Monday, May 03, 2004


Yahoo! News - Bush Administration Under Fire for Iraq Spending
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration is under fire from U.S. lawmakers who complain that only a tiny portion of the $18.4 billion to rebuild Iraq has been allocated and some funds are being diverted for security and administration costs.

As of March 24, only $2.24 billion has been earmarked according to an early April report prepared for Congress by the White House.

"They appropriated $18.4 billion for Iraq and precious little of it is being spent for reconstruction," said Dave Helfert, a spokesman for Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee said on Friday.

According to the report, $184 million is being diverted away from the water sector to pay for the costs of operating the successor to the Coalition Provisional Authority. A further $29 million is being reallocated "from various lines" to pay for administrative expenses at the U.S. Agency for International Development.

I'd love to see someone sit down and follow the paper trail on ALL the money. Let's nail these guys.