US money 'squandered' in Iraq as Bush demands more

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US money 'squandered' in Iraq as Bush demands more

Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit

BBC News - Jan 31, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6316057.stm

US money is 'squandered' in Iraq

Millions of dollars in US rebuilding funds have been wasted in Iraq, US
auditors say in a report which warns corruption in the country is rife.

A never-used camp in Baghdad for police trainers with an Olympic-size
swimming pool is one of the examples highlighted in the quarterly audit.

Billions of budgeted dollars meanwhile remain unspent by Iraq's
government.

The report comes as President Bush is urging Congress to approve $1.2bn
(£600m) in further reconstruction aid.

The audit by Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq
reconstruction (Sigir), is the latest in a regular series of updates to
Congress.

Budgeting problems

"The security situation continue to deteriorate, hindering progress in
all reconstruction sectors and threatening the overall reconstruction
effort," says his 579-page report, which is due to be released later on
Wednesday.

Among the wide-ranging findings, the audit says that corruption
continues to plague Iraq and infrastructure security remains vulnerable.

Auditors express "significant concern" about the Iraqi government's
record in managing and spending budgets.

Billions of dollars budgeted for capital projects remained unspent at
the end of 2006, the report says.

Vague invoices

As well as not spending funds, the audit also highlights ways in which
money has been used either improperly or wastefully.

One case involved a payment by the US State Department of $43.8m to a
contractor, DynCorp International, for a residential camp for police
trainers outside the Adnan Palace grounds in Baghdad. The camp has
never been used.

The Iraqi Interior Ministry ordered $4.2m of work there, never
authorised by the State Department, that included 20 trailers for
important visitors and an Olympic-size swimming pool.

The State Department has said that it is working to improve controls.

Another example cited in the report is $36.4m spent by US officials on
armoured vehicles, body armour and communications equipment that cannot
be accounted for because invoices were vague and there was no back-up
documentation.

Contracts have been awarded for virtually all of the $21bn earmarked by
the US government for Iraqi reconstruction, and some 80% has been spent.

Democrats, who now control the US Congress, have expressed concern at
the prospect of devoting more funds to rebuilding efforts in Iraq.

Rep Henry Waxman is planning in-depth hearings next week into charges
of waste and fraud in Iraq.

Since 2003, the way reconstruction aid is used has changed, with money
originally destined for infrastructure programmes cut and more spent on
areas like security and democracy projects.

Electricity output remains below pre-war levels, while funds initially
earmarked for water and sewerage have been cut by 50%, the audit says.

Investigations

The report also points to continuing high unemployment, put at 18% but
widely believed to be under-reported, as a contributing factor in the
insurgency.

It concludes that the Iraqi government's "most significant challenge"
continues to be strengthening the judiciary, prisons and the police.

"The United States has spent billions of dollars in this area, with
limited success to date."

Mr Bowen's audit office began operations in March 2004 and is currently
conducting 78 investigations, of which 23 have been referred to the US
Department of Justice.

There have so far been four convictions.

His office, which was nearly closed down last year by Republicans, is
now due to carry on its oversight work through 2008.

© BBC MMVII


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