woo hoo. Now may Roberts turn out to be similarly proncipled. Dana
On 7/26/05, Gruss Gott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Former Bush Aide Turns Tough Critic > As Iraq Inspector Mr. Bowen Finds Poor Controls, Waste in Reconstruction; > Seeking Missing Millions Harsh Rebuke From Bremer > > By YOCHI J. DREAZEN > Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL > July 26, 2005; Page A1 > > During a routine audit last summer of an American office in charge of > doling out reconstruction funding in Hillah, Iraq, U.S. government > investigators made a series of startling discoveries. > > The office had paid a contractor twice for the same work. A U.S. > official was allowed to handle millions of dollars in cash weeks after > he was fired for incompetence. Of the $119.9 million allocated for > regional projects, $89.4 million was disbursed without contracts or > other documentation. An additional $7.2 million couldn't be found at > all. > > To many officials in both Baghdad and Washington, the only thing more > surprising than the problems was the identity of the man who had > uncovered them: Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq > reconstruction. > > Mr. Bowen is a Texas lawyer who parlayed a job on George W. Bush's > first gubernatorial campaign into senior posts in Austin and > Washington. He began the Iraq war lobbying for an American contractor > seeking tens of millions of dollars in reconstruction work. Last > October, California Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman singled him out in a > report on "The Politicization of Inspectors General" in the Bush > administration. The report suggested that such auditors wouldn't be > "independent and objective." > > Instead, Mr. Bowen has become one of the most prominent and credible > critics of how the administration has handled the occupation of Iraq. > In a series of blistering public reports, he has detailed systemic > management failings, lax or nonexistent oversight, and apparent fraud > and embezzlement on the part of the U.S. officials charged with > administering the rebuilding efforts. > > White House officials declined to comment on Mr. Bowen. But he has > drawn harsh criticism from other quarters. > > Aides at both the State Department and the Defense Department have > tried to curb the independence of his office. L. Paul Bremer, head of > the Coalition Provisional Authority until June 2004, has criticized > Mr. Bowen for "misconceptions and inaccuracies" and for expecting the > occupation authority, amid postwar chaos, to follow accounting > standards that "even peaceful Western nations would have trouble > meeting." Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, has called Mr. > Bowen's staff "dramatically out of touch with the practical realities > of waging war and setting up a new government in a war-torn country." > > Mr. Bowen acknowledged in one report that "the CPA operated in a > dangerous working environment under difficult conditions." But the > report said the U.S. still should have "established controls and > provided oversight over" reconstruction funds "precisely because there > was no functioning Iraqi government." > > In 1994, Mr. Bowen was a senior member of Mr. Bush's campaign team in > his successful run for governor of Texas. After Mr. Bush took office, > Mr. Bowen served as assistant general counsel in the governor's office > and then deputy general counsel under Alberto Gonzales, now U.S. > attorney general. Mr. Bowen crafted some of Gov. Bush's most > controversial legal decisions, such as ousting a Democratic judge and > dismissing widespread questions about the guilt of a death-row inmate. > > When Mr. Bush ran for president, Mr. Bowen spent 35 days in Florida > during the recount, and then served as deputy counsel to the Bush > transition team. He rejoined Mr. Gonzales at the White House as > associate counsel. In a 2002 ceremony marking the unveiling of Mr. > Bush's official gubernatorial portrait in Austin, the president > singled out Mr. Bowen as one of the aides who followed him to the > presidency. "I truly believe America is better off as a result of the > influx of Texans who showed up" in Washington, he said. > > Mr. Bowen left the administration in March 2003 for a job at Patton > Boggs, a prominent Washington law firm with a big lobbying operation. > The U.S. launched the invasion of Iraq a few weeks later, and Mr. > Bowen began lobbying for reconstruction work on behalf of URS Group > Inc., a San Francisco-based company specializing in international > construction planning and management. Mr. Bowen, one of three Patton > Boggs attorneys on the account, says his only work for the company > involved organizing an April 2003 meeting with a senior official at > the U.S. Agency for International Development. URS didn't win any AID > contracts as a result of that meeting, but the company ultimately won > a series of CPA contracts