Iraqi Spending

[kapkomet]

This from an email news article I get that usually has some good financial stuff in it.

 

A Hundred Billion Here, a Hundred Billion There...

 

.... and pretty soon you're talking about real money. Well, in his original quote Republican U.S. Congressman Everett Dierksen (1896-1969) "only" talked about billions, but we figured that the spending habits of present-day U.S. government required an upgrade.

 

Last Friday, the Associated Press reported that President Bush will ask Congress for $120 billion more for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which would increase total war spending to $440 billion.

 

AP cited Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman who said the requests reflect the president's desire to "commit the resources that are necessary to fight and win the war on terrorism." Part of the budget will be used for "taking on the insurgency."

 

Sounds like a noble intention... but is that money really well spent?

 

In September of 2005, Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under President Reagan, produced a set of calculations trying to establish how many American bullets it takes to kill one insurgent.

 

The official estimated number of insurgents in Iraq has been 20,000. According to reports of the Government Accounting Office (GAO), by September the U.S. military had used up 1.8 billion rounds of small caliber ammunition in Iraq.

 

That means "U.S. troops have fired 90,000 rounds at each insurgent," states Roberts matter-of-factly. "Very few have been hit... If 2,000 insurgents have been killed, each death required 900,000 rounds of ammunition." [emphasis ours]

 

In this Wild West-style shootout, U.S. government-owned and domestic commercial ammunition plants combined haven't been able to keep up with production. A shortage of ammunition forced the Bush administration last year to buy ammo from foreign producers, such as Israeli Military Industries, no doubt for premium prices.

 

"Think about that," says Roberts. "Hollowed-out U.S. industry cannot produce enough ammunition to defeat a 20,000-man insurgency."

 

A 2005 report by two anti-war groups, the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF), stated that the monthly cost of current military operations in Iraq ($5.6 billion) now exceeds the average monthly cost of the Vietnam War ($5.1 billion, adjusted for inflation).

 

Once we reach the new total of $440 billion, the U.S. government will have spent nearly as much on war in the last five years as it did in thirteen years in Vietnam.

 

So, where does all the money go?

 

Due to the inability of entrenched bureaucrats to slide things in and out of a multitude of budgets, it's impossible to say. But if recent news is any indication, it's a good bet that much of it is being wasted or stolen outright.

 

According to an Associated Press report from last week, "[a] U.S. government audit found American-led occupation authorities squandered tens of millions of dollars that were supposed to be used to rebuild Iraq through undocumented spending and outright fraud."

 

$97 of the $120 million in Iraqi oil well revenue set aside for the reconstruction of Iraq's south-central region are unaccounted for, and of the remainder auditors could find documentation for only $8 million. However, one look at the list below will give you a pretty good idea where the cash may have gone.

 

$23 million: Only a quarter of this money "entrusted to civilian and military project and contracting officers to pay contractors ever found its way to those contractors." (AP)

 

 

$7.3 million: Funds for a new police academy in the city of Hillah. Auditors could account for only $4 million. $1.3 million was spent on "overpriced or duplicate construction or equipment not delivered," $2 million was missing.

 

 

$2.3 million: Spent on library renovation in the city of Karbala. The auditors found that U.S. personnel "needlessly disbursed more than $1.8 million." The contractor delivered only 18 of the 68 PCs ordered and didn't install any Internet wiring or software.

 

 

$1.4 million: Possibly stolen by two occupation authority field agents who were responsible for paying contractors. They left Iraq without accounting for $700,000 each. When their manager was confronted by auditors, he tried to clear one of the agents with forged paperwork.

 

 

$945,000: Spent by the U.S.-led security transition command to purchase seven armored Mercedes Benzes. The armor turned out to be too light for Iraq. Auditors could only account for six of the seven cars.

 

 

$700,000: Kept by one occupation authority agent in an unlocked footlocker.

 

 

$662,800: Paid to a contractor to replace the broken elevator in the Hillah General Hospital. Shortly after, three Iraqis plunged to their deaths in the "new" elevator.

 

 

$108,140: Paid to a contractor to replace pumps and repair Hillah's Olympic-size swimming pool. "The contractor merely polished the old plumbing to make it look new and collected his money. When the pool was filled, the water came out a murky brown and the pool's reopening had to be canceled." (AP)

 

 

$60,000: Gambled away in the Philippines by a U.S. soldier.

 

 

$14,000: Paid to one contractor on four separate occasions-for the same job.

And this was only the money for the south-central region, "one of the country's least-hostile regions," as AP points out. "Audits have yet to be released for the occupation authority's spending in the rest of Iraq."

 

Go figure.

 

This has to be buttoned up. I know this is like the pork barrel spending we get here in the states, but if we are going to spend this much money, the work needs to get done.

[Rex Kickass]

The stories of fraud that are coming out of Iraq are legendary. Apparently there were millions upon millions of dollars in the CPA petty cash, and Bremer used to leave the key to it sitting on his desk. I dunno if its true or not, but could you imagine being the cleaning lady in his office and knowing that the key sitting on his desk while he's out eating a reuben could basically set you up for the rest of your life, and they probably wouldnt even notice the money you stole?

[kapkomet]

The stories of fraud that are coming out of Iraq are legendary. Apparently there were millions upon millions of dollars in the CPA petty cash, and Bremer used to leave the key to it sitting on his desk. I dunno if its true or not, but could you imagine being the cleaning lady in his office and knowing that the key sitting on his desk while he's out eating a reuben could basically set you up for the rest of your life, and they probably wouldnt even notice the money you stole?

This is a catch 22 for me. Again, if the money is going over, USE IT for what it is supposed to be used for. Otherwise, let's give it to the military people to get the job done and get out of there.

[Rex Kickass]

I don't disagree. I love hearing the stories though, the fraud is so intense over there it boggles the mind.