So what's in the $87 Billion Dollar Budget for Iraq?

[Old and In the Way]

From billmon.org, a truly amazing list of what is being "budgeted" for Iraq....if this doesn't stink of pork and waste, I don't know what does. I think I've figured the Republican game out....pretend that you are great protectors of the people's money on domestic issues and clean their pocket by starting wars and gorging on the rebuild contracts.

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Some interesting, um, line items from the administration's Iraq reconstruction request, courtesy of the Washington Post:

A new curriculum for training an Iraqi army for $164 million. Five hundred experts, at $200,000 each, to investigate crimes against humanity. A witness protection program for $200,000 per Iraqi participant. A computer study for the Iraqi postal service: $54 million...
...$100 million to build seven planned communities with a total of 3,258 houses, plus roads, an elementary school, two high schools, a clinic, a place of worship and a market for each; $10 million to finance 100 prison-building experts for six months, at $100,000 an expert; 40 garbage trucks at $50,000 each; $900 million to import petroleum products such as kerosene and diesel to a country with the world's second-largest oil reserves; and $20 million for a four-week business course, at $10,000 per pupil.


Now listen to what the ruling party has to say in its own defense:

Some Republican aides say the numbers may be more defensible than they sound because the budget is not quite real. They suggest the administration has inflated costs, in part to avoid having to come back next year for a new emergency spending bill, and in part so they can skim some of the money for classified military efforts....


ANd then a few paragraphs later, Billmon hit's it again-

Cost Plus
Crossed Wires Deprived Iraqis of Electric Power

When grease-stained technicians at the Baghdad South power plant needed spare parts recently, they first submitted a written request to Bechtel Corp., the engineering firm given more than $1 billion in U.S. government contracts to fix Iraq's decrepit infrastructure. Then they went to the junkyard.
They scoured piles of industrial detritus for abandoned items that could be jury-rigged into the geriatric plant, such as the hydraulic pump from a bulldozer that was used to restart a broken water condenser.

"Of course we'd like new parts," sighed Ahmed Ali Shihab, the senior operations engineer. But he said repeated appeals to Bechtel and the U.S. military had not yielded any significant new equipment. "All we have received from them are promises," he said.

U.S. officials said the requests for new parts were beyond the scope of Bechtel's contract...


Let me see if I've got this straight: Uncle Sam gives Bechtel a billion fucking dollars to fix the Iraqi power system, but actually fixing the power system is "beyond the scope of their contract"???

So which Republican palm do I have to grease to get one of those contracts

This immoral and unjust war is turning into an international disgrace with the Republican feeding frenzy

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Finally, this on who's facilitating the orgy:


The Scum Also Rises
Josh Marshall calls this "Un-#$%@#*&-believable," whereas I would say that "standard operating procedure" about covers it:

New Bridge Strategies, LLC is a unique company that was created specifically with the aim of assisting clients to evaluate and take advantage of business opportunities in the Middle East following the conclusion of the U.S.-led war in Iraq...
New Bridge Strategies principals have years of public policy experience, have held positions in the Reagan Administration and both Bush Administrations.




Un-f'n-believeable............

[kimchi]

1. WFT?

FIVE HUNDRED people to investigate "crimes against humanity" at 200,000 each? Shit, put me on a plane. I'll even do it for half that, and love every freakin' minute.

Four garbage trucks? How random is that?

And you are right--exactly what DOES Bechtel do over there? Anyone? Anyone?

[Old and In the Way]

2. Funny, I thought the garbage trucks were about the only legit

expense in the budget....probably could use a few dozen more.

I figured we'd see water,power, food, and health investments for the Iraqi's....silly me. This is war profiteering at it's absolute ugliest....I am so ashamed that our country allows this digusting misadministration to continue the destruction of our national reputation and treasury to pay off Party hacks and patrons.

This really goes way beyond party politics.

[Old and In the Way]

3. kick....this is too outrageous to sink...