Iraq Reconstruction "Less Than Optimal"

Report Finds Poor Oversight, Bad Planning, Lack Of Coordination, Mistakes, Delays

(AP)  The U.S. government must learn from its multi-million-dollar mistakes of poor contract oversight and bad planning in its Iraq reconstruction effort or risk repeating them there and elsewhere, investigators say.

The audit released Thursday by Stuart Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, is the first to list in one place the series of mistakes, delays and missed opportunities in a four-year-old Iraq war and reconstruction effort that has cost taxpayers nearly $400 billion.

Characterizing the U.S. effort as chaotic and poorly managed, Bowen found the Bush administration's rebuilding effort riddled with problems — from a lack of strategy and unclear lines of authority to confusion and disarray between the Defense and State Departments.

Bowen said the two departments must learn how to work more closely together. If their cultures prove too resistant to change, Congress should consider legislation to force better cooperation between them in running future U.S. military and civilian reconstruction efforts.

"Although no single U.S. agency demonstrated the capacity to manage the large and complex Iraq program alone, the resultant and unavoidably ad hoc response that sometimes ensued was less than optimal," according to the audit, which urges strengthening joint staff between the two departments.

Among the findings:

• A Defense Department agency charged with running the reconstruction effort never developed a fully coordinated plan upon members' arrival in 2003, leading to confusion and duplication of effort. "We were bumping into one another as we tried to solve the same problem," a former agency official is quoted as saying.
  
  
• Money flowed to reconstruction projects before procedures, training and staffing were fully in place, resulting in a "lack of clearly defined authorities" and little accountability in terms of how dollars were being spent.
  
  
• Only three contracting officers were initially sent to Baghdad to oversee spending of reconstruction dollars. As a result, some contract files were in disarray or missing while others were stored on personal e-mail accounts and individual hard drives.
  
  
• There was little oversight to ensure that Iraqi companies hired to do reconstruction work operated according to international standards. In a case involving the Baghdad Police Academy, the Iraqi subcontractor used cement joints to seal wastewater pipes, a practice used by Iraqi construction firms.
  
  But the cement joints leaked, causing major interior damage to the police facilities. The failure also raised concerns about health hazards as wastewater leaked through floors, ran down halls and filled ceiling lights. Because of the substantial repairs required, some of the planned construction for the $73 million project was canceled.

Bowen's office released the 157-page audit in advance of his appearance Thursday before a Senate committee hearing on the U.S. way forward in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The report does not take a position on whether greater U.S. involvement in the region is needed. But it makes clear that the U.S. government must clearly rethink its approach to future efforts, whether in Iraq and Afghanistan or elsewhere.

Earlier this year, federal investigators determined that the Bush administration had squandered as much as $10 billion in reconstruction aid in part because of poor planning and contract oversight, resulting in contractor overcharges and unsupported expenses.

[inventagod]

Why do I get the idea that most 'reconstruction' dollars went to a US company and disappeared?

Halliburton???

[cathaleen]

We can't seem to fix the levees in New Orleans
so what makes anyone think we could reconstruct
anything in Iraq.

[karlimhof]

May death come slowly and painfully to him.
Posted by mcdazz

here a nice quote attributed to Bolton (wikipdia)

"Though Bolton supported the Vietnam War, he enlisted in the National Guard and did not serve in Vietnam. He wrote in his Yale 25th reunion book "I confess I had no desire to die in a Southeast Asian rice paddy. I considered the war in Vietnam already lost""

Now aint' that just like all the neocons?? Cowards, every one of 'em.

[coffeehead-2009]

Yes - reconstruction is #1 on the minds of this administration. Helping those poor abused saddam victims find democracy and a better way of life.......


THE plans are a state secret, so just where the Starbucks and Krispy Kreme stores will be is a mystery. But as the concrete hulks of a huge 21-building complex rise from the ashes of Saddam's Baghdad

It's being built in the Middle East, but George W's palace, as the locals have dubbed the new US embassy, is designed as a suburb of Washington.

An army of more than 3500 diplomatic and support staff will have their own sports centre, beauty parlour and swimming pool. Each of the six residential blocks will contain more than 600 apartments.

the site in the heart of the Green Zone is floodlit by night and is so removed from Iraqi reality that its entire construction force is foreign.

