I’ve never seen a group of people who have been more anxious to stonewall legitimate investigations than the Bush administration. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen reports just like this one over the last four years.
The Bush administration is withholding information from U.N.-sanctioned auditors examining more than $1 billion in contracts awarded to Halliburton Co. and other companies in Iraq without competitive bidding, the head of the international auditing board said Thursday.
Jean-Pierre Halbwachs, the U.N. representative to the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB), said that the United States has repeatedly rebuffed his requests since March to turn over internal audits, including one that covered three contracts valued at $1.4 billion that were awarded to Halliburton, a Texas-based oil services firm. It has also failed to produced a list of other companies that have obtained contracts without having to compete.
You don’t suppose the Bush administration has something to hide, do you?
This Washington Post article is a good follow-up on a Financial Times report from a month ago about the resistance auditors have found in trying to get information about management of Iraq’s oil. Indeed, auditors found that we’ve created a system in which we spend too much, invite fraud, and keep the entire process secret.
Let’s see, Iraqi oil, mismanagement, no-bid contracts for Halliburton, Bush administration secrecy … why do I feel like the news sometimes mirrors Groundhog Day?