$23 Billion Lost

BBC investigation estimates that around $23 billion may have been lost, stolen, or just not properly accounted for in Iraq.

It is always interesting to find how external news organizations are finding out about this before our American counterparts. Of course, efforts to seek out more about financial mismanagement have been gagged by the U.S. government.

Currently, there is a gag order to about 70 court cases against some of the top US companies.

To date, no major US contractor faces trial for fraud or mismanagement in Iraq.

Is this justified because there is a war on terror? What if $100 billion was missing? Or even $200 billion? Can the government justify these losses for the sake of protecting Americans from terrorists?

While I can understand that lawsuits may be ill-timed if there were continuing war operations or the country has not been effectively stable, but after 4-5 years, it is time to really see if money has been spent legally and to take action if there is any mismanagement.

With President Bush still in power, effective action against US contractors is still being blocked.

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Comments

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Posted by: Dave : Scotland ,Uk
Posted on: June 28, 2008 06:35 PM

After some of the BBC's reporting and bias over the whole Iraq issue, can this report be believed though?

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Posted by: James (Author)
Posted on: June 28, 2008 06:55 PM

Well, even if folks believe BBC is being biased in its reporting, do you really believe that the whole entire operation in Iraq was done within budget and with reasonable expenses?

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