A Tour Around Wingnuttia
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee recently held hearings on what happened to $12 Billion dollars that was shrink-wrapped and sent over to Baghdad over a period of about a year in 2003 and 2004. Some 363 tons of US currency.
Some $8.8 Billion of this money disappeared with no accounting of what may have happened to it.
A tour around wingnuttia shows no shortage of Bush dead-enders willing to defend the wholesale loss of nealry $9 Billion.
First up, 2LT Christopher Cross, USA:
Look, waste is serious problem, but in a chaotic environment where communication between civilian personnel and military personnel isn’t perfect and all-present–money will get lost.
Small errors, like the CPA bringing the wrong denomination of currency to a job site to pay workers, workers getting upset, and a local Marine commander takes it upon himself to “solve” the problem of angry workers by paying out from funds under his control in smaller denominations.
$9 Billion a "small error?"
Next up, Patrick Lasswell, who is incensed that Congress might actually do some oversight:
Apparently Rep. Waxman is oblivious to the lack of banking systems in Iraq, the impoverished state of the Iraqis after twelve years of sanctions, and the utter necessity of replacing a national currency dominated in its iconography by the image of the dictator we just deposed.
Even as a consultant in Iraq, I have to take in every penny I expect to spend rather than go through circuitous and expensive wire transfers.
Patrick has a number of false premises here; one, the destruction of Iraq’s banking system (Iraq had a private banking system for over a decade) took place during Bremer’s de-Ba’athification program. Second, was it truly necessary to replace the existing currency until the new dinar had been produced? In reality, no. Finally, Patrick says wire tranfers are expensive. Not really, the most expensive I’ve found is $45 and if one regularly makes such wire transfers the price drops to under $10. As consultants know, except for Patrick, these costs are generally passed to the customer–after all, it is a war zone. Rather a small price to pay when the alternative may well be that you lose all your money.
Anyway, the Guardian has a rather tidy summation.
Bremer’s financial adviser, retired Admiral David Oliver, is even more direct. The memorandum quotes an interview with the BBC World Service. Asked what had happened to the $8.8bn he replied: "I have no idea. I can’t tell you whether or not the money went to the right things or didn’t - nor do I actually think it’s important."
Q: "But the fact is billions of dollars have disappeared without trace."
Oliver: "Of their money. Billions of dollars of their money, yeah I understand. I’m saying what difference does it make?"
What, me worry?
