A Year Late and 9 Billion Dollars Short.

Yesterday there was an election in Iraq amidst draconian security precautions. The lead story is the people voted and celebrated their act of voting. Pictures of blue fingered grandmas are plastered all over the news. I wonder if they rushed home to wash it off?

For some reason I think of film Apocalypse Now. Remember, the scene where Kurtz (Brando) recounts a good day in the war; how his platoon gave polio inoculations to an entire village? When they returned the next day only to find that the NVA had entered the place and cut off all the inoculated arms that showed signs of a vaccination and stacked them in the center of the village.

I hope nothing like that happens. Yet their country is gripped by the madness of War. Those that voted took risks by doing so. I think it is important to honor and remember that. Especially in our country where people don't vote if it's inconvenient and rarely make the effort to inform themselves of the issues.

Somehow, I think many of the flag wavers who thought this was a fantastic day for Bush don't realize this election is nothing like what most democracies experience. Yesterday, the people voted for slates without knowing the major players, the candidate's names, or their stand on issues. (I don't know anybody who would even set up their Fantasy Football League under these conditions.) These newly elected blocs will form a government with very little real power or say in their economics or security affairs. Soon they will write a new constitution that will be ratified many months hence. I my opinion that's when true legitimacy will start. Don't get me wrong, yesterday's election is a good move in the right direction it's just this could have, should have, happened last year.

The other big news out of Baghdad is that the Coalition Provision Authority, headed up by Proconsul Paul Bremer is unable to account for nearly 9 Billion Dollars of Iraqi funds:

The audit being released today focuses on about $8.8 billion in Iraqi money from a development account that passed through the coalition authority to Iraqi ministries. Previous reports by a U.N.-appointed board also found problems with the account, the Development Fund for Iraq, which amassed $20.6 billion in oil revenue and assets during the agency's tenure in Iraq. One of the past audits, conducted by the International Advisory and Monitoring Board, found that oil proceeds had been properly accounted for but that there were insufficient controls over the fund.

Today's report finds that U.S. senior advisors attached to the ministries failed to exercise adequate oversight of the money. In one case, the coalition's main budget office had 12 of the 55 staff members that were needed, and most of them were "inexperienced recent college graduates," the report says.

It would almost be forgivable if the money was used to restore electricity, improve sanitation, or water purification. Most likely the funds went to boondoggles like subsiding Halliburton for trucking in fuel from Kuwait at highly exaggerated prices, or into shady deals to buy loyalty. I doubt the money will ever be found.

Also, I am curious if those recent college graduates know just how much purchasing power 9 Billion Dollars is? Here's a few hints:

In terms of GDP: it would edge out Iceland in the ranking of countries. It is almost a quarter of the GDP of Iraq. It is more the 10% of the GDP of New Zealand.

In terms of disaster relief: It would match aid pledged to countries hit by the Asian tsunami catastrophe.

It takes creativity to spend a Billion Dollars but it takes real talent to misplace 9 times that much


Update: Added missing link.