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$Billions go Unaccounted in Iraq
Baghdad's 'missing' billions
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6129612.stm
By Mark Gregory
International business reporter, BBC World Service
Iraq corruption 'costs billions'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6131290.stm
SIGIR: Independent & Objective Oversight
http://www.sigir.mil/
More Halliburton - Iraq allegations ...
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2004/10/25/PM200410254.html
http://reform.house.gov/ Chair Tom Davis (R, VA - 11) has been relected.
Baghdad's 'missing' billions
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6129612.stm
By Mark Gregory
International business reporter, BBC World Service
When Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled in April 2003, Iraq was in a mess, despite its oil wealth.
Decades of conflict and sanctions had wrecked the infrastructure of roads, power stations, schools and hospitals.
When US President George W Bush announced the war had ended, he promised the US would help to rebuild Iraq, saying: "Now that the dictator's gone we and our coalition partners are helping Iraqis to lay the foundations of a free economy."
Since then, huge sums have gone towards reconstruction. The US has spent $36bn of its own money. More controversially it has also spent $22bn of Iraqi cash.
These Iraqi funds were controlled by the Americans during the year-long occupation that followed the war.
They consisted mainly of Iraqi oil revenues and leftover cash from the oil-for-food programme - the pre-war sanctions regime run by the United Nations. The money was in the Development Fund for Iraq, set up by the UN as the war ended.
'A huge scandal'
In hearings on Capitol Hill in Washington, Democratic congressman Henry Waxman has emerged as the most vocal critic of the US' record on reconstruction.
In particular, Mr Waxman says proper accounting procedures were ignored when large sums of Iraqi cash were handed over by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) - the US-led body that ran Iraq immediately after the war - to get Iraqi ministries functioning again.
"I think we're looking at a huge scandal. The CPA handed over $8.8bn in cash to the Iraqi government even though that new government had no security or accounting system.
"No one can account for it. We don't know who got that money," Mr Waxman said.
Iraq corruption 'costs billions'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6131290.stm
Corruption within the Iraqi government is costing the country billions of dollars, the US official monitoring reconstruction in Iraq has said.
Stuart Bowen told the BBC that Iraq was facing a second insurgency of corruption and mismanagement.
He said Iraqi government corruption could amount to $4bn (£2.1bn) a year, over 10% of the national income, with some money going to the insurgency.
Many government workers also lack the skills to manage funds, Mr Bowen said.
"This money that's stolen doesn't merely enrich criminals," Mr Bowen said.
"(It) frequently goes out to fund criminal militias or insurgents. That means lost lives for US troops."
Missing weapons
A clause in a military spending bill signed by President George W Bush three weeks ago will terminate the work of the auditor on 1 October next year.
Democratic and Republican Senators have said they will fight to have the term of the Office of the Special Inspector-General for Iraq Reconstruction extended.
Mr Bowen has been critical in the past of how US money earmarked for reconstruction has been spent.
Lack of skills among government workers is another problem hampering reconstruction, Mr Bowen said.
SIGIR: Independent & Objective Oversight
http://www.sigir.mil/
Welcome to the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), a temporary federal agency serving the American public as a watchdog for fraud, waste, and abuse of funds intended for Iraq reconstruction programs.
SIGIR, the successor to the Coalition Provisional Authority Inspector General (CPA-IG), was created by Congress to provide oversight of the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund (IRRF) and all obligations, expenditures, and revenues associated with reconstruction and rehabilitation activities in Iraq. SIGIR oversight is accomplished via independent audits, field inspections, and criminal investigations into potential fraud, waste, and abuse of funds.
More Halliburton - Iraq allegations ...
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2004/10/25/PM200410254.html
The Pentagon is investigating claims made by a top Army contracting official. Bunnatine Greenhouse contends Halliburton subsidiary KBR unfairly won no-bid contracts worth billions for work in Iraq and the Balkans. Host David Brown speaks with Marketplace's John Dimsdale about the allegations.
http://reform.house.gov/ Chair Tom Davis (R, VA - 11) has been relected.
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