Board free of oversight as it spends $4 billion in Iraqi money

[Barrett808]

Board free of oversight as it spends $4 billion in Iraqi money
By Jackie Spinner and Ariana Eunjung Cha
The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — Iraqis spooked by rumors of a fuel shortage were hoarding the precious commodity, inadvertently causing exactly what they feared. Officials in charge of oil for the U.S.-led occupation government in Baghdad were worried that there would be riots if they didn't do something, fast. And so, on Nov. 29, they went to Saddam Hussein's former presidential palace and sought help.

By nightfall, they had received an emergency allotment of $425 million to import fuel from neighboring countries.

The spending was approved by the 11-member Program Review Board. The board, comprising mostly Americans, Britons and Australians, was appointed by L. Paul Bremer, the top administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). It uses Iraqi money that includes oil revenue and seized assets from the Saddam era to pay for projects not anticipated by the country's budget. So far, the board has approved more than $4 billion in such spending.

And while spending of the $18.6 billion Congress approved this fall for Iraqi reconstruction will be overseen by an office run by a retired U.S. admiral, and the $13 billion pledged from other countries will be monitored by an Iraqi-run oversight board, there seems to be little oversight or accountability for the money spent by the Program Review Board.

Despite detailed regulations and pronouncements about "transparency," it has little of the openness, debate and paper trails that define such groups in democratic nations.

Though the interim government has extensive information on its Web site, it doesn't include, for example, when contracts have been awarded. Citing security concerns, it also doesn't say what companies won them.

(more)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001825220_iraqboard290.html

[arcane1]

1. "We expect there to be transparency...."

"...people who have got something to hide make us nervous"

-George W. Bush

[Karenina]

2. ...

:kick:

[Judi Lynn]

3. Damned ugly people

From the article:

(snip) During its twice-weekly meetings, the board has approved more than 500 projects, including $120 million for printing and distributing currency, $36 million for renovating police stations, $15 million for a national micro-credit program and $4 million for creating a radio system for the railroad network.

It also has signed off on scores of smaller projects, including $3,500 to start a Baghdad theater festival, $50,000 to pay two zookeepers and $79,245 to re-establish the Baghdad stock exchange.

Meetings of the review board aren't public, and there are no transcripts. Abbreviated minutes of meetings since August have been posted on the Internet, but they do not include information on more than 200 projects approved from May to mid-August.

There's no description of the discussions leading to a decision. There's no explanation, for example, of why the board decided to spend $35,000 to remove the four sculptures of Saddam's head at the presidential-palace headquarters of the interim government or why it approved $194,370 for the Resalla High School but nothing for the Tigris Primary School next door, or why it felt a $1.4 million allocation to support women's centers would be beneficial to the Iraqi people. (snip)

They want us to know, apparently, they'll do what they like, since there's no one who will stop them. That they contradict _Bush's earlier bogus statement about people with something to hide probably gives them a maximum buzz.