Where's the money?

If this has been talked about prior to me. Oopsey.

common dreams

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,129489,00.htmlMSNBC.MSN.COM/id/5763483

I sure hope I entered those right. If I didn't I hope some nice moderator will fix them for me? Pretty please?

This is really an unpleasent task for me. I've supported this administrations efforts in Iraq since the beginning, and still support the effort against terrorism, but the blatant incompetence that this missing money indicates is too much.

Three U.S. senators, Ron Wyden (Dem-OR), Byron Dorgan (Dem-ND), and Tom Harkin (Dem-IA); in a letter demanked a full accounting of the money sent to Iraqi ministries and authorities by the Coalition Provisional Authority, which was the governing body of Iraq until June 2005.

This story was broken by Col. David Hackworth (US Army-ret.) on his website which I cannot access for some strange reason.

The missing money is from the Developement Fund made up from proceeds from oil sales, frozen assets returned from foriegn gov't's, and surplus from the Oil-For-Food Program.

The audit seems to have revealed that payrolls have been padded with thousands of ghost workers. Over 8000 guards listed, only 603 actually counted.

Haliburton seems to have benefited. Haliburton was one of the main beneficiaries to the tune of over one billion dollars.

These are just a few of the examples that are apparently sited in this audit.
Even if only a fraction of this is on the mark, it reveals an almost unfathomable level of incompetence, and criminal neglagence on the part of the bigwigs in the administration.

Donald Rumsfeld needs to answer some stiff questions, indeed. (OMG, I've gone to the darkside.) Where in the hell did all that money go? To whom did it go to? Over 8 billion dollars of our money just went poof, I really don't like being played for a fool. Bush and crowd need to step up NOW!

Originally posted by seagull
(OMG, I've gone to the darkside.)

No you haven't. You're just blinded by the light. Move toward the light.

When those of us against this whole war and administration have mentioned that it's an illegal and immoral war, not being fought for freedom or WMDs, the war supporters ask, "Why would they want to go to war? How could this administration benefit from this war"?

This is how. $$$

And reported by FOX news, huh? Interesting. Good find.

It's not the war, immoral or otherwise, that is angering me so much, I still think the war must be fought. It's the extreme level of incompetence that this audit reveals. The planning was so poor, as to enable person, or persons unknown at this time, to steal, quite literally food out of the mouths of innocents. Not to mention my billfold.

My BS antenna went up when no/bid contracts were given VP Dick Cheneys old company Haliburton. What astonishes me is that this seems OK with most people. And it only got casual mention in the MSM.

Vagabond said it awhile back; we are ruled by a Kleptocracy. Is that clever or what?

Kleptocracy? As good a name as any it would appear. I have to tell myself that not all the evidence is in, and the administration still has an opportunity to explain itself. But I won't hold my breath.

It really sucks to be played for a fool, if indeed any of the administration was involved. As thoroughly as Americans were in control of Coalition Provisional Authority, I fail to see how someone from the US didn't have a hand in the cookie jar.

I take offense in the idea that it was poorly planned!! It was perfectly planned down to the last detail....after all, the administration's friends and buddies, along with some lucky fellows that just happened to be in the right place at the right time, have padded their pockets quite nicely!!! building wealth, I think they call it.... and well, the average american taxpayer is just a tad poorer....

and well, they could spend lifetimes trying to track all the money down and never find it.

maybe for an oncore, they'll plan the next bank heist??

man........I wish I was an accountant for the government.....just think how rich I could be, and could probably have it all spent before they realized something was amiss.....

but.....oh, ya, our budget woes are caused from all those "lazy", "illprepared" people taking handouts from those social programs out there....yep!!!