GAO report: Possible billions wasted in Iraq

[maddezmom]

Los Angeles Times
Wednesday, June 16, 2004



WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon may have wasted billions of dollars in Iraq because of a lack of planning and poor oversight, top congressional and Defense Department investigators said Tuesday.

David Walker, head of the General Accounting Office, told a congressional panel that Defense Department planners had failed to determine adequately the needs of U.S. soldiers in Iraq or effectively oversee the billions of dollars' worth of contracts they had issued.

While Pentagon officials defended their efforts by blaming any mistakes on the pressure of the war's early days, the investigators said that they had found ongoing waste in the contracting process a year after the invasion began.

In remarks to reporters, Walker speculated that the total losses due to waste could amount to "billions
~snip~
more: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/auto/epaper/editions/today/news_04fc4c342091d16c00d7.html

[pfitz59]

1. Understatement of the century!

LOL!

[King of New Orleans]

2. In other news

Dog bites man

[donhakman]

3. Contractors rake it in

I also know one cia agent who was given 33 million dollars in cash to spread around as he saw fit for info and bribes.

[saigon68]

17. I wonder if he kept any?

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. This is comming from the Department of DUH!

isn't it?

[grytpype]

5. Billions. So what.

Thousands for each and every American.

It's too bad we can't fire Bush... only he can stand tall against the terorrists, and he's God Almighty's choice. So what can we do.

[GregW]

6. Meanwhile, back at the ranch ...

Sharks attack Gary Condit.

[librechik]

13. BREAKING!!

Reagan still dead.

[saracat]

7. Really?

What a surprise! And from the fiscal conservatives too!

[LittleApple81]

8. It is always the same old, the same old. ALWAYS the same. n/t

[Donkeyboy75]

9. Billions wasted?

I didn't know booze was that prevalent there.

If they meant dollars, well, that's not exactly news, is it? :eyes:

[tlcandie]

10. Too bad they don't want to listen to FOCUS groups!!!

They might learn a thing or two from us uneducated heathens about spending and debt! All those protesting against this nightmare black hole that is only making corporations rich while the poor die for nothing more than a lie! :puke:

[PurityOfEssence]

11. No no no, I believe the word is...purloined

The good lord didn't make all that money so it could slip into the hands of heathens, ingrates and other assorted no-accounts.

It's not like they burned dollars to keep themselves warm during those cold desert nights, those dollars found their way into the hands of friends and family just like salmon returning to spawn.

[stickdog]

12. Poppy Warbucks & DickUsOver Cheney know best! (nt)

[are_we_united_yet]

20. "DickUsOver Cheney"

*Snarf*

[UpInArms]

25. are you referring to

Poppy "righter tighter hands" and Chained-to-Hellaburnin's Dick-wagger?

[izzie]

14. Tax payers money seems to be Bush's piggy bank

I do not think we could find a Dem that can spend like he does.

[maggrwaggr]

15. forget about Iraq, our OWN COUNTRY has been plundered!

by the gangsters that are running it.

And they'll continue to do so until we make them stop.

That's the bottom line.

[Hekate]

16. I thought they privatized that department.

Shucks, must have been an oversight.
>sarcasm off<

Hekate

[gatlingforme]

21. LOL, I thought they did too......LOL

[Pachamama]

18. Oh what's a few Billion $$$ amongst friends? n/t

[are_we_united_yet]

19. A billion here

A billion there, pretty soon you are talking about real money.

[dbt]

22. EVERY dollar spent on this war has been a deliberate waste!

Every justification offered up by the regime for the invasion of Iraq has turned out to be (surprise!) bogus.

The only rationale we're left with is war for profit.

:grr:
dbt

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

23. Add this to the $3.3 trillion that is unaccounted for and you have

Universal Health Care and SS solvency for a minimum of three generations.

DoD is a black hole.

[missile_bender]

24. Not wasted,

laundered. This administration is overseeing the biggest theft of the Treasury in U.S. history. That money has to be clensed via various subsidiaries of the WeSaySo Corp.

[JPZenger]

26. Should Have Employed More Iraqis

The U.S. rebuilding efforts are now employing only 25,000 Iraqis. One non-profit official said that the U.S. is spending $4 billion a month in Iraq, and that if only $1 billion was spent on employment, that every unemployed Iraqi would have a job.

Instead, we have spent $100,000 a year bringing American civilians over to Iraq to drive a truck.

The joblessness is certainly contributing to the violence and frustration.
----
Halliburton gets a percentage of every dollar spent by its subcontractors. The more they spend, the more Halliburton makes. Halliburton employees who quit are now talking to Congressmen about the waste and the lack of oversight of these contracts. Unfortunately, the Republicans in Congress have blocked any hearings on the spending. Halliburton is off-limits for Congressional review.

[indepat]

27. I am shocked, utterly shocked and bewildered that tax money would be

wasted.

[struggle4progress]

28. kick

:kick: