In fact, the WSJ reported today that a group of senators, upon learning about the provision that would circumvent Bowen, offered an amendment that would have kept his oversight duties in place. For reasons that are not altogether clear, sponsors of the amendment were denied the chance to bring their measure to the floor for a vote.

So, who wanted the change? Who else? 'Republican Appropriations Committee aides say legislators shifted the Iraq money to the foreign operations accounts at the request of the White House,' the WSJ reported. The White House says it simply did this for budgetary purposes and to help 'streamline accounting.' The fact that the move cuts off the most effective auditor in Iraq at the knees, the Bush gang says, is a coincidence.

As Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) put it, 'This is nothing more than a transparent attempt to shut down the only effective oversight of this massive reconstruction program which has been plagued by mismanagement and fraud.'"

I mean holy crap! They are now so corrupt that they feel like they can get away with anything.

Your tax dollars at work. (At work for Halliburton, that is...)