U.S. Pays for 150 Iraqi Clinics, and Manages to Build 20

[BBond]

Two new reports on waste in Iraq came out in the past two days. The corruption and waste that have become the earmarks of the total failure of bush's exercise in nation building are again revealed.

The next time you hear king george giving one of his sales pitches on Iraq, you know, the speeches he's been making to try to raise his plummeting poll numbers, remember these reports and realize that every word that comes out of bush's mouth is a lie.

From clinics to oil pipelines, bush's unprovoked invasion and completely botched occupation is a text book case in how NOT to conduct foreign policy. Is this the same guy who said during the 2000 election campaign that he wouldn't do any nation building?

It's hard to believe that it is. All this while the price tag for king george's unprovoked invasion of Iraq just surpassed the total cost of The Vietnam War and is now being projected to have a final cost of TWO TRILLION DOLLARS.

What's harder to believe is that this serial liar we've been suffering under for going on six years hasn't been impeached and tried for treason.

Read the link to the 2000 election debate above and the reports below and tell me how this utter failure of a president is still able to escape the wrath of the American people, accountability for his criminal incompetence, and justice.

U.S. Pays for 150 Iraqi Clinics, and Manages to Build 20

By JAMES GLANZ
Published: April 30, 2006

A $243 million program led by the United States Army Corps of Engineers to build 150 health care clinics in Iraq has in some cases produced little more than empty shells of crumbling concrete and shattered bricks cemented together into uneven walls, two reports by a federal oversight office have found.

The reports, released yesterday, detail a close inspection of five of the clinics in the northern city of Kirkuk as well as a sweeping audit of the entire program, which began in March 2004 as a heavily promoted effort to improve health care for ordinary Iraqis. The reports say that none of the five clinics in Kirkuk and only 20 of the original 150 across the country will be completed without new financing.

Written by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, an independent office, the reports cite a wide range of factors, including disputes among Iraqi construction companies and problems with local materials, that have contributed to the program's failures. The American company Parsons, the prime contractor for the work, also comes in for stiff criticism.

But the reports' main finding is that lax oversight by the Army corps is responsible for the failure of the overall program. Cowed by security fears that the reports suggest may have been overblown, the corps sometimes inspected the work only through what it called "windshield surveys" ? hasty drive-bys.

Poor cost accounting and a rapid turnover of United States government personnel in Iraq also contributed to the problems, the reports say.

Whatever the causes, the impact of the failure on the American effort to rebuild Iraq is enormous, said the inspector general, Stuart W. Bowen Jr.

"This was the most important program in the health sector," Mr. Bowen said in an interview. "It sought to fulfill a strategy to get health services to rural and remote poor in Iraq."

But he said it was not until the fall of 2005, a year and a half after the program began, that the corps began focusing on the shortcomings of the work by Parsons and its Iraqi subcontractors. By then, Mr. Bowen said, "the chasm was so wide that the remedial actions were unable to salvage the overall program."

Because most of the clinics are more than half finished, Mr. Bowen added, it is still possible that with new money many of the program's original goals could be realized.

But the criticisms in the reports have created deep disagreements between Mr. Bowen's office and the gulf region division of the Corps of Engineers, which is responsible for the program. In a series of objections included in the reports, the division's commander, Brig. Gen. William H. McCoy Jr., rejected many of the findings and tried to shift much of the blame to American and Iraqi contractors.

"Contractor performance and lack of openness in addressing schedule and budget issues in a timely fashion obscured the severity of the financial problem," General McCoy wrote.

"It should be noted that until the fall of 2005, the contractor insisted their schedules were correct and that they would finish up to 114 P.H.C.'s by the end of December 2005," he wrote, using an abbreviation for primary health care centers.

The reports, however, say that in effect, the buck stopped with the Army corps.

"It is the government's responsibility to oversee the contract and, given that the government was aware of problems with the project for quite some time, we believe the effective government contract oversight was not provided," the report covering all 150 clinics says.

The reports describe a series of baffling managerial decisions by the Army corps. For example, Parsons estimated that completing all the clinics would take two years, but the corps ordered the company to complete them in one year. Parsons also asked that the construction take place region by region in order to husband the company's thin supervisory staff in Iraq, but the corps directed that all 150 clinics be started simultaneously.

Some of the most remarkable observations appear in the inspection reports on the five clinics in Kirkuk. Interior photographs of the structures show bare walls made of brick fragments through which sunlight streamed and stairs made of concrete already crumbling into dust.

And when inspectors compared what they saw to progress reports, some of the numbers seemed suspiciously high. One structure, essentially a rickety shell of uneven bricks, had been declared 56 percent complete. The second floor of another shell held up by little more than wooden sticks ? a standard method of bracing unfinished floors in Iraq ? had been declared half complete.

Late Friday, the inspector general also released an audit report on a $147 million United States-led program to train and equip thousands of Iraqis to protect oil pipelines, electrical transmission lines and hundreds of key installations in both sectors.

Begun in September 2003, the effort, called Task Force Shield, was so disorganized that the auditors were never able to determine basic facts like how many Iraqis were trained, how many weapons were purchased and where much of the equipment ended up, the report says.

Of 21,000 guards who were to be trained in protecting oil equipment, for example, probably only about 11,000 were, the report says. And of 9,792 automatic rifles purchased for those guards, auditors were able to track just 3,015.

Even more severe shortcomings plagued the program to protect the electricity infrastructure, which ended almost as soon as it had begun.

In an echo of management problems that have hobbled nearly every noncombat effort in Iraq, the training in both programs was partly controlled by three different entities: the American military, the civilian-run Coalition Provisional Authority and an Army Corps of Engineers initiative to restore Iraq's oil infrastructure.

Billions wasted in Iraq, says US audit

· Projects behind schedule despite massive outlay
· Roadside bomb kills 3 contractors, wounds 2

Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Monday May 1, 2006

A US congressional inspection team set up to monitor reconstruction in Iraq today publishes a scathing report of failures by contractors, mainly from the US, to carry out projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

In one case, the inspection team found that three years after the invasion only six of 150 health centres proposed for Iraq had been completed by a US contractor, in spite of 75% of the $186m (£100m) allocated having been spent.

The report says: "Fourteen more will be completed by the contractor, and the remaining facilities, which are partially constructed, will have to be completed by other means." The inspectors blame the failure in this instance on management problems and security concerns.

The danger facing foreigners in Iraq was highlighted yesterday when a roadside bomb 30 miles south of Baghdad killed three private security firm staff and wounded two others. One of the wounded is British, the Foreign Office said.

The detailed and lengthy report on work projects in Iraq has been drawn up by Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction (Sigir). Mr Bowen's office was set up after Congress expressed concern about the slow rate of reconstruction and the misuse of funds on a massive scale.

The report says Mr Bowen's inspection team is investigating 72 cases of alleged fraud and corruption, and is pursuing leads not only in the US but in Europe and the Middle East.

In March, investigators conducted a successful sting operation which led to the arrest of a contractor who offered a bribe to one of its undercover agents.

The report says many completed projects "have delivered positive results, but there exists a gap between US project outputs and the delivery of essential services to Iraqis".

While progress has been made in the construction of schools and police stations, many Iraqis still have no access to clean water, and electricity supplies in Baghdad are still below pre-invasion levels. The inspectors say that economic recovery is being hampered by the failure to restore Iraq's oil production to levels before 2003.

The report says that corruption in the oil and gas sector is a continuing problem that could have "devastating effects" on reconstruction in Iraq.

The inspectors audited Task Force Shield, a project established in September 2003 to build Iraq's capacity to protect its oil, gas and electrical infrastructure, and found significant shortcomings. The report concludes the project "failed to meet its goals because it was burdened by a lack of clear management structure and poor accountability. There were also indications of potential fraud, which are now under review by Sigir investigators."

Up to last month, Washington had invested more than $265m to improve the protection of energy infrastructure in Iraq.

Task Force Shield sought to cover 340 key installations, 4,000 miles of oil pipeline, and 8,000 miles of electrical transmission lines.

In a separate section, the report notes that a former contractor and former senior staffer in the now defunct US-led coalition government are facing jail sentences 30 to 40 years on corruption charges.The contractor will have to pay $3.6m in restitution and forfeit $3.6m in assets.

Apart from mismanagement and corruption, the report identifies continuing attacks by Iraqi insurgents as one of the main reasons for the delays and failures. It says: "Insurgent activity continues to impede ongoing reconstruction projects and interrupt their transition to Iraqi control.

"But the attacks remain concentrated in a few areas, leaving daily life in much of the rest of Iraq - particularly the Kurdish north and some areas of the south - in a state of gradual recovery."

The report adds: "Corruption is another form of insurgency. This second insurgency can be defeated only through the development of democratic values and systems, especially the evolution of effective anti-corruption institutions."

Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, said yesterday that he and US officials had met with insurgents and that a deal with some groups to end violence could be reached.

In a statement, Mr Talabani said: "I believe that a deal could be reached with seven armed groups that visited me."

Unfinished business

Congress has approved $21bn for reconstruction since the invasion, of which 67% has been allocated. Precisely how much has been squandered is not known but the congressional team has been carrying out investigations and publishes quarterly reports. In the latest, it highlights the case of a US company which was given a contract to build 150 health centres in Iraq. Only six have been built, all in Baghdad, in spite of 75% of its allocated $186m having been spent. The report says the contractor will only complete a further 14. Last year the congressional team reported that almost $9bn in Iraqi oil revenues disbursed to ministries had gone missing.

 

[magomago]

Carpet bagging at its finest. It would made what happened in the south 150 years ago look like nothing!

 

[Zebo]

War is a Racket, always has been, always will be.

What's amusing in a sickening kind of way is the same elite families Bush's, Rockerfellers who orchestrated wars 100 years ago thier ancestors are the same ones doing it today.

 

[ericlp]

Originally posted by: Zebo
War is a Racket, always has been, always will be.

Even more so with idiot bush at the helm.


I mean, everything that guy has touched he has ran into the ground or gone bankrupt. But remember *YOU* voted for him!

