NPR - Show Me The MONEY

[Dover]

With the White House toying with the idea of asking Congress for MORE money for its war chest, NPR looks into where the current funds have been spent:

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/features/iraq/index.html

NPR's marketplace is doing a special all week.


The spoils of war add up to more than capturing expansive palaces and luxury cars. As Marketplace reporters have discovered, not all of the $22 billion being spent to rebuild Iraq is going where it should. Who's watching the money as it streams through Baghdad? Just about no one, and bribes and black marketeering are rampant, witnesses say. A leading anti-corruption group claims as much as 90 percent of U.S. money spent in Iraq is being lost to corruption. From Halliburton subsidiaries charging double for gas, Iraqi officials and Arabic translators unrestrained from pocketing millions of dollars, or even members of the interim governing Council accusing each other of taking tens of millions in bribes. Trouble is, the root of the problem can't be found anywhere near the Green Zone. Try the White House, and Capitol Hill, where oversight of Iraqi construction crews and U.S. contractors like Halliburton has only just begun to be assigned… more than a year after the war began.
snip

Millions - possibly billions - of taxpayer dollars are disappearing in a web of bribes, kickbacks and price gouging

[GainesT1958]

1. The one thing economically at which Dub & Co. have been successful...

"Crony Capitalism"!:mad:

B-)

[stellanoir]

3. I'm afraid it's far worse than "crony capitalism"

Services and products returned for investments made are few and far between. Foreign "Contractors" are making $80,000 to $400,000 a year for jobs that could be easily filled by highly skilled though mostly (60%) unemployed Iraqis. Often reconstruction efforts are done shottily, to some degree due to the security concerns and often looted and desecrated upon their completion.

We thought we could turn Iraq into Switzerland with no regard for their history or culture. We will end up turning our economy into that of Argentina. This will break us if not remedied soon.

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. There must be 1000's of skilled craftsmen in Iraq

look at the beautiful palaces that Saddam had built for himself.

Instead, of using Iraqis to rebuild their own country, (which wouldn't need rebuilding if we hadn't bombed the shit out of it), we are using ultra high priced privatized foreigners, who stuff the money in their pockets and there is little to show for it.

[tom_paine]

2. Sounds like a Standard Bushevik Op

Altough they are becoming swelled with hubris. Time was they would only steal 50%.

But they know that Imperial Amerika is almost theirs, lock stock and effing barrel. They grow impatient and bold.