Faith-Based Bookkeeping in Iraq

From Lambert at Corrente:

A billion here, a billion there—pretty soon, you're talking real money!

Hey, remember those twenty-somethings the RNC/CPA hired because they sent in their resumes to the Heritage Foundation? And only because? Maybe they know where the money is!

U.S. civilian authorities in Baghdad failed to keep good track of nearly $1 billion in Iraqi money spent for reconstruction projects and can't produce records to show whether they got some services and products they paid for, anew audit concludes.

The one-star general overseeing reconstruction contracts in Iraq said in response to the audit that the lack of documentation didn't prove the money was wasted.
(via AP)

"Trust me!"—that's Bush=speak for "Fuck you!"

"We believe the contracts awarded with Iraqi funds were for the sole benefit of the Iraqi people, without exception," Army Brig. Gen. Stephen M. Seay wrote to the inspector general.

You "believe"? That's a new one—faith-based accounting!

The investigators reviewed 43 contracts and found 29 had incomplete or missing documentation. For each of the 29, "we were unable to determine if the goods specified in the contract were ever received, the total amount of payments made to the contractor or if the contractor fully complied with the terms of the contract," investigators wrote.

The report said investigators could not track down 52 of 164 randomly selected items in an inventory of more than 20,000 items overseen by KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton. The missing items included two electric generators worth nearly $1 million, 18 trucks or SUVs and six laptop computers.

Looting! After lying, that's what Republicans do best!