Pool Contracting In Iraq

Now we know what Bremer meant when he warned us about not expecting "Western-Style accounting" in Iraq.

The BBC gives us another horrific look as to how reconstruction spending was really just a corrupt free-for-all under the CPA.

One official kept $2m (£1.1m) in a bathroom safe, while another allegedly stole $100,000 from a colleague's unsecured stash to balance his own books, investigators found.

Payment was handed over for projects without any official contract being drawn up or checks on the work carried out.

More than 2,000 contracts were found to be at fault.

In one case a contractor was paid $100,000 to refurbish an Olympic swimming pool.

US officials certified the work was complete, but it later turned out that the contractor had just polished the equipment, which was found to be defective. The pool has not been used since.

One US military assistant is said to have gambled away up to $60,000 while accompanying the Iraqi Olympic team to the Philippines.

... the Right, of course, is oddly silent when it comes to these stories. Too busy, I suppose, with supporting the troops to be concerned about corruption in a program that may have ... uhm ... actually helped the troops with some much needed sincere and positive PR.