A Billion Here, a Billion There

Rogier van Bakel, guest-blogging at The Agitator, has a post on the disappearance of a billion dollars from Iraq's defense budget—money that was supposed to be prepping local forces to handle insurgents.

Comments

[Yogi]

You would think that the Bush Administration would be trying to stop this so they can set up the democracy there as soon as possible. Is helping out their cronies in the defense industry that important to them? Were they really thinking that no one would notice a BILLION dollars missing? Really, I think the only logical explanation here isn’t corruption on the part of the Bush administration, but its gross incompetence.

[sage]

The sad thing is, this will get swept under the rug and no one will remember it even a few months from now. I think the reason for this is that with all the crooked stuff this administration is doing it’s hard to keep up with it all.

[celtlion]

Why am I not suprised…of course this kind of stuff barely makes the news these days ..a billion here a billion there..I guess pretty soon we’re talking real money..

[Eric the .5b]

I feel faintly obligated:

“Kerry wouldn’t have lost it!”

[Eric the .5b]

*looks around*

C’mon, Thoreau. No slacking. We’re waiting for it! 😀

[Lost_In_Translation]

Woah, are you saying that the government managed to mismanage money. I am shocked, shocked and indignant.

[Cap'n Obvious]

Sage wrote: “The sad thing is, this will get swept under the rug and no one will remember it even a few months from now. I think the reason for this is that with all the crooked stuff this administration is doing it’s hard to keep up with it all.”

I find that bit much more interesting than the fact that the money is gone in the first place. Isn’t it telling that even people (if only the small number reading these threads and blogs) who DO take notice of such thievery have so little hope of doing anything about it that we simply bitch and moan rather than taking action (myself included)? It seems that THAT is the real tragedy; not that a billion dollars is missing but that even when noticed, there is no justice.

[zach]

i’m having a hard time figuring out from the actual Independent article alone (http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article313538.ece) what exactly the story is here. the article is unclear as to whether the $1B simply disappeared, or was hastily spent on next-to-worthless equipment. or if it was some combination of these and bad record-keeping: Contracts for large sums were short scribbles on a single piece of paper. Auditors have had difficulty working out with whom Iraq has a contract in Pakistan.

i’m not sure what to think until i see some reference to this from a source other than the Independent. either way it seems to me that the cause is iraqi corruption as well as U.S. willingness to look the other way, whether due to corruption or other priorities.

[Native NYer]

I got my handbasket, but where does the trip to hell start?

[Paul Bremer]

Pikers!

[thoreau]

Well, obviously I read the transcripts in this thread. But I haven’t read the full transcripts.

[thoreau]

Doh! Wrong thread! Sorry.

[drew]

Don’t worry if you read a bit further on in the article they note that we lost 1 trillion domestically. So the Iraqi military is lagging way behind our own in misappropriated funds. At least in this area they are making an effort to catch up though.

[Sucker-Free]

“[…] this administration […]”

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[TallDave]

The estimeates actually go as high as $2.3 billion. The former Defense Minister is being indicted. Clearly, they did not put in place proper controls.

I’m not sure why anyone is surprised by this, though. Even the best, most modern and transparent democracies struggle with defense contracting boondoggles.

[mens insano]

Clearly, they did not put in place proper controls.

Clearly.

I’m not sure why anyone is surprised by this, though. Even the best, most modern and transparent democracies struggle with defense contracting boondoggles.

Monkey see, monkey do.

[R C Dean]

On a dollars stolen per day basis, I wonder how this compares to oil for palaces?