Comments on: Audit: Iraq Contracts Skirted Fraud Rules

Probe Finds Pentagon Paid Nearly $8 Billion With Little Or No Oversight, Or Even Proof Of Work

[condumbism]

John McBush is a major supporter of the fraud waste abuse with no accountability of US tax dollars. John McBush clearly has sold his soul to an unregulated corporate america. John McBush aint no maverick, instead this 72 year old hot head is WRONG FOR AMERICA!

[stn_sage]

An internal audit of some $8 billion paid to U.S. and Iraqi contractors found that nearly every transaction failed to comply with federal laws or regulations aimed at preventing fraud, in some cases lacking even basic invoices explaining how the money was spent.
(fm story)
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My response: This war is an affront to the American public! Besides the massive waste, Congress''s failure to end it and continual funding of it, is only slightly less insulting!

If things continue to get worse here, govt has NO right to expect ANY cooperation, support, or allegiance from the public!

[alphaa10-2009]

Minnery, a former Marine turned whistle-blower, is risking his job by speaking out for the first time about the millions he noticed were missing from one defense agency''s balance sheets ...
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Guess which administration declared open season on whistleblowers, for all too obvious reasons?

However, on May 5, 2008, the US Senate (whose committee machinery is now run by the Democrats) won praise from government accountability critics for passage of S274-- a bill to resurrect protections of the Whistleblower Protection Act for federal employees.

See http://www.whistleblower.org/content/press_detail.cfm?press_id=1259

From 2001 to 2006, whistleblower protection was the red-headed stepchild no senator in a GOP congress wanted to sponsor. In contrast, S274 is now a bipartisan package whose key sponsors include Lieberman, Collins, Grassley, Akaka, Durbin and Levin.

The various states are still a predictable patchwork quilt of whistleblower protections, and many states have little or no protection at all-- illogically enough-- for courageous citizens who want to do the right thing.

For the sake of our country, that must change.

[alphaa10-2009]

singingrick-- Thanks for a good and richly-detailed post, whose format reminds me of the Harper''s Index.

The only thing left possibly to be desired is the attribution (source).

Attribution is not normally done in a free-wheeling forum discussion, but you went to so much trouble (?) to research this, this information surely would benefit others if supplied with source for each point.

Attribution is made by scholars (and others) for scholars (and others) in the open spirit of inquiry.

Besides, You-Know-Who will say, "Ah, well, there they go again! Statistics show 50 percent of Americans don''t believe statistics."

[jw218389]

Bush and Cheney and Halliburton all need uniforms too: black & white stripes.

They are war profiteers.

[stevex47]

First, thank you bahahjohn. You are so right, please don''t forget all those in uniform, past and present. Anyway, is anyone surprised about trillions lost? You could have said 10 trillion and I would not be surprised. Sad. What a contrast, between my respect for those in uniform and those I think waste their efforts.

[veteran72]

"There is something very wrong when our wounded troops have to fill out forms in triplicate for meal money while billions of dollars in cash are handed out in Iraq with no accountability," said Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Henry, Henry.....It''s the Neocon way of doing things, don''t ya'' know.....now get Nancy to take any investigations off the table and let''s have some jello!!!!

[veteran72]

"We know it''s gone. But we don''t know what they spent it on," said Jim Minnery, Defense Finance and Accounting Service.

Minnery, a former Marine turned whistle-blower, is risking his job by speaking out for the first time about the millions he noticed were missing from one defense agency''s balance sheets. Minnery tried to follow the money trail, even crisscrossing the country looking for records.

"The director looked at me and said ''Why do you care about this stuff?'' It took me aback, you know? My supervisor asking me why I care about doing a good job," said Minnery.

He was reassigned and says officials then covered up the problem by just writing it off.

"They have to cover it up," he said. "That''s where the corruption comes in. They have to cover up the fact that they can''t do the job."

The Pentagon''s Inspector General "partially substantiated" several of Minnery''s allegations but could not prove officials tried "to manipulate the financial statements."

Darth: "So"???

[bgwinnett]

Posted by veteran72-- you''ve gotta admit though, that the timing was superb. Indeed; a good day to bury bad news.....

[it_oldtimer]

Iraq is every bit as much a "dead end" as Vietnam was.

Militarily, politically, economically, ethically; it has no hope of ever being anything but an utter failure.