Audit: Iraq Contracts Skirted Fraud Rules

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

(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.

[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 ...
---
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.