Audit: Iraq Contracts Skirted Fraud Rules

(AP)  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.

Of the money paid during a five-year period - from 2001 through 2006 - $7.8 billion in payments skirted billing rules with some violations egregious enough to invite potential fraud, warned the Defense Department's inspector general.

The findings provided fresh fodder for anti-war Democrats, who say President Bush's administration has turned a blind eye to the problem of corruption and fraud by relying too heavily on contractors to manage the war.

"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.

Results of the investigation were released at a committee hearing on Thursday, the same day the House approved legislation by Waxman intended to strengthen anti-fraud measures and increase transparency in contracting. Waxman's bill was passed as part of a major military policy bill, which authorizes $601.4 billion in defense spending.

In its report, the IG estimated the Army made more than 180,000 commercial payments from stations in Iraq, Kuwait and Egypt in the five-year period. The payments were made for various supplies and services, including bottled water, food and trucks.

In one example, $11 million was paid to a U.S. company without any record of what goods or services were provided, the IG wrote.

Overall, investigators estimated that the Army made some $1.4 billion in commercial payments that lacked even minimum supporting documentation, such as a certified voucher or invoice.

"Payments that are not properly supported do not provide the necessary assurance that funds were used as intended," the IG concluded.

[offtheback]

Speaking of the DemoGod race.. How will Hillbillary like playing second fiddle to a Muslim? I just can''''t see her as the Vp.. or the President.. I can see her leading Billary around in a dog collar with a leash.. while billary wears womens underwear and Hillbillary whips him with a crop.. Then puts his man hood in a vice and crushes What little man hood Billary has..




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Posted by cornbiker

Brilliant and thoughtful commentary. Thank you for your contribution!

Or is this your own fantasy cornhollio?

[taotxzen]

In other words,

* US military spending accounts for 48 percent, or almost half, of the world%u2019s total military spending
* US military spending is more than the next 46 highest spending countries in the world combined
* US military spending is 5.8 times more than China, 10.2 times more than Russia, and 98.6 times more than Iran.
* US military spending is almost 55 times the spending on the six %u201Crogue%u201D states (Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria) whose spending amounts to around $13 billion, maximum. (Tabulated data does not include four of the six, as the data only lists nations that have spent over 1 billion in the year, so their budget is assumed to be $1 billion each)
* US spending is more than the combined spending of the next 45 countries.
* The United States and its strongest allies (the NATO countries, Japan, South Korea and Australia) spend $1.1 trillion on their militaries combined, representing 72 percent of the world%u2019s total.
* The six potential %u201Cenemies,%u201D Russia, and China together account for about $205 billion or 29% of the US military budget.

[taotxzen]

US Military Spending versus the Remainder of the World, US Military Budget as a Percent of Total Budget and US Military Budget Increases Over the Previous Years:

http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/ArmsTrade/Spending.asp#InContextUSMilitarySpendingVersusRestoftheWorld

[singingrick]

With one hand they give tax cuts to the rich and with the other they wave in their thieving friends to rob the American taxpayer blind.

[itgranny]

We need to impeach these guys that are in office now for war crimes. Yes, i know that they don''t have much time left, but somehow we need to send the message that we aren''t going to put up with this anymore. It''s not so much the "punishment" of Bush and Cheney (although that''s part of it), it''s about sending a message loud and clear to the American people, to the world and especially to the next one taking office, we aren''t going to put up with this. Our gov. is getting more and more corrupt and time after time nobody wants to do anything about it. They''re going to push us into another bloody revolution before the dumb azzes get it.

[tawpdawg11]

This ain''t the America we learned about growing up in school. For the first time I''m not proud of her. But like a good dog that *** on the floor once in a long while I think she is still basically good....just needs to get back to the basics.. Obama 08

[grumpas]

What about the Bush Administration hasn''t been steeped in fraud?????? It''s been one scandal right after another. In fact the 2000 and 2004 elections were frauds! Where there was funny business going on when it came to Republican''s manipulating the election. So this is nothing new for the Republican''s! In fact, they don''t even pretend to be honest anymore. So by all means you good patriotic citizen''s run down and vote McBush into office because you don''t like Obama, so the fraud can continue unhampered. Like the guy previously said 9/11 was a criminal act not an act of war! Maybe one of these days the Republican''s will figure out the difference.

[trillion1]

The working American tax payer has been the goose that laid the golden egg for several decades. The bottomless well the goverment could always dip into when ever they screwed up and needed more cash. Well, the goose is going to be on life support very soon. American''s are be hit with higher costs for just about everything everyday with-out the added income to compensate. If it was just Iraq that would be one matter but I doubt there is a single agency in this goverment that does not waste or "lose" billions of dollars every year. A good first step would be to fire congress then work our way down the food chain and fire the tens of thousands of useless goverment paper pushers. Make this a goverment ''of the people, by the people and for the people'' as it was meant to be.

[tootall10142]

Now you can plainly see that not all enemies carry a gun or bomb,they just shuffle the paper work and wait on the checks.these are yor nieghbors and fellow americans bending us over and telling us to duck.

[closethippy1]

This is an Osama Bin Laden dream come true. This is the very reason he attacked on 9/11, to do to the US what they did to the USSR after they invaded Afgthanistan, and that''s to bankrupt it.
It is absolutely amazing to see how Bush fell for it. How in the world do you end up spending trillions of dollars in the pursuit of a criminal matter???
Because, after all, what Bin Laden and his bunch of Arab hillbillies did was a CRIMINAL act and not a war act.
Can you imagine if the UK decided to invade Pakistan after the terror bombings they suffered at the hands of Pakistanis?
Good ol'' police work is all that''s needed to capture Bin Laden and dismantle his organization.