More (And More) Billions In Iraq
This just arrived to my in-box from Laura Peterson, a national security investigator over at Taxpayer's For Common Sense.
"The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) got a lot of jaws dropping this week with a report estimating the U.S. has spent $85 billion on contractors in the Iraq war, 20 percent of the total cost to date. A closer reading of the report, however, indicates that bracing figure is actually much, much higher."
Here's some of what Peterson contends:
First of all, analysts did not include any contracts performed in countries outside the Iraq "theater," meaning they excluded contracts for weapons manufactured and maintained stateside. These contracts, as anyone who follows the industry knows, are very lucrative. Take the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles: Congress has given DOD more than $22 billion to build some 15,000 of them, most if not all of which will be constructed in the U.S. Just last month, General Dynamics was awarded a $550 million contract to manufacture nearly 800 MRAPs.
Billions will also go to contractors to rehabilitate equipment worn down on the battlefield, a process known as "reset.' The Army has estimated it will need at least $13 billion per year for reset, most of which will go to the procurement and "operations and maintenance" (O&M) budget accounts where contractors are most often found. A September 2007 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that the Army received $17 billion in fiscal year 2007 alone for reset, double the amount from the previous year.
"The CBO estimate also neglects contracts in the $50 billion classified intelligence budget, of which contractors claim a significant portion: Estimates of intelligence funds going to contractors range from $42 billion to $35 billion."
The logic seems sound to us, but what do you think? Is this hype or fact?
By Robert O'Harrow |
August 14, 2008; 2:27 PM ET
Previous: Shortcuts |
Next: What's The Frequency?
Posted by: SL3 | August 25, 2008 11:10 AM
We need a new infusion of fresh blood in Congress and the White House. I, too, think that mosst of our government is too subject to corruption to continue the way it is. As new members arrive, the old ones intimidate them into voting the party way or else. Look at the allegations that Cheney and his henchmen kept most members of Congress paralyzed during the Bush Adminisration, as reported in Newsweek and Time magazines over the years. We need to weed out the old and bring in the new and watch them like "hawks", as Goldie Hawn said in the movie. And because John McCain has been in the Senate for 26 years, he's part of the problem, not the solution, no matter how nice a guy his is.
Posted by: Skeeter3 | August 25, 2008 2:45 PM
The worst part of all this fiscal failure is - the Iraqis will never be asked to repay a bit of it.
While America's economy continues its slide toward third-world status, our gov't keeps pouring money into other countries, trying to hold onto allies through economic incentives under the guise of "foreign aid".
We have hundreds of military bases in dozens of countries, many of which our gov't won't close because the local economies have grown used to the business and employment brought by those bases. We hear the same thing here at home whenever the military proposes closing/consolidating bases.
It's time to tighten our belts, stop propping up other economies and work on saving our own from collapse.
Posted by: LALA | August 26, 2008 2:11 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
Just business as usual for our Federal gov't. Like almost every new spending bill from prescription drugs to anything else. Seems to always end up costing twice as much as originally proposed with lots of waste and fraud mixed in. Will we ever get some decent representatives running this country with some fiscal responsibility and sensibility? We need term limits! The deck is stacked too much for the incumbent and the longer they are in DC the more chance influenced by corruption. We need an infusion of fresh blood at a higher rate than we are getting right now.