Show me the Money

[Texas Gentleman]

Sunday, May 02, 2004

Show Me The Money

 

http://deeds.blogspot.com/

 

(By John Galt) The single greatest error in the Rebuild of Iraq is the lack of speed in processing the US Congress mandated funding ($18 billion in 04) for the Iraqi Rebuild. The Washington DC professional bureaucrats considered the disbursement of approved funds as just “Business As Usual” that has lead to slow political and economic progress, even delaying building security forces.

 

On 02 November 2003, I posted: “The Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), a D.C. think tank, was asked by the Pentagon to study the progress in Iraq. CSIS was in Iraq on June 27 - July 7 and filed its report: "Iraq's Post-Conflict Reconstruction," downloadable at their site. One of the key CSIS criticisms is that DC treats the rebuilding of Iraq rebuild as business-as-usual rather than a priority project. "Business As Usual"--regardless of where the errors or delays lie, it's a sad commentary on our ability to win the peace. The U.S. Military won, not once, but twice. U.S. Troops are still in harms way in Iraq. The rebuilding of Iraq falls prey to government bureaucrats, Byzantine contracting rules and politically correct contactor preferences.”

 

I personally worked two programs, one for $110 million and one for $15 million, for security forces for six months. The $110 million was nickled and dimed, bits and pieces according to the desires of accountants, not the people building the seurity forces. Heck, the $15 million for weapons security, a usable program in Iraq, has not been still spent due to financial bureaucratic bungling. Rather than rant, I will say only that accounts and the bureaucracy delayed the implementation of the program.

 

The real failure in Iraq is in the lack of timely disbursement of funds that allowed chronic unemployment and disrupted services to demoralize a liberated people.

 

One year after the war, the initial funding has put in more electricity and water capacity than Iraq ever had even before the war. The $18 billion has not yet hit Iraq. The rebuild was not to restore Iraq infrastructure but to have an overwhelming, visionary program to create a representative government within a free economy.

 

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MY Comments ..... you can thank our U.S.A. outdated, abused GOVERNMENT procurement policies used extensively for POLITICAL GAIN by the Henry Waxmans (see DEMOCRATS here) opposing anything Bush does which GUMS UP THE WORKS and ties BUSH'S HANDS and therefore HIS STATED American GOAL FOR IRAQ !! .... I know for a fact from my contacts working there in IRAQ, that every time they almost get a "proceed" order to spend money (previously APPROVED) completing projects or starting the new ones,.. here comes another batch of USA bureaucrats who re - invent the wheel !!! ....these bureaucrats (mostly bean counters) stay until the first "incoming" when they dutifully shit their pants and leave quickly !!!, …. then the process starts all over again with newer and greener ones. I wish we had more there like the author of the article above, but we don't it seems.

 

MESSAGE FOR DEMOCRATS ---- FREE UP THE MONEY NOW... LET THE FRONTLINE MILITARY COMMANDERS APPROVE AND SPEND THIS MONEY WITHOUT QUESTION WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE SPENT AND AS IT DEEMS TOO BEST SERVE THE GOAL OF SETTING UP A DEMOCRATIC, FREE AND PROSPEROUS IRAQ (and ON IRAQI JOBS) CONTROLLED BY THE IRAQI MINISTERIES TO DO THE HIRING and PRIORITIZE THE NEEDS OF IT"S CITIZENS !!! >>>

 

MANY OF OUR professional politicians and diplomats HAVE NO FUCKIN CLUE !! … our bean counters, politicians and diplomats combined have even less !! The US Military's success's using mostly recovered IRAQI funds ON Iraqis has been amazing by comparison to the money allocated by the congress of the U.S. Governemnt (yet mostly unspent). THAT IS A DAMN SHAME !!! ... still it is better than IRAQIS can do on their own financially...... so I beg you Iraqis to stick with the USA as inept as WE may be.. YOU NEED US more than WE need YOU!

 

USA Citizens will defeat some of our politicians at the polls sooner or later.... THAT in the end is DEMOCRACY in action !! isn't it great ?

 

Tex

 

PS: OUR MILITARY NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT ! .... YOUR PROTEST (NON VIOLENT INSURGENCY) SHOULD BE TOWARD OUR INEPT POLITICIANS .. NOT by trying to KILL our troops who only want to help YOU ! regardless of these few bad apples calling themselves soldiers shown with those Iraqi Prisoners ... there are over 100, ooo U.S. Soldiers who are disgusted by those deviants who are an embassarment to mankind!!