 

[Zebo]

I did'nt vote for Bush. As far as everything he touched turning to sh1t well he did reap millions and made his partners rich off texan taxpayers and landowners in thier emminet domain property seizure around arlington stadium... essentially stealing private property via the goverments help then selling and renting out the new stadium high rent district at 1000% more money. And he is president still stealing but winning. So i would'nt call him a complete loser. I could'nt be president.

 

[trenchfoot]

with all this type of crapola going on, election day 2006 looks soooooooo far away, i wish it were tomorrow.

i'm just so curious to see the new and old faces that survives this year's elctions and how those results will affect all these types of sheer insanity that's going on under bush's reign as head doofus.

 

[Amplifier]

Originally posted by: Zebo
I did'nt vote for Bush. As far as everything he touched turning to sh1t well he did reap millions and made his partners rich off texan taxpayers and landowners in thier emminet domain property seizure around arlington stadium... essentially stealing private property via the goverments help then selling and renting out the new stadium high rent district at 1000% more money. And he is president still stealing but winning. So i would'nt call him a complete loser. I could'nt be president.

I agree, stealing from one person and giving to another is immoral. Even if it's done by a majority vote.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: tweaker2
with all this type of crapola going on, election day 2006 looks soooooooo far away, i wish it were tomorrow.

i'm just so curious to see the new and old faces that survives this year's elctions and how those results will affect all these types of sheer insanity that's going on under bush's reign as head doofus.

I think the repulicans will hold. Sorry but Dems have no real plan. Can't win without a "contract for America" so to speak.

Democats are trying to find thier soul right now. Stuck between supporting frindge elements and real americans concerns like they used to.

 

[dahunan]

I would pay big money to watch people be killed who steal our tax money over in Iraq...

They are traitors to the highest degree...

 

[BBond]

Originally posted by: Zebo
War is a Racket, always has been, always will be.

What's amusing in a sickening kind of way is the same elite families Bush's, Rockerfellers who orchestrated wars 100 years ago thier ancestors are the same ones doing it today.

It's the family business for these war profiteering scum.

Read Zebo's link, people, you'll be absolutely stunned. And what' more stunning is, the children of those same war profiteers are making far greater profits today. And we still haven't caught on. All they need to do is wrap themselves in the flag and spout patriotic dogma and people just sign on to help the war profiteers make even greater profits.

Look at Iraq, people, don't listen to what king george says, actually LOOK at what's happening in Iraq. And this after $320 BILLION has already been appropriated. And NO END IN SIGHT. Final cost has been estimated at $1 TRILLION to $2 TRILLION!

Now ask yourselves, since Iraq is in far worse condition now than it was on the day king george illegally invaded it, just where the hell did ALL OF THAT MONEY GO?

You can find the answer above. It went and is still going to filthy traitor war profiteers and the politicians who make it all possible.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Originally posted by: dahunan
I would pay big money to watch people be killed who steal our tax money over in Iraq...

They are traitors to the highest degree...

It's not stealing. Contractors stuff GOPie pockets and the Bush Regime is returning the favor. Unfortunately, the contractors have a lot of pockets and the Bush Regime believes it has unlimited resources.

 

[Moonbeam]

Isn't it the job of the wolf to prey on the sheep? Why seek fame and power if it doesn't make you rich. You only go around once and have to grab all the gusto you can, right?

What else is there in life?

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Originally posted by: Zebo

Originally posted by: tweaker2
with all this type of crapola going on, election day 2006 looks soooooooo far away, i wish it were tomorrow.

i'm just so curious to see the new and old faces that survives this year's elctions and how those results will affect all these types of sheer insanity that's going on under bush's reign as head doofus.

I think the repulicans will hold. Sorry but Dems have no real plan. Can't win without a "contract for America" so to speak.

Democats are trying to find thier soul right now. Stuck between supporting frindge elements and real americans concerns like they used to.

I'm cautiously optimistic the Republicans will manage to deliver the election to the Democrats. Unfortunately, the best the Democrats have to offer is that they aren't Republicans.

Republicans can't get any lower . . .

The poll showed Democrats leading 54%-39% among registered voters who were asked which party they would prefer in a congressional race.
---
Forti also noted that the poll showed 59% of respondents said their own representative deserves to be re-elected. However, poll data show that's the lowest percentage since 1994, when Republicans won control of Congress from the Democrats.

 

[Moonbeam]

I hate Republicans and Democrats make me sick. I think America must have died and all that's left are maggots and blow flies.

 

[Todd33]

Originally posted by: Zebo

Originally posted by: tweaker2
with all this type of crapola going on, election day 2006 looks soooooooo far away, i wish it were tomorrow.

i'm just so curious to see the new and old faces that survives this year's elctions and how those results will affect all these types of sheer insanity that's going on under bush's reign as head doofus.

I think the repulicans will hold. Sorry but Dems have no real plan. Can't win without a "contract for America" so to speak.

Democats are trying to find thier soul right now. Stuck between supporting frindge elements and real americans concerns like they used to.

http://a9.g.akamai.net/7/9/8082/v001/de...om/8082/pdfs/20060329_realsecurity.pdf