Commission Gets Report of Bribery, Greed and Corruption in Wartime Spending

A new government watchdog group has confirmed what many of us have thought--"poor planning, weak oversight and greed combined to soak U.S. taxpayers and undermine American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan," reports an article from the Associated Press.

Congress created the bipartisan panel a year ago over the objections of the Bush White House, which complained the Justice Department might be forced to disclose sensitive information about investigations.

"Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, says the U.S. has committed nearly $51 billion for a wide array of projects in Iraq - from training the Iraqi army and police to rebuilding the country's oil, electric, justice, health and transportation sectors. Some of these projects succeeded, Bowen told the Wartime Contracting Commission at its first public hearing Monday, but many did not.

According to the report, there are 154 open criminal investigations into allegations of bribery, conflicts of interest, defective products, bid rigging and theft stemming from the wars, Thomas Gimble, the Pentagon's principal deputy inspector general, said in his written testimony.

This is our money paying for this, folks! If you have the stomach to read more, here is a link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090202/ap_on_go_ot/wartime_spending_oversight

If you're ready to get in touch with President Obama and your congressional representatives to complain, use this link. Bush and his administration may be gone, but our representatives need to know that we are watching and won't tolerate this greed and corruption from now on:

http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml