Iraq Inspector General: Too Much Money Spent in Iraq for Too Few Results

Appalling
Middle East • Views: 24,717

The legacy of George W. Bush’s Iraq adventure continues to be a drag on the US economy, with very little to show for it: Too Much Money Spent in Iraq for Too Few Results.

Ten years and $60 billion in American taxpayer funds later, Iraq is still so unstable and broken that even its leaders question whether U.S. efforts to rebuild the war-torn nation were worth the cost.

In his final report to Congress, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen’s conclusion was all too clear: Since the invasion a decade ago this month, the U.S. has spent too much money in Iraq for too few results.

The reconstruction effort “grew to a size much larger than was ever anticipated,” Bowen told The Associated Press in a preview of his last audit of U.S. funds spent in Iraq, to be released Wednesday. “Not enough was accomplished for the size of the funds expended.”

In interviews with Bowen, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the U.S. funding “could have brought great change in Iraq” but fell short too often. “There was misspending of money,” said al-Maliki, a Shiite Muslim whose sect makes up about 60 percent of Iraq’s population.

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49 comments
1 HappyWarrior  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 12:54:46pm

Fiscal responsibility.

2 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 12:55:47pm

Let the Invisible Hand take care of it…

3 Kragar (Antichrist )  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 12:56:51pm

and the wingnut spin:

4 HappyWarrior  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 12:58:04pm

re: #3 Kragar (Antichrist )

and the wingnut spin:

Yeah it’s because it was a Muslim nation not the fact that the Bush administration didn’t have a clue what it was doing. Fucking Fischer.

5 ProBosniaLiberal  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 12:59:13pm

re: #3 Kragar (Antichrist )

Fuck that guy.

6 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:00:21pm

re: #3 Kragar (Antichrist )

and the wingnut spin:

WTFittyFingF?

Were we supposed to take down the religion along with the regime as well?

7 Targetpractice  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:00:30pm

re: #2 Sol Berdinowitz

Let the Invisible Hand take care of it…

From the sounds of it, the invisible hand was too busy giving reach arounds to friends of the previous administration, in the form of no-bid contracts.

8 Kragar (Antichrist )  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:01:49pm

And Mississippi just voted to restrict women’s access to abortions.

What war on women?

9 Kragar (Antichrist )  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:02:37pm

re: #6 Sol Berdinowitz

WTFittyFingF?

Were we supposed to take down the religion along with the regime as well?

According to Fischer yes. We should have been forcefully converting every country we went in to.

10 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:02:46pm

Immediately disarming and dismissing the Iraq military was a huge mistake.

Among many others.

11 Targetpractice  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:04:37pm

re: #9 Kragar (Antichrist )

According to Fischer yes. We should have been forcefully converting every country we went in to.

“We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.”

Oh wait, sorry, that was another brainless moron.

12 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:04:59pm

re: #9 Kragar (Antichrist )

According to Fischer yes. We should have been forcefully converting every country we went in to.

I believe that was Ann Coulter’s proposition as well…

13 The Ghost of a Flea  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:05:16pm

Reminds me of reading about the Bureau of Indian Affairs back in the day: use connections to get your government contract, then pad yours bills and at the end of the day not provide the service due…knowing that there was pretty much no quality control.

14 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:06:27pm

re: #13 The Ghost of a Flea

Reminds me of reading about the Bureau of Indian Affairs back in the day: use connections to get your government contract, then pad yours bills and at the end of the day not provide the service due…knowing that there was pretty much no quality control.

Pretty much SOP for a lot of government contractors. Works in the private sector as well if you know the right tricks.

15 Kragar (Antichrist )  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:07:08pm

Bryan Fischer: Muslims Can Either Convert…or Die

The only thing that will give us a shot at building a democracy in an Islamic land is a mass conversion of its people to biblical Christianity. So that means if we want to see freedom come to those darkened, benighted lands, we should be sending missionaries in right after we send in the Marines to neutralize whatever threat has been raised against the United States. So we say to them, look, if you don’t want our missionaries, fine, that’s your choice, we’ll take our missionaries and our Marines, we’ll take them home, but we’re gonna let you know we have no hesitation about returning with lethal force if the forces in your country threaten us again. This time it’s Marines and missionaries, next time it’ll be Marines and missiles.

16 Sol Berdinowitz  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:10:06pm

re: #15 Kragar (Antichrist )

Bryan Fischer: Muslims Can Either Convert…or Die

Won’t work, they hate our freedoms too much to accept our generous offer of Salvation.

17 HappyWarrior  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:10:22pm

re: #15 Kragar (Antichrist )

Bryan Fischer: Muslims Can Either Convert…or Die

Spoken like a true Christofascist.

18 Kragar (Antichrist )  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:13:14pm

I went 8 years in the USMC without being converted. I sure as hell wouldn’t fight just to force someone else to be.

19 Mattand  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:14:41pm

Speaking of religion: credit to Geoffm33 for pointing out this bit of Twitter derp earlier:

20 Kragar (Antichrist )  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:15:27pm

re: #19 Mattand

Credit to Geoffm33 for pointing out this bit of Twitter derp earlier:

Didn’t someone conclude it was a parody account?

21 HappyWarrior  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:15:59pm

re: #18 Kragar (Antichrist )

I went 8 years in the USMC without being converted. I sure as hell wouldn’t fight just to force someone else to be.

Well that’s because you’re a commie actually understanding of what it means to serve in the US military. Idiots like Fischer seem to think the US military should be a vehicle for Christianity. Would love to have him try to tell my atheist cousin in law that he’s somehow less of a Marine and American because he chooses not to believe in God.

22 HappyWarrior  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:16:53pm

re: #19 Mattand

Speaking of religion: credit to Geoffm33 for pointing out this bit of Twitter derp earlier:

I think we’re almost positive that’s a spoof. On the plus side, it did remind me of Bibble, the alien who is responsible for the PlayStation 2. :)

23 Mattand  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:17:04pm

re: #20 Kragar (Antichrist )

Didn’t someone conclude it was a parody account?

Maybe. I honestly can’t tell. If it is, shame on me for falling for it.

In my defense, if it is a Poe, it’s one of the greatest ever.

24 Kragar (Antichrist )  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:17:53pm

re: #21 HappyWarrior

Well that’s because you’re a commie actually understanding of what it means to serve in the US military. Idiots like Fischer seem to think the US military should be a vehicle for Christianity. Would love to have him try to tell my atheist cousin in law that he’s somehow less of a Marine and American because he chooses not to believe in God.

I love it when they assume the military would rise up in support of them if they declare a civil war.

25 Gus  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:19:49pm

re: #19 Mattand

Credit to Geoffm33 for pointing out this bit of Twitter derp earlier:

Parody. I asked him and he re-Tweeted mah question and followed me.

26 aagcobb  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:20:21pm

Its funny how quickly we forgot Iraq even exists. I think that is the first Iraq story I have seen since this one over two years ago that I didn’t actively search for on the internet.

27 Glenn Beck's Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:20:25pm

re: #24 Kragar (Antichrist )

I love it when they assume the military would rise up in support of them if they declare a civil war.

I’m sure this guy would see the nobility of their cause.

Image: smmc_mr1.jpg

28 HappyWarrior  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:20:33pm

re: #24 Kragar (Antichrist )

I love it when they assume the military would rise up in support of them if they declare a civil war.

I know. Cool story about that CiL but he petitioned to get surfer listed as his religion on his dog tags. Him and his son go out surfing whenever they can. Doesn’t matter if it’s the middle of summer or winter.

29 Kragar (Antichrist )  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:20:48pm

OFFS

Glenn Beck Is Under Attack From the Forces of Darkness

On his radio program today, Glenn Beck declared that we have witnessed “the death knell of the American Constitution” because Attorney General Eric Holder sent a letter to Sen. Rand Paul saying that there could possibly be hypothetical “extraordinary circumstance” under which it would be necessary for the President to authorize the use of military force within the United States, perhaps to stop attacks like Pearl Harbor or 9/11.

That somehow morphed into a revelation by Beck that he and his inner circle have recently come under spiritual and physical attack by the forces of darkness, which made him realize that “we’re not fighting man” and “that something is on the horizon.”

“We are headed for a great depression,” he went on to declare, “and we are headed for civil unrest, and we are headed for things that you never thought was possible in your country.”

“Remember the Japanese internment,” he continued, because “progressives and collective thinking always - hear me - always goes wrong”:

30 HappyWarrior  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:21:06pm

re: #26 aagcobb

Its funny how quickly we forgot Iraq even existed. I think that is the first Iraq story I have seen since this one over two years ago that I didn’t actively search for on the internet.

It’s going to be ten years in ten days. Time really flies huh.

31 efuseakay  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:22:40pm

We needed an Inspector General to tell us what’s been so glaringly obvious for all these years?

32 Kragar (Antichrist )  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:23:19pm

re: #31 efuseakay

We needed an Inspector General to tell us what’s been so glaringly obvious for all these years?

Well, now its official.

33 efuseakay  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:23:25pm

re: #4 HappyWarrior

Yeah it’s because it was a Muslim nation not the fact that the Bush administration didn’t have a clue what it was doing. Fucking Fischer.

Oh. The Bush Admin. knew exactly what they were doing.

34 dragonath  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:23:26pm

re: #29 Kragar (Antichrist )

“Remember the Japanese internment,” he continued, because “progressives and collective thinking always - hear me - always goes wrong”:

When George Takei met Glenn Beck

35 Eclectic Cyborg  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:24:21pm

re: #6 Sol Berdinowitz

WTFittyFingF?

Were we supposed to take down the religion along with the regime as well?

Why of course! Don’t you remember Fischer’s “Marines and missionaries” comment from awhile back?

Edit: I see Kragar posted the quote above earlier. Nice.

36 makeitstop  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:24:26pm

re: #29 Kragar (Antichrist )

OFFS

Glenn Beck Is Under Attack From the Forces of Darkness

I have no doubt he’s all drugged up again. None whatsoever.

37 HappyWarrior  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:24:33pm

re: #34 dragonath

When George Takei met Glenn Beck

What that is actually in response to is pretty awesome too.(To refresh memories, he was calling out a school board member who wrote on his facebook that gay teens should just kill themselves) Have to admit, I’ll never ever be a Trekkie but I’m a big fan of Mr. Takei. He’s awesome.

38 ProBosniaLiberal  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:25:19pm

re: #29 Kragar (Antichrist )

Ironic, considering people like him think this is okay.

Also, the video is an example of why the South will not survive in its current form to the next century.

39 Political Atheist  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:27:55pm

re: #10 Glenn Beck’s Grand Unifying Theory of Obdicut

Immediately disarming and dismissing the Iraq military was a huge mistake.

Among many others.

You may have read Fiasco? I did. Ugh.

40 Gus  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:30:09pm

OT but some category requests for LGF pages.

Asia
South Asia
Latin America
South America
Central America
North America
Human Rights

41 FemNaziBitch  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:32:42pm

EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT!--direct link.

Also Paged

42 Gus  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:32:57pm

re: #40 Gus

OT but some category requests for LGF pages.

Asia
South Asia
Latin America
South America
Central America
North America
Human Rights

And LGBT

43 FemNaziBitch  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:33:23pm

re: #6 Sol Berdinowitz

WTFittyFingF?

Were we supposed to take down the religion along with the regime as well?

Of course … .

/

44 Ghost of Tom Joad  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:35:09pm

Apologize if this was mentioned already, but
guardian.co.uk
since we’re on that subject. If even some of that is true, it’s just heart-breakingly depressing.

45 Vicious Babushka  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:36:13pm

re: #19 Mattand

Speaking of religion: credit to Geoffm33 for pointing out this bit of Twitter derp earlier:

I think it’s a spoof account. Poe’s Law prevails, but a look at its following and followers showed mostly liberals.

46 Feline Fearless Leader  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:37:14pm

re: #40 Gus

OT but some category requests for LGF pages.

Asia
South Asia
Latin America
South America
Central America
North America
Human Rights

Dancing In the Streets

47 FemNaziBitch  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:37:20pm

re: #42 Gus

And LGBT

I think LGBT, and the War on Women all fall under Human Rights. In the end, it’s about being seen as a human being and not a 3/5 or otherwise non-sentient being for which the Constitution does not apply.

48 wrenchwench  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 1:47:03pm

re: #44 Ghost of Tom Joad

Apologize if this was mentioned already, but
[Link: www.guardian.co.uk…]
since we’re on that subject. If even some of that is true, it’s just heart-breakingly depressing.

Not just mentioned, it was Paged! No need to be sorry, though. It’s only pixels…

49 Destro  Wed, Mar 6, 2013 7:30:02pm

But we sure spread that freedom around in Iraq.


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