The Hollywood Liberal

Seems the State Department has been lying about what is spending money on, and how much they are spending in Iraq rebuilding projects. They are underreporting the price of projects that end up not getting completed. Things like hospitals, and electricity stations. They even change the numbers to make it appear that there will not be cost overuns, meanwhile they are using the money that is supposed to be going to these projects on more bombs, or just sticking it in there pockets as Bush cronies are known to do.

Audit Finds U.S. Hid Cost of Iraq Projects

NY Times
Excerpt:
The findings appeared in an audit of a children’s hospital in Basra, but they referred to the wider reconstruction activities of the development agency in Iraq. American and Iraqi officials reported this week that the State Department planned to drop Bechtel, its contractor on that project, as signs of budget and scheduling problems began to surface….
Bechtel has said that because of the deteriorating security in Basra, the hospital project could not be completed as envisioned. But Mr. Higgins said: “Despite the challenges, we are committed to completing this project so that sick children in Basra can receive the medical help they need. The necessary funding is now in place to ensure that will happen.”…
The report said it suspected that other unreported costs on the hospital could drive the tab even higher. In another case cited in the report, a power station project in Musayyib, the direct construction cost cited by the development agency was $6.6 million, while the overhead cost was $27.6 million.
One result is that the project’s overhead, a figure that normally runs to a maximum of 30 percent, was a stunning 418 percent.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 30th, 2006 at 8:37 am and is filed under H.L. News, Main Blog (All Posts). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.