[eklipse]

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackage...p;section=news
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3206841.stm

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Prominent British aid agency Christian Aid has accused Iraq's U.S. and British administrators of failing to account for $4 to $5 billion in oil revenue and other money that is meant to go toward rebuilding the country.

As officials from around the world gathered in Madrid to hear U.S. requests for aid for Iraq, Christian Aid said on Thursday the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) had not publicly detailed cash flows since ousting Saddam Hussein in April.

.....

All but $1 billion of these funds had disappeared into a "financial black hole", it said.

The charity said failure to show where the money has gone would fuel suspicion among critics that funds were going to U.S. firms given contracts to rebuild the country.

My advice? Check Ahmed Chalabi's bank account.

[lil'babykitten]

"For all the talk of freedom and democracy for the Iraqi people before, during and after the war which toppled Saddam Hussein," said the report, "there is no way of knowing how the vast majority of this money has been spent".

Heh.

I'm curious as to why the CPA hasn't endeavoured to clear up this story. So then, where is the money? I think it would be a little hard to misplace $4 billion.

And yes, have a look in Chalabi's account.

[thunderous_funker]

Surprised? How so?

What on earth gave anyone the impression that the Bush administration was good with money?

[christ]

$4bn down, $83bn to go.

[Lerkfish]

Originally posted by thunderous_funker:
Surprised? How so?

What on earth gave anyone the impression that the Bush administration was good with money?

ROTFLMAO!

[spacefreak]

Ahhh. The good ol' battle cry of the left..."It's not the the nature of the evidence that matters, but rather the seriuosness of the charge."

US rejects allegations that billions in Iraq funds are missing

Paul Bremer, head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, said all funds were being spent or transferred in a "completely transparent" way and that auditors' accounting of CPA expenditures from those funds would soon be posted on the internet and provided to an oversight board.

"The entire accounts of the Development Fund for Iraq will be posted on the internet and made available on a regular basis to the members of the international board," Bremer said.

He said the CPA, in the absence of an agreement on the creation of the UN-mandated board until last week, had moved to hire its own independent auditor to go over the fund's accounts and that its findings would be made public.

He blamed the delay on the membership of the board, which is supposed to include officials from the United Nations, World Bank ( news -web sites ) and Arab Development Bank and rejected charges that he and the CPA had obstructed its creation.

"That's nonsense," Bremer bristled when asked about the charge. "It is simply untrue to say we obstructed it. I've been anxious to get this board established."

He said he had tried to get the board running in early August and again in September but when disagreements arose over the body's "terms of reference" in conducting special audits, the membership refused to negotiate for six weeks.

"We heard nothing back from members of the board effectively until early October despite repeated efforts through our mission at the United Nations to get them to answer," Bremer said.

That said, he stressed that an agreement on the board had been reached last week and that it would begin its work shortly, independently of the CPA's own auditor.

_"We have got an agreement," Bremer said. "We have completely agreed that we are going to be fully transparent. We're prepared to put all of it on the internet which anybody can review."

[Lerkfish]

all funds were being spent or transferred in a "completely transparent" way

that really cracks me up. Its not missing, its just transparent.

[Zimphire]

Lerk it sounds as if you just WANT this to be true. Want it to be true in the WORST way.

Now, if that isn't the case, ok. It just LOOKS that way.

[thunderous_funker]

Originally posted by spacefreak:
Ahhh. The good ol' battle cry of the left..."It's not the the nature of the evidence that matters, but rather the seriuosness of the charge."

US rejects allegations that billions in Iraq funds are missing

I'm beginning to wonder about your reading comprehension.

1) Group says funds are unaccounted for and calls for independent audit with oversight

2) Bremer responds by saying "yes, we know. We haven't done it yet but we soon will."

So what "evindence" are you talking about?

Repeat:

1) charge made that no accounting has been done
2) admission that no accounting had been done with the promise that it would be done soon in the future