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Waste in the Reconstruction of Iraq

An audit tells us what's been happening during the "see no evil" years of Republican congressional rule:

"Our troops are going without even as government funds go to pay for such boondoggles as an Olympic-size swimming pool in an unused training camp," said a statement issued by the Senate Democratic Communications Center directed by Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. ...

The quarterly audit released Wednesday by Stuart Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, found the $300 billion U.S. war and reconstruction effort continues to be plagued with waste, spiraling violence and corruption.

Now that Congress is in an oversight mode, it will be fun to watch as tough questions are asked and avoided.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, plans three days of hearings next week on Iraq contracts. One area of focus: Halliburton Co., the oilfield-services company that Vice President Dick Cheney once headed that has received millions of dollars of government contracts.

Audits prepared for Congress by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction are available here.

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    Once more, with feeling (none / 0) (#1)
    by scarshapedstar on Wed Jan 31, 2007 at 10:20:33 PM EST
    Ah, small government Republicans, fighting waste and fraud with their moral clarity.

    (Did I mention supportin-tha-troops?)

    Perusing the pdfs... (none / 0) (#2)
    by kdog on Wed Jan 31, 2007 at 11:09:10 PM EST
    I'm reminded of what this scam is all about.

    If I read the mumbo-jumbo right, the audits actually recovered big bags of cash, I guess just laying around.  A couple mil here and there..chump change in this big a con job. Unbelievable...check out the appendix.

    Give us an enemy, any enemy, and steal that paper man...I can't believe people buy it.