As Bechtel Goes – New York Times
The administrations final answer on dealing with wasted money, outright incompetence and perfidy in the failed reconstruction of Iraq is to shoot the messenger. Instead of dealing with correcting the situation they have decided to close the Special Inspector General’s Office for Iraq Reconstruction. It was simply too embarrassing to close friends of the administration like Halliburton, Betchel and Parsons. Krugman asks, “If we’ve given up on rebuilding Iraq, what are our troops dying for?”
This speaks to the problem I have with complete GOP control of the federal government. I think most observers would agree that the reconstruction effort was key to winning the peace in Iraq. Even if you grant that Bush meant well and was simply trying to keep America safe by invading Iraq, the reconstruction effort has been a study in corruption, greed and a near total failure of oversight. It’s wasted the good will generated by the toppling of Saddam. Even if you agree with the aims and intentions of the Bush administration, their governing skills have been disastrous. Even more troubling is a complete lack of accountability and a willful stubbornness that approaches a delusional state. One of his goal was to show the world the reach of American military might. Instead we’ve shown the world the limitations of American power.
If this situation doesn’t piss you off, you deserve to be lied to and stolen from by Bush and company. While I dont’ think that a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress will result in a sudden change in American Foreign policy, I do think that it might restore some sorely needed accountability for mounmental waste and obvious faliures.
