Topic awaiting preservation: U.S. cannot account for spending of nearly $100 million in Iraq

Just reading this makes me sick - U.S. cannot account for spending of nearly $100 million in Iraq

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Iraq became awash in billions of dollars in cash after the U.S. invasion two years ago, often with few or no controls over how that money was spent and accounted for. From the $8.8 billion provided to Iraq's interim government to millions provided to U.S. contractors, investigations have detailed a system ripe for abuse.

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Yep, a fine job. I really can't think of a better way to spend tax dollars, can you? Yes, let us teach the Iraqis how corruption is really done.

Welcome to American Capitalism...I mean, freedom, Iraq.

(Edited by WebShaman on 05-05-2005 16:28)

A million here, a million there, sooner or later you'll start dealing with real money.
I hate to say it, but $100 million is pork drippings in the grand scheme.

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WebShaman said:

U.S. cannot account for spending of nearly $100 million in Iraq

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While that is certainly ridiculous, it doesn't mean much after invading a country for no good reason.

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"We're not saying the money is lost. We're saying they can't account for it," Mitchell said.

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heh. We're not saying we're morons. We're just saying we're a little slow.

Wasn't it a few months back where we got brief reports of missing billions in Iraq? 8.8 billion? What ever happened with that news? Seems like the really big stuff just gets swept under the rug...ever feel like history is being erased right before your very eyes?

Of course, this is all small potatoes considering the amount of unsupported accounting entries yearly at the DoD.

Ramasax

And i thought the US went in to make money not loose it. I am certain this is not due to stupidity. I see a few reasons why this happened...

1. It is a well known fact that no profit can be made without prior investment. Thusly, if you're gonna open a restaurant you first hae to buy the place, redecorate, furnish, equip it and find help... The only difference is a matter of scale. In order to freely exploit the riches of Iraq one needs to buy a puppet government (like the one Cuba had), equip a local army and police force, provide contracts for oil exploitation - the main reason for the invasion, the second being proximity to Iran - (which must be from the US to limit the losses), etc. one must spend on a massive scale.

2. Either reducing domestic inflation or influencing the value of the dollar.

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