$320.8 million authorized by these three words..."Iraqi Salary Payment"...

[cynatnite]

NEW YORK - A Pentagon audit of $8.2 billion in American taxpayer money spent by the US Army on contractors in Iraq has found that almost none of the payments followed federal rules and that in some cases, contracts worth millions of dollars were paid for despite little or no record of what, if anything, was received.

The audit also found a sometimes stunning lack of accountability in the way the US military spent some $1.8 billion in seized or frozen Iraqi assets.

The audit was released yesterday in tandem with a congressional hearing on the payments.

In one case, according to documents displayed by Pentagon auditors at the hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, a cash payment of $320.8 million in Iraqi money was authorized on the basis of a single signature and the words "Iraqi Salary Payment" on an invoice. In another, $11.1 million of taxpayer money was paid to IAP, an American contractor, on the basis of a voucher with no indication of what was delivered.

Mary L. Ugone, the Pentagon's deputy inspector general for auditing, told members of the committee that the absence of anything beyond a voucher meant that "we were giving or providing a payment without any basis for the payment."

"We don't know what we got," Ugone said in response to questions by the committee chairman, Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2008/05/23/rules_ignored_in_iraq_spending_audit_finds/

[Blaze Diem]

1. Bush fullfilled his promise to his 'base'. This is why Bush was selected,

No paper trail to the biggest heist of the U S Treasury.
They all walk away untouched and their foreign bank accounts fattened
Mission Accomplished.

[Blue_Tires]

2. of course, the expanded GI bill is too costly to fund

[Frustratedlady]

3. This makes me so angry. You know it's just the tip of the iceberg...

and no one does anything about it. Reporting it isn't going to get the money back. We have schools that are unfunded, an economy that is down the s***er and people starving, not to mention the elderly that are going without their medicine because there isn't enough money.

The lack of interest and power from Congress probably makes me the angriest. Get off your butts and do something. A hearing is nothing.

[MindPilot]

4. Billions for Iraqis...but Americans can go pound sand.

Hey Bush, I want my fucking money back!

[Vickers]

5. "We don't know what we got"

Holy shit.

[Mountainman]

6. The worse thing is that we still owe that money to the Chinese.

Our kids and grandkids will be paying the bill.

[samdogmom]

7. Some Bush cronies have recently expanded "huge" bank accounts. (offshore somewhere....)

This is a crime! Our country was robbed! We need to find out who these crooks are and get our money back!

He emptied the treasury into his friends pockets and now he's going to leave us high and dry. I simply can't believe the lack of outrage. I'm beside myself with anger! The world has turned on it's axis...now the crooks are the good guys and the good guys are the crooks. Go figure!

[JohnWxy]

8. recommended!