Has anyone seen the accounting on AWOL spending $4B a month in Iraq?

[cthrumatrix]

Bush under fire over Iraq

By David Bamford
BBC correspondent in Washington

snip

Senator Richard Lugar, speaking on American TV, said he believed $30bn at least will be required, but it's not the Americans who should pay:

"That's about what the budget was, as I understand, during the Saddam days, just to run the country, with about half of it coming from oil - and that's important, because this myth that oil does it is only halfway true," Senator Lugar said.

"Now where the other half come from? That requires our going to the international community in a big way."

The Bush administration, which is already spending $4bn a month of US taxpayers' money on the military costs in Iraq alone, looks to be gearing up for a big international appeal for contributions towards the cost of rebuilding Iraq.
more

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3196833.stm

Not that I don't trust these guys. But shouldn't there be some outline of how this moeny is being spent. From what I read, water and electricty would cost $30B for infrastructure. But the numbers they are floating are much much higher.

Where's a Democrat demanding accountabilty?

[izzie]

1. I am unhappy that both Rep and Dem voted for this

We can blame spineless Dem for some of this. They just should have let it pass with only the GOP. I do not think we are that rich to pay for this and I do not think even regular Rep will wish to pay for it.

[ClintonTyree]

2. In defense of Congress..............

(now that they're finally back in session) they are asking questions of the White House as to where the money is going, and just how much it is going to cost. Of course due to the nature of this administration, getting answers will be difficult, you know for national security reasons and all. Don't look to get any straight answers from the Bushies. Of course B&R, Haliburton etal. are making billions charging $50,000,000 to rebuild a $300,000 bridge, but hey, do you want it done right, or do you just want it done?

[K-Centrist]

3. Could you be specific about

. . . the $300,000 bridge?

I'm sitting in Baghdad right now, and while I've seen quite a few bridges, I haven't seen any in that price range. And the highest reconstruction cost I've seen (for one that was well and truly trashed and has the additional thrill -- and cost -- of a 1000-pound bomb to be removed) was about $8 million.

[w13rd0]

5. It's a reference to Baghdad Burning blog...

...and a statement made by that blogger.

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

Scroll down to Thursday 28th AUG under The Promise and the Threat

New Diyala Bridge

[K-Centrist]

6. Whoopsie!

Let me phrase this without violating the DU civility clause: What the blogger said about the New Diyala Bridge? -- It turns out not to be the case. (Whew -- that wasn't so hard. I really want to use the phrase "bald-faced liar," but I avoided that vile impulse. Good for me).

I've seen the estimate for new Diyala. It's a bit higher than 300K, but not that much. And it hasn't been awarded to anyone yet, let alone for 50 mill.

Folks: the truth about this wicked and foolish thing my country has done is bad enough -- we don't need to descend to the level of the bushites.

[MuseRider]

7. K-Centrist

Welcome to DU! Are you living in Bagdad? Are you from Bagdad? I am glad you are OK if that is the case. We are glad to have you.

We were talking about this on another thread yesterday. We need an accounting of where this money is going. None of us seemed to trust these guys not to just funnel it into their own companies. Hopefully when they ask for more money they will ask for an accounting. Something tells me we will never see it but it might get a bit interesting.

[K-Centrist]

9. Far be it from me to underrate perfidy

. . . but all publicly awarded contracts are subject to review by GAO-types both during execution and then exhaustively afterwards. It's really, really, really hard to hide anything.

What gets by is when the reviewers agree with the contractor that $650 for a toilet seat (to cite an historical example) is reasonable, and so don't question it. But this stuff is semi-public record and can be researched, usually without resorting to the FOIA (which as we know, ain't as sharp a tool as it used to be).

And yep, I'm living in Baghdad (if you can call it living). However, I'm not a soldier out looking for bad guys, so I count myself lucky.

[Pepperbelly]

4. First things first: pay Halibuton!

Then the rest can be prioritized.

:eyes:

[Junkdrawer]

8. Sen. Biden, a pro-war Democrat, has never-the-less been...

demanding such an accounting. I heard him use the $4 billion/month figure on Meet the Press 10 days ago. I believe he bases that figure on the troop strength there and costs of previous engagements. He also estimates/advocates it will take "hundreds of billions of dollars" to rebuild Iraq.