After almost four years, the Americans still can't turn on the lights for the Iraqis, but that won't be a problem for the embassy staffers. The same with the toilets %u2014 they will always flush on command. All services for the biggest embassy in the world will operate independently from the rattletrap utilities of the Iraqi capital.

Scheduled for completion next June, this is the only US reconstruction project in Iraq that is on track. Costing more than $US600 million ($A787 million

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/bush-palace-shielded-from-iraqi-storm/2006/08/25/1156012740594.html

[bobnjersey]

[Even Republican supporters should be disgusted with Bush's handling of the Iraq war.]

they'd still carry his water following a chris hansen pedophile sting.

[firststate]

"Less than optimal," Bushshit. This guy is a real glass half full guy, even when there's no glass or water. If $10,000,000,000.00 is less than optimal, what is required for FUBAR to this guy? Didn't they already extend his term? You've got to admit that he didn't go very far out on the limb when he said we need to do better. Amazing!

[sshard]

mcdazz

Hmmm, You should check out 'Terrorstorm' video.google

And on a slightly different topic, John Bolton has admitted that the Bush administration purposely ensured that thousands of innocent Lebanese civilians died by ensuring that there was no early ceasefire.

Further to that, he says that he is "damned proud of what we did".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6479377.stm

May death come slowly and painfully to him.

[long_rider]

Where is the news in this article? *** chunky, and the chimp did away with oversight a long time ago. With no oversight what results were these people expecting?

Impeach the liars and cheats in the whitehouse.

radiob wrote:

"Here is a good article on the disappearence of funds.
Former Iraq minister denies theft of millions http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/wo
rld/iraq/article1497038.ece"

Very interesting.

Even Republican supporters should be disgusted with Bush's handling of the Iraq war.

Those billions of dollars should have been spent on Americans.

[zootallures2]

Reconstruction in Iraq? With real estate market in US and A, you'll be reconstucting yourselves in tents...lol.

When's the big Iran invasion? If Chavez has 50 of those new Plasma MiGs, wonder how many Iran has? You can hide in your basements wearing your NASA diapers.

When the Rockefellers and Morgans move to Dubai, get ready, suckers!

[cperrym]

We Democrats should forget about the funding bill designed to stop the war.It is Bush's war let him get his own *** out. Go about your business of the party agenda while constantly calling attention to the huge failures of the Bush administration. Missing money, no bid contracts, no body armor ,not enough armored vehicles. There has been a constant shortage of troops and never enough M.P,s, engineers, and linguists. Four years of failure with projected deaths of 5000 troops with 30000 wounded. Bush will cut and run without our help.

[radiob-2009]

Here is a good article on the disappearence of funds.
Former Iraq minister denies theft of millions http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1497038.ece

I wonder how much of this money ended up in the personal pockets of Bush Administration officials.

[j-whitman]

"Less Than Optimal" -- That one should make it into the Guiness Book of World Records.

[sshard]

Nice time warp we are heading for, 'Gene Kelly flick with Debbie Reynolds' is mentioned while Snow brings up 'Perry Mason'. LOL

fredgrad2000 wrote:

""gay as hell"?.."schizo"...."totally dumb" - is namecalling what passes for legitimate comment these days? Pathetic...

All I'll say here following the namecalling fest is that the title to this article is an UNDERstatement to say the least; kind of shocked to see a title like that on CBS.com..."

Well, after reading lars008's posts for quite some time, that pretty much sums him up.

[bm6005]

I firmly believe that the Republicons mis-managed everything in sight on purpose. Their goal is to **** off the American people and to have them believe it's all the fault of the gov't. I can't believe we accomplished what we did during WW II but we can't pour **** out of a boot with the instructions stamped on the heel these days!! Either that or it's another example of highly educated idiots from Academia who can't find their ***** with both hands!

[fredgrad2000]

"gay as hell"?.."schizo"...."totally dumb" - is namecalling what passes for legitimate comment these days? Pathetic...

All I'll say here following the namecalling fest is that the title to this article is an UNDERstatement to say the least; kind of shocked to see a title like that on CBS.com...

radiob wrote:

"j-whitman think of the Gene Kelly flick with Debbie Reynolds and you might figure out who he really is. 3 of them as one.Lars, Liebermann and the title of the movie gives you the third.That is multiplie personalities."

I'm in full agreement with that as well.