Bending the Third Rail
Because We Should, We Can, We Do
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Want Money?
Remember those Republican talking points about fiscal responsibility, not spending the taxpayers money, and taking personal responsibility? Guess someone missed those particular lessons in practice:
The Bush administration went on a $5bn spending spree in Iraq in 2004 just six weeks before returning control of the government to Iraqis, according to a Democratic lawmaker investigating the payments.

Huge sums were doled out, sometimes in dollar bills from the back of pick-up trucks, it was alleged.

...

In a hearing before the chief House oversight committee, Democrats on Tuesday demanded answers from Paul Bremer, who headed the Coalition Provisional Authority, Iraq’s first post-occupation government, and oversaw the disbursement of $12bn in cash in reconstruction funds in the months after the invasion.

...

One official from the provisional authority described an environment awash with $100 bills, said a memo released by Mr Waxman’s office.

“One contractor received a $2m payment in a duffel bag stuffed with shrink-wrapped bundles of currency.” In some cases, cash was stored in unguarded sacks in Iraqi ministry offices.
Tim Carney, the government inspector for abuse in Iraq was also asked to appear before the hearings today as well:
Mr Carney had been invited to the hearing but the State Department had kept him from testifying, in spite of his willingness to do so, Mr Waxman said.
That's right. Just when Carney is going to tell of the dirty deeds, he gets suddenly unavailably shipped to Iraq.

Wasn't it the Republicans who made such a fuss over the oil for food program? This is not news, but the details are revealing of exactly how incompetent the Administrations has been in Iraq.
Written at 5:32 PM by Greyhair.
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