REBUILDING IRAQ: THE BUCK STOPS WHERE?

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Wed, 09 Feb 2005 09:42:10 -0800

 

 

Rebuilding Iraq: The Buck Stops Where? 2-9-05

" Arianna Huffington " <arianna

 

 

 

 

 

 

REBUILDING IRAQ: THE BUCK STOPS WHERE?

 

By Arianna Huffington

 

With the president preparing to hit up Congress for another $80

billion for the war in Iraq, I thought it might be a good time to

crack open a history book.

 

In 1941, as the United States was on the verge of entering World War

II, Sen. Harry S. Truman launched an investigation into reports of

widespread waste, corruption and mismanagement in the nascent war

effort. Over the next three years, the Truman Committee held hundreds

of public hearings, visited military bases across the country, and

ended up saving taxpayers $15 billion dollars. His efforts also saved

countless lives by rooting out contractors using inferior materials

and producing shoddy equipment.

 

We sure could use " Give 'em Hell, Harry " today — although, given the

epidemic of corruption infecting the reconstruction of Iraq, even he

would have his work cut out for him.

 

By even the most charitable standard, the effort to rebuild Iraq has

been an unmitigated disaster. A cornucopia of waste, fraud,

ineptitude, cronyism, secret no-bid contracts, and profiteering

cloaked in patriotism. There is the $9 billion the U.S.-led occupation

government can't account for; the over 70 investigations into

potential criminal cases involving U.S.-funded projects; the ongoing

billing disputes with Halliburton, which despite having repeatedly

ripped off taxpayers, continues to receive billion-dollar contracts;

the $20 billion in Iraqi oil money kept track of by a single

accountant; the study showing that up to 30 percent of reconstruction

funds are being lost to fraud and corporate malfeasance. Whether you

are passionately in favor of the war or passionately against it, don't

you want to know exactly where our money is going and how we can stop

the corruption?

 

On top of the corruption is the fact that, because so little of the

$24 billion in taxpayer money that Congress has earmarked for

reconstruction is reaching ordinary Iraqis, two years after we

cakewalked over Saddam, the Iraqi people are still facing massive food

shortages, energy shortages, and woefully inadequate water and sewage

systems. According to the Center for Strategic and International

Studies, only 27 cents of every dollar spent on rebuilding Iraq has

gone to actually improving the lives of its people, with the rest

going to security, waste, overhead and fattening the bottom line of

big U.S. corporations.

 

Despite this abysmal track record, Congress has all but relinquished

its historic — and constitutionally mandated — role as government

watchdog, one of the keys to our system of checks and balances.

Instead, these days, our watchdogs have turned into lapdogs. You'd

think that with the massive amounts of taxpayer dollars involved and

the unprecedented secrecy that surrounded the awarding of so many of

the reconstruction contracts — to say nothing of the stink left by the

rampant corporate scandals of recent years — the halls of Congress

would be filled with modern day Harry Trumans. After all, what is

particularly inspiring about the Truman Committee is that it was

established when Democrats controlled both Congress and the White House.

 

It's true that FDR initially wasn't crazy about the idea of the

straight-shooting Truman poking around in his war budget, but he ended

up being so impressed with the way Truman conducted himself and his

investigation, he soon elevated the formerly undistinguished senator

from Missouri to the vice presidency. I wonder if there are any 2008

GOP presidential hopefuls with the courage to take up the Truman mantle.

 

Rep. Jim Leach (R-Iowa) had introduced legislation to create a Truman

Committee on Iraq in the House early last year. It was followed last

September by a Senate resolution with the same goal, co-sponsored by

Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Larry Craig (R-Idaho). Until this week,

both efforts had stalled.

 

Now Leach, together with Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.), are looking at

what is the best way to revive the Truman Committee bill and bring it

to the floor, where it will be very hard to vote against it. " We're

going to put out a 'Dear Colleague' letter this week, " Leach told me,

" to see how many co-sponsors we can get for the legislation. This is

more urgent now than it was when I first introduced the bill. We have

to give the public confidence that their money is being used wisely.

Accountability is difficult at home and much more difficult abroad, so

oversight is even more critical. "

 

Tierney agrees. " Accountability and transparency are critical, " he

told me. " Just as Harry Truman fought for Congress to play a special

oversight role during World War II, I believe we are called again to

shed light on any potential abuse of taxpayer dollars. "

 

Much of the Truman Committee's moral authority came from the

bipartisan consensus it achieved (its GOP members never felt the need

to issue a minority report), and from its reputation as being

eminently fair. Leach and Tierney should try to make the creation of a

modern Truman Committee an amendment to the supplemental request for

another $80 billion for Iraq. And courageous Republicans in both

chambers of Congress should place principle — as well as the

protection of U.S. taxpayers and the needs of the Iraqi people — above

a shallow definition of party loyalty.

 

But we should not hold our breath waiting for this to happen without

real public pressure. It could include a public awareness campaign to

hold our elected officials' feet to the fire. A friend in advertising

sent me the script for a proposed 30-second TV ad in which a corporate

bigwig uses a sleight of hand trick to turn a dollar bill into a

quarter and two pennies, while an announcer says: " We've set aside $24

billion to help rebuild Iraq. The money is supposed to help build

schools and hospitals and make water safe to drink. But for every

dollar U.S. taxpayers spend, only 27 cents reaches the average Iraqi.

Before we give George Bush another $80 billion, maybe we should stop

and ask: Where is the money going? " The spot ends with three quick

messages flashed on the screen: " Stop the profiteers. Demand an

investigation. Bring back the Truman Committee. "

 

That would certainly give our Congressional watchdogs something to

chew on.

 

© 2005 ARIANNA HUFFINGTON.

DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.