An unpublished, 513-page federal history of the U.S.-led reconstruction of Iraq depicts an effort crippled before the invasion by Pentagon planners who were hostile to the idea of rebuilding a foreign country.
The reconstruction effort is being hampered by fake numbers, mismanaged funds, ill-thought out plans, technical ineptness, poor organizational structure, political turf wars, personal greed, and a ‘cover-your-ass’ mentality. Our economic leadership has been guilty of the same short-comings. This is yet another legacy that Bush cannot hide from.
The only ‘success’ that has come out of the rebuilding effort thus far can be claimed by the CEOs of the construction companies and building-materials suppliers that were given contracts by a corrupted bidding system. Contractors working in Iraq know they are being paid for slip-shod work and they are well aware of the mismanagement of funds and lack of over-sight. Yet their conscience will be placated by the overly exaggerated paychecks they receive. Paychecks funded in part by their fellow Americans’ tax dollars.
These ‘leaders of industry’, these so-called ‘professionals’ were given the task of rebuilding Iraq and the single most driving force to ‘win’ the contract was not in producing quality workmanship, but in how to make the most money for themselves. How to set up companies and an infrastructure that would funnel the most money into their own pockets.
The only ‘success’ to come out of the banking system bailout goes to the CEO’s who received outrageous bonuses and to mortgage brokers who made money from taking advantage of the ‘dream of home ownership’ of families they knew would not be able to payoff the loans. They were all aware of the failings of the system but sloughed off their responsibility and took their paychecks and walked away from it.
These leaders of the banking and home mortgage industry who kept a close watch on the pulse of our economy knew how to make the most money from the unwary and under-informed consumer and manipulated the system to funnel the most money into their own pockets.
We Americans have collectively been bilked out of billions of dollars over the course of our history by conniving, thieving individuals who greased the palms of corrupted political office holders in order to have money diverted from more deserving projects to fall under their control. Cost overruns are nothing new to construction projects and the manipulation of the contract bidding process has become an art for those who know how to do it. Especially when you have politicians pushing and pulling for you on the inside.
If we take a leap of faith, and conclude that politicians are being taken advantage of by contractors in regards to how contracts are awarded and money is managed and spent, then it is time for our government to put in place strict controls over how contracts are awarded and how money is used. We also need to have stricter over-sight on how the process is overseen. Corruption that has become inherent in this capitalist society has made this type of bureaucracy management an unfortunate necessity.
Capitalism has taken too great a hold on this country for us to ever get anything done without the expectation of every individual involved to arrive with their hand out.
Before Iraq reconstruction plans were put to paper the planning was disjointed and botched due to jostling of position of who was going to get the biggest cut. American homes and office buildings are constructed in record time in the U.S. There is no reason why these buildings cannot go up just as quickly and just as cheaply in Iraq unless delaying the process meant more money for project managers and workers. The construction field is filled with areas where a master of manipulating costs can exaggerate building time and increase building materials costs because of a lack of honest oversight.
We are a nation that is supposed to work together for a common cause. We have flag-waving politicians who tirelessly spout off about how we Americans stick together against outside forces bent on our destruction, yet behind closed doors they plan and scheme on how to take the American tax payer for even more money to bail out a banking system that they themselves refuse to regulate. Anytime any politician slings his/her line of crap under the banner of patriotism and not have to gargle to rid themselves of the resulting foul taste is a crooked politician corrupted beyond redemption. They cannot possibly believe their own rhetoric. We sure as hell don’t.
Money for construction projects are divided up by a spoils system controlled by neighborhood politicians and tribal chiefs. "Our district council chairman has become the Tony Soprano of Rasheed, in terms of controlling resources," said a U.S. Embassy official working in a dangerous Baghdad neighborhood, referring to the popular TV mob boss. “You will use my contractor or the work will not get done.”
Pentagon officials should be held to account for mismanagement and the inflated numbers (lies) it gave the public and the administration to show progress being made in Iraq. These officials are more concerned with covering their own asses when reality doesn’t look as rosy as their expectations or when things go wrong than they are in working to improve the situation.
The reconstruction effort has failed because no single agency in the U.S. government has responsibility for the job.
This can also be said for the current collapsing economy we Americans are being forced to endure.
No comments:
Post a Comment