Keith Ashdown, of the conservative Taxpayers for Common Sense, said
that the Defense Department Inspector General's office no longer has
any auditors in Iraq and that only a fraction of the war funds has
been audited.
''The lion's share of the money really hasn't been audited that
effectively," Ashdown said.
''The money going to keep our troops and the infrastructure there is
not being looked at. We don't know how many pairs of boots or
helicopters we are replacing."
A recent investigation by the Government Accountability Office found
that the Defense Department could not account for more than $7 billion
provided for the war on terrorism.
All together, government audits have concluded that at least $20
billion in war-related spending has been unaccounted for.
Such questions are not expected to hold up passage of the supplemental
spending package to continue funding operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
In anticipation of the mounting costs, House and Senate committees
tacked $45 billion onto the annual defense appropriations bill,
awaiting passage next month.
But in light of recent Iraq contracting scandals, some lawmakers are
pushing for much greater oversight of overall war spending.
Representative Stephen F. Lynch, a South Boston Democrat, sponsored a
bill this month requiring extra review of reconstruction and troop
support contracts.
''This is a matter of common sense," Lynch said in a statement.
''A comprehensive contractual review does not appear to be a priority
.. . . It's about time we adopt a real system of accountability."
From The Boston Globe, 12/4/05:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/12/04/oversight_of_war_spending_is_faulted/
Oversight of war spending is faulted
Congress, military spar on reporting
By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff
WASHINGTON --
The Defense Department is preparing its seventh supplemental budget
request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but congressional
overseers and government watchdog groups are warning that gaps in the
Pentagon's accounting methods make it difficult to monitor how the
armed services have spent more than $300 billion since the war on
terror began.
The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service has said that confusing
Pentagon accounting procedures, as well as bookkeeping lapses, have
complicated the legislative branch's ability to track billions of
dollars that have been spent on military contracts and operations.
The CRS, a branch of the Library of Congress, said those lapses have
increased the likelihood that funds could be misused.
''They should and could do a better job on providing at least basic
estimates about where the money is going," said Steve Kosiak, of the
Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
''It is a wartime environment, and it may not be your first priority,
but this has been going on since 9/11," a budget analyst.
The CRS report, which was prepared for lawmakers but was not released
publicly, cautioned that ''gaps and inconsistencies" in the Pentagon's
accounting efforts ''sometimes make it problematic to reconstruct
costs."
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Ya see, folks, your money's in good hands. Whose hands? None of your
business.
Harry
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