Iraq War Funding: How Much Goes to the Troops?

Posted by The Crux | Taxpayers are getting tense as President Bush seeks another $50 billion for the Iraq war, on top of the $147 billion recently requested to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (Washington Post). 

However questionably this nation was led into the Iraq war, it does seem wise to adequately fund  troops who are still overseas.

The big question: how much of our money actually helps our troops? Yesterday's New York Times reported on federal investigations into fraud schemes involving government contractors, government employees, and military personnel:

"As of Aug. 23, there were a total of 73 criminal investigations related to contract fraud in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.... Twenty civilians and military personnel have been charged in federal court as a result of the inquiries....

Investigations span the gamut from low-level officials submitting false claims for amounts less than $2,500 to more serious cases involving conspiracy, bribery, product substitution and bid-rigging or double-billing involving large dollar amounts or more senior contracting officials...."

Lt. Col. Levonda Selph, former aide to General David Petraeus, is among those under investigation (reports don't specify why).

Three weeks ago, we learned that 190,000 guns meant for Iraqi forces were lost -- more than one gun for each U.S. soldier in Iraq -- while Petraeus led the effort to arm and train Iraqis (GAO and WaPo).

Last week, we learned that whistleblower Donald Vance (a Navy veteran who worked in Iraq) was kidnapped, incarcerated, and subjected to "harsh interrogation" after he reported corrupt schemes involving illegal gun sales....

Vance's story is alarming, because government officials often depend on whistleblowers to expose contractor fraud.   

Vance is not the only whistleblower to receive bad treatment in return for reporting illegal schemes.  The  Associated Press reported:

"Bunnatine 'Bunny' Greenhouse knows this only too well. As the highest-ranking civilian contracting officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, she testified before a congressional committee in 2005 that she found widespread fraud in multibillion-dollar rebuilding contracts awarded to former Halliburton subsidiary KBR.

"Soon after, Greenhouse was demoted. She now sits in a tiny cubicle in a different department with very little to do and no decision-making authority, at the end of an otherwise exemplary 20-year career.

"People she has known for years no longer speak to her.

"'It's just amazing how we say we want to remove fraud from our government, then we gag people who are just trying to stand up and do the right thing,' she says."

Greenhouse's account compels a frighteningly valid question: how serious are government officials about curbing waste, fraud and abuse?

BN-Politics' reports  indicate (sadly) that contractor fraud, waste and abuse have been common for many-many years -- and not limited to defense contractors.  For more info, see BN-Politics' Govt. Contractors Section or the links below:

  * Govt. Contractors: Driving up Healthcare Costs?

  * Defense Dept. Rewarding Bad Contractor Performance?

  * How the Energy Dept. Incinerated Tax Dollars

  * How the Defense Dept. Flushes Dollars Down Latrine

  * New Orleans Still Suffering after 2 Years and Billions of Tax Dollars

  * Gov. Contractors: Driving up War's Costs? 

  * Contractors Offering Bribes to Army Personnel?

  * Taxpayers Losing Money to Engorged Contractors

  * Audit Red-Flags Contractor in Iraq

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