EDITORIAL: Corrupt practices

May 16, 2008 10:49 am

— By now, we should have gotten used to the Bush administration’s evasions and distortions when it comes to Iraq.
But it still galls us that the White House is determined to conceal its incompetence when it comes to this massive policy disaster.
Headlines from Iraq routinely report the violence and instability in that country, while the U.S. government attempts to argue that progress is being made.
However, one must wonder if much in the way of progress is sustainable in a country where waste and corruption are seemingly rampant.
Recent reports portray disturbing scenarios. For example, early this week, two former State Department officials who worked in Iraq told Senate Democrats that the Bush administration routinely ignored evidence of corruption within the Iraq government.
The two officials, who headed the Office of Accountability and Transparency — which was intended to target fraud and corruption — described how their staff had little to do, because of a lack of cooperation from Iraqi officials. Anti-corruption counterparts with the Iraqi government had been removed from their positions.
The Office of Accountability and Transparency no longer exists. It was dismantled after a draft report its members wrote was leaked to the media. That report described how the Iraqi government was blocking investigations into allegedly corrupt agencies.
That report, despite the leak, was later classified — supposedly to avoid embarrassing criticism of the Iraqi leadership.
Meanwhile, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction issued a report last month that warned the public to be skeptical of Pentagon data regarding the size of Iraq’s military and police forces.
That audit noted the information is provided by the Iraqi government and its accuracy cannot be verified. When one considers the glacial pace of having Iraqi forces take over the work of American troops, the audit’s findings make considerable sense.
The same inspector general office has repeatedly found problems with U.S.-financed projects in Iraq, because of the inability or unwillingness of Iraqis to carry out necessary tasks.
It’s generally true that violence in Iraq has subsided — at least for the time being. But a corrupt regime operates outside the rule of law. And a government lacking the rule of law will be unstable and ripe for overthrow.
The Bush administration prefers to sweep these problems under the rug, or at least make sure the American people know little about them. The situation in Iraq is creating long-term challenges for the United States. And President Bush will leave those for his successor to contend with.