Stop Wasting Time on Government Waste in Iraq
Nightly Business Report
Thursday, August 10, 2006
SUSIE GHARIB: Tonight’s commentator takes a look at the role the news media plays in ferreting out the truth. Here’s Myron Kandel, president of the New Hampshire Initiative for Corporate Responsibility and Investor Protection.
MYRON KANDEL, PRESIDENT, NEW HAMPSHIRE INITIATIVE FOR CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY: Six weeks ago, I told a group of financial journalists that one of the important subjects they should be watching was waste and fraud in Iraq. I believe that future Pulitzer Prizes and Dupont awards will go to the journalists who can uncover those stories. Some news is beginning to dribble out, but it’s coming more from an occasional government report than from investigative news people. And Congress is missing the boat as well. Remember when Harry Truman’s investigation of World War II profiteering thrust him into national prominence and eventually into the White House?
Reconstruction corruption is estimated to cost Iraq at least $4 billion a year and as we plan to hand over billions in rebuilding projects to the Iraqis, our hands are far from clean. Hundreds of planned projects have not even been started and others have been taken away from American contractors for fraud or failure to perform. True, security concerns are a big factor, and there are a number of successes, but rebuilding Iraq’s oil infrastructure isn’t one of them. Remember when oil revenues were going to pay for war damage and a lot more? It isn’t happening. The overall performance of the Americans in charge has been marred by poor planning, mismanagement, waste and fraud. It’s time we learned the full story. I’m Myron Kandel.