valued at as much as $30 million to oversee > reconstruction projects. > > The effort to rebuild Iraq quickly became the largest U.S. > reconstruction effort since the end of World War II. The funds > eventually included $18.4 billion in U.S. money and more than $22 > billion in seized Iraqi assets turned over to the U.S. by the United > Nations. > > Strings Attached > > In the fall of 2003, Congress created a CPA inspector general to > oversee how the money was spent -- a post that eventually morphed into > the job of inspector general for all Iraq reconstruction. The official > would answer to Mr. Bremer, who headed the occupation authority, and > present reports to Congress at least once every three months. The > office was given a budget of $75 million. > > At the request of the Bush administration, the job was created with > many strings attached. Unlike other federal inspectors general, the > new official was to be appointed by the secretary of defense, not the > president, and wouldn't be subject to Senate confirmation. The White > House also won the right to block the inspector general from releasing > a report on national-security grounds -- though none have been blocked > so far. Administration officials and many Congressional Republicans > argued that the situation in Iraq was too chaotic to require normal > oversight. They also cited the danger that an unfettered release of > information could help insurgents plan more effective attacks against > U.S. forces there. > > Critics were skeptical that, under those conditions, the inspector > general could offer real oversight. The skeptics weren't encouraged > when, in January 2004, the White House tapped Mr. Bowen, perceived as > a loyal Bush ally, to fill that position. > > Mr. Bowen, 47 years old, has an athlete's build and the bearing of the > Air Force captain he once was. He usually keeps packed bags in his > office near the Pentagon, along with his bulletproof vest, handy for > his frequent trips to Baghdad. > > He traveled to Iraq for the first time in February 2004, riding from > the airport to the heavily fortified Green Zone in an armored bus > built to withstand direct hits from rockets and roadside bombs. He and > his staff slept in trailers and crammed their entire operation into > two small offices. > > One of his flights out of Baghdad had to bank sharply and release > flares to avoid an insurgent missile. An auditor on his staff resigned > after seeing a friend decapitated in a rocket attack. > > Mr. Bowen's arrival in Iraq coincided with a significant ramp-up in > the pace of the American rebuilding effort. The U.S. had initially > planned to maintain full control of Iraq for several years. But with > violence raging and influential Iraqis expressing impatience with the > American timetable, the Bush administration announced plans to turn > over power to an interim Iraqi government by June 30. > > Hoping to give the incoming government a public-relations boost, Mr. > Bremer ordered American rebuilding officials to use captured Iraqi > money to fund as many small-scale rebuilding projects as could be > completed by the handover date. > > Mr. Bowen's audits later found evidence that the push led contracting > officials to take shortcuts that made it difficult to determine where > the money actually went. In Hillah, for instance, a contracting > officer told Mr. Bowen's investigators that he had been given $6.75 > million in cash on June 21 with the expectation that he would spend > the entire amount before the handover, which ultimately took place two > days earlier than planned on June 28. > > He soon found other examples of apparently lax oversight. An employee > of the CPA comptroller in Baghdad, for example, kept the key to a safe > containing more than $140,000 in cash in an unattended backpack. > > In one of his most attention-grabbing reports, issued on Jan. 30, > 2005, Mr. Bowen concluded that the American occupation authority > failed to keep track of nearly $9 billion that it transferred to Iraqi > government ministries, which lacked financial controls and internal > safeguards to prevent abuse. One Iraqi ministry cited in the audit > inflated its payroll to receive extra funds, claiming to employ 8,206 > guards when it actually employed barely 600. > > The report sparked harsh responses from both Mr. Bremer, the former > occupation chief, and the Pentagon. Mr. Bremer chided the auditor for > expecting conventional levels of accountability, saying that "given > the situation the CPA found in Iraq at liberation, this is an > unrealistic standard." The Pentagon also questioned Mr. Bowen's > conclusions. Spokesman Bryan Whitman noted that "the CPA was operating > under extraordinary conditions, from its inception to mission > completion." > > Mr. Bowen says that many of the management problems identified in his > reports stem from structural failings in the broader reconstruction > venture. He argues