Washington
Millions of dollars that were originally intended to be spent on reconstruction and security of Iraq have been misspent on luxury items such as swimming pools, VIP trailers and buildings that were never used.
The American Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) recently conducted audits out in which he indicates that "corruption continues to plague Iraq" and underlines that "the security environment has continued to deteriorate."
The audits, that were submitted to the American Congress, have reviewed the American efforts to support the capacity development of the Iraqi ministries.
The 579 page heavy report gives examples of American waste of reconstruction funds. One of the examples is of a contract that was awarded to DynCorp International between 2004 and 2006. The American State Department paid $43.8 Million for the manufacturing and storage of a residential camp that has never been used.
The same State Department also may have spent $36.4 Million on weapons and equipment that includes armored vehicles, body armor, as well as communications equipment that, according to the audit, cannot be accountable for because “there were no backup documents”.
The audit also points out the deteriorating security situation, underlining that it is “hindering progress in all reconstruction sectors and threatening the overall reconstruction effort” and concludes that infrastructure security remains vulnerable.
It also faults the “inconsistent coordination” between the different American agencies that are supporting Iraq's reconstruction for hampering the effectivity of the American assistance.
The audit report was published at a time when the United States is trying to convince donors like the United Nations, the World Bank, and other donor countries that the “security situation”, requires a “new phase of investment” through the “International Compact for Iraq”.
The American Congress have been seeking information about contracts that were entered into by the Bush administration for reconstruction and development work in Iraq, especially contracts in value of billions of dollars with a subsidiary of the Halliburton Corporation.
Furthermore, there are questions raised about inflated prices being charged by Halliburton to import gasoline from Kuwait into Iraq and Halliburton's admission of kickbacks to company officials.
The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), watchdog of the American Congress, released a report in December that found deficiencies in the American Army's oversight of contractors in Iraq among it “limited visibility over contractors”, as well as “little or no training on the use of contractors”.
According to SIGIR, they are still dealing with 78 open investigations, of them 23 cases are under direct supervision by the American Justice Department, which implies that there is the possibility of criminal charges.
Members of the American Congress have said, that despite the huge investments in Iraq, the reconstruction effort has produced very little of lasting value, be it for the United States or for Iraq.
Israel Rafalovich
U.N. OBSERVER & International Report
Millions of dollars that were originally intended to be spent on reconstruction and security of Iraq have been misspent on luxury items such as swimming pools, VIP trailers and buildings that were never used.
The American Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) recently conducted audits out in which he indicates that "corruption continues to plague Iraq" and underlines that "the security environment has continued to deteriorate."
The audits, that were submitted to the American Congress, have reviewed the American efforts to support the capacity development of the Iraqi ministries.
The 579 page heavy report gives examples of American waste of reconstruction funds. One of the examples is of a contract that was awarded to DynCorp International between 2004 and 2006. The American State Department paid $43.8 Million for the manufacturing and storage of a residential camp that has never been used.
The same State Department also may have spent $36.4 Million on weapons and equipment that includes armored vehicles, body armor, as well as communications equipment that, according to the audit, cannot be accountable for because “there were no backup documents”.
The audit also points out the deteriorating security situation, underlining that it is “hindering progress in all reconstruction sectors and threatening the overall reconstruction effort” and concludes that infrastructure security remains vulnerable.
It also faults the “inconsistent coordination” between the different American agencies that are supporting Iraq's reconstruction for hampering the effectivity of the American assistance.
The audit report was published at a time when the United States is trying to convince donors like the United Nations, the World Bank, and other donor countries that the “security situation”, requires a “new phase of investment” through the “International Compact for Iraq”.
The American Congress have been seeking information about contracts that were entered into by the Bush administration for reconstruction and development work in Iraq, especially contracts in value of billions of dollars with a subsidiary of the Halliburton Corporation.
Furthermore, there are questions raised about inflated prices being charged by Halliburton to import gasoline from Kuwait into Iraq and Halliburton's admission of kickbacks to company officials.
The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), watchdog of the American Congress, released a report in December that found deficiencies in the American Army's oversight of contractors in Iraq among it “limited visibility over contractors”, as well as “little or no training on the use of contractors”.
According to SIGIR, they are still dealing with 78 open investigations, of them 23 cases are under direct supervision by the American Justice Department, which implies that there is the possibility of criminal charges.
Members of the American Congress have said, that despite the huge investments in Iraq, the reconstruction effort has produced very little of lasting value, be it for the United States or for Iraq.
Israel Rafalovich
U.N. OBSERVER & International Report