7/27/2010

“A U.S. audit has found that the Pentagon cannot account for over 95 percent of $9.1 billion in Iraq reconstruction money, spotlighting Iraqi complaints that there is little to show for the massive funds pumped into their cash-strapped, war-ravaged nation. The $8.7 billion in question was Iraqi money managed by the Pentagon, not part of the $53 billion that Congress has allocated for rebuilding. …The $9.1 billion in question came from the Development Fund for Iraq, which was set up by the U.N. Security Council in 2003. …Iraq had given the U.S. authorization to tap into the fund, which is held in New York, for humanitarian and reconstruction efforts, withdrawing that approval in December 2007.”

 – Tarek El-Tablawy, “Audit: US Can’t Account for $8.7B in Iraqi Funds,” Associated Press, July 27, 2010