Iraq: What Happened to the Money?

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Fox News pulls together some of the brewing controversy about a forthcoming report from the inspector general of Iraq's former Coalition Provisonal Authority indicating that they can't adequately account for $8.8 billion they spent. Some congressmen are getting in the act:

FOX News confirmed that Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Tom Harkin from Iowa and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota want Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to tell them what the funds have been used for by the CPA, which handed over sovereignty to the Iraqis in June.

"The CPA apparently transferred this staggering sum of money with no written rules or guidelines for ensuring adequate managerial, financial or contractual controls over the funds," said the letter sent by the senators on Thursday, obtained by Reuters. "Such enormous discrepancies raise very serious questions about potential fraud, waste and abuse."

In one example reported by Reuters, "8,206 guards were listed on a payroll but only 603 people doing the work could be counted."

[Link via Rational Review.]