that the rebuilding effort has been understaffed. > In one report, he noted that the central U.S. contracting office was > unable to fill nearly a third of its authorized slots. That meant > contracting personnel worked "13 to 15 hours each day, six days a > week, with a shortened shift of six to 11 hours on the seventh day." > > "An inspector general shouldn't play 'gotcha,' " he says. "My job is > to help promote success in Iraq by identifying inefficiencies and > helping correct them. I want to be part of the solution." > > Taking On Halliburton > > In a November 2004 report, Mr. Bowen took on the big contractor > Halliburton Co. in two separate reports. He urged the Army to withhold > nearly $90 million in payments to Halliburton because the company > couldn't justify what it had charged the government. The report added > that "weakness in the cost-reporting process" was such a problem that > his investigators couldn't do a standard audit of Halliburton's bills > to the CPA. Halliburton spokeswoman Cathy Mann says the Houston-based > oil-services and contracting company is working with the Army to > resolve the matter and "we expect to work through any remaining issues > in a cooperative manner." > > Mr. Bowen's audits have also described what appears to be outright > criminal behavior by several government officials. In one case, an > Army soldier serving as the assistant to an American boxing coach > admitted to gambling away half the $40,000 he was given to cover the > expenses of an Iraqi athletic team during a trip to the Philippines; > his case was referred to the military's justice system for a > court-martial. Mr. Bowen also recently gave the Justice Department > information on possibly criminal behavior on the part of U.S. > contracting officers in Hillah, the first time government officials > have been implicated in potential fraud in Iraq. The officers left the > country with no record of how they had spent nearly $1.5 million that > couldn't be found by investigators. > > With his caseload increasing, Mr. Bowen is hiring new investigators > and lawyers in both Virginia and Iraq. He has numerous audits under > way, including one looking at the efficiency of a military program > that has allowed commanders to disburse hundreds of millions of > dollars in cash without going through normal contracting channels. His > aides recently began sending engineering teams to U.S.-funded > reconstruction projects across the country to assess the actual > quality of the work. > > The future of Mr. Bowen's job has been embroiled in politics. > > Shortly before the June 2004 handover of political sovereignty in > Iraq, the State Department proposed folding Mr. Bowen's office into > its own inspector-general system. Under heavy fire from Democrats, the > plan was dropped. > > Another bureaucratic fight erupted in the fall of 2004 as lawmakers > debated a bill sponsored by Sen. Russell Feingold, Democrat of > Wisconsin, that would convert Mr. Bowen into a standing special > inspector general. The new job would probe the entire rebuilding > effort while being only loosely overseen by the secretaries of defense > and state. The Pentagon's inspector general warned Defense Secretary > Donald Rumsfeld in a memo that such a bill would effectively leave Mr. > Bowen "accountable to no one" and said he would prepare a directive > tying him to the Pentagon's inspectors. > > Nonetheless, the bill was signed into law on Oct. 29, 2004, expanding > Mr. Bowen's role. Mr. Bowen assumed his new post immediately and > currently has a staff of 32 in Baghdad and 70 in Arlington, Va. > > Now defenders of Mr. Bowen's office are trying to keep it from being > shut down next year. The bill that created Mr. Bowen's position > empowered him to probe the rebuilding effort until 10 months after 80% > of the reconstruction funds were contracted out. That point is likely > to be reached this month, which means that the office will close next > summer -- well before the money will actually have been spent. Earlier > this month, Sen. Feingold introduced a bill extending the life of Mr. > Bowen's office, but the measure's prospects are uncertain. > > Despite endorsements from initially skeptical Democrats, Mr. Bowen > insists that his work shouldn't be seen through the prism of partisan > politics. He says he rarely hears from anyone in the White House these > days -- either professionally or socially. He says he remains an > admirer of President Bush. The only picture in Mr. Bowen's suburban > Virginia office other than a photograph of his children is a framed > shot of the two men at a White House dinner. > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Discover CFTicket - The leading ColdFusion Help Desk and Trouble Ticket application http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=48 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:166666 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
