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Tue 23 Oct, 2007 08:41 am
Bush is asking congress to approve an additional 46 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he's failed to control fraud and mismanaged the money approved in the past. Here's another example of the Bush incompetence.
Report: U.S. mismanaged $1.2B for Iraqi police
The Congress will continue to let him get away with his superior record of mis-management.
democrats can not be trusted to provide any oversight and will not do what needs to be done regarding this police action.
BBC NEWS
US army contracting alarms panel
An independent panel has strongly criticised the way the US army manages contracts to supply its troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The panel said there were high levels of fraud and waste in relation to contracts worth $4bn (£1.9bn) a year.
It blamed a lack of oversight and said only about half the army's contracting staff were properly qualified.
Defence Secretary Robert Gates said he was "dismayed" by the report and the Pentagon would pursue its suggestions.
The army says it is pursuing 83 criminal inquiries related to contract fraud and more than $15m dollars in bribes have been exposed.
The panel did not address specific allegations against individuals, but made clear that a lack of oversight and too few army contracting personnel had exacerbated systemic problems.
This is a systemic issue within the army
Jacques Gansler
Former US undersecretary of defence
The number of army personnel responsible for managing contracts in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan dropped as the number of contracts and their value soared over 12 years, the panel found.
Only about half of all contracting personnel are certified to do their jobs, it added.
The panel said some 2,000 extra staff were needed to deal with a 600% increase in the workload.
"This is a systemic issue within the army and within the DoD [Department of Defense]," said Jacques Gansler, chairman of the commission.
"It usually takes a crisis to make change. We have a crisis, we can make those changes."
Defence Secretary Gates said he was "dismayed by a lot of the findings" but encouraged by the group's suggested improvements.
Story from BBC NEWS:
The so-called crisis began six years ago when Bush lied to everybody to start this war. It's only amazing in fact that Americans still don't get it; there never was WMDs. All the subsequent justifications used by Bush have been total mismanagement and misinformation.
woiyo wrote:The Congress will continue to let him get away with his superior record of mis-management.
democrats can not be trusted to provide any oversight and will not do what needs to be done regarding this police action.
Yeah, it's the dems fault because they haven't stopped him.
No, but it doesn't help when the democrats continue to fund this war.
parados wrote:woiyo wrote:The Congress will continue to let him get away with his superior record of mis-management.
democrats can not be trusted to provide any oversight and will not do what needs to be done regarding this police action.
Yeah, it's the dems fault because they haven't stopped him.
Well, what was their promise to the American people before the election?
Did they keep that promise?
woiyo wrote:parados wrote:woiyo wrote:The Congress will continue to let him get away with his superior record of mis-management.
democrats can not be trusted to provide any oversight and will not do what needs to be done regarding this police action.
Yeah, it's the dems fault because they haven't stopped him.
Well, what was their promise to the American people before the election?
Did they keep that promise?
Right, and Republican support of the Dems' efforts to set a timetable this Spring was overwhelming. Bush vetos his own gas when it passes.
Gargamel wrote:woiyo wrote:parados wrote:woiyo wrote:The Congress will continue to let him get away with his superior record of mis-management.
democrats can not be trusted to provide any oversight and will not do what needs to be done regarding this police action.
Yeah, it's the dems fault because they haven't stopped him.
Well, what was their promise to the American people before the election?
Did they keep that promise?
Right, and Republican support of the Dems' efforts to set a timetable this Spring was overwhelming. Bush vetos his own gas when it passes.
I am really tired of excuses. These politicians are either able to work together to form a consensus or they are not. If they are not able to work together, then they are both to blame.
If you are going to make promises to the voters, you better be in a position to keep those promises, else be seen as a fraud. That goes for both "effing" crime families (aka political parties)
woiyo wrote:Gargamel wrote:woiyo wrote:parados wrote:woiyo wrote:The Congress will continue to let him get away with his superior record of mis-management.
democrats can not be trusted to provide any oversight and will not do what needs to be done regarding this police action.
Yeah, it's the dems fault because they haven't stopped him.
Well, what was their promise to the American people before the election?
Did they keep that promise?
Right, and Republican support of the Dems' efforts to set a timetable this Spring was overwhelming. Bush vetos his own gas when it passes.
I am really tired of excuses. These politicians are either able to work together to form a consensus or they are not. If they are not able to work together, then they are both to blame.
If you are going to make promises to the voters, you better be in a position to keep those promises, else be seen as a fraud. That goes for both "effing" crime families (aka political parties)
I agree we need more politicians, a la McCain, who can work across party lines. How fast did Pelosi fly off the relevance radar?
I used to be a McCain supporter until he approved the torture bill that Bush wanted. Water-boarding is torture no matter how many claim it isn't.
From the Washington Monthly:
September 22, 2006
THE TORTURE BILL....The "compromise" agreement on torture has apparently got everyone scratching their heads. For starters, the following (among other things like murder and rape) are specifically forbidden as "grave breaches" of the Geneva Conventions:
severe or serious physical or mental pain or suffering....including serious physical abuse.... disfiguring the person or persons by any mutilation thereof or by permanently disabling any member, limb, or organ....serious bodily injury....sexual contact
That's all well and good, but the legislation also allows the president to unilaterally decide what's permissible below this threshold. And this threshold doesn't seem to prohibit, for example, stress positions, sleep deprivation, waterboarding, or hypothermia. Presumably, then, all of this stuff will continue. Marty Lederman's reading of the bill's language is that "the Senators have capitulated entirely," and the New York Times agrees that President Bush won nearly everything he had originally wanted:
About the only thing that Senators John Warner, John McCain and Lindsey Graham had to show for their defiance was Mr. Bush's agreement to drop his insistence on allowing prosecutors of suspected terrorists to introduce classified evidence kept secret from the defendant.
....On other issues, the three rebel senators achieved only modest improvements on the White House's original positions. They wanted to bar evidence obtained through coercion. Now, they have agreed to allow it if a judge finds it reliable (which coerced evidence hardly can be) and relevant to guilt or innocence. The way coercion is measured in the bill, even those protections would not apply to the prisoners at Guantánamo Bay.
More careful analysis of the compromise language is probably needed, but at this point it looks like the three Republican "moderates" gave in completely. If that's the case, the only question remaining is whether this was all staged from the beginning to put Democrats in an impossible position, or if they genuinely caved in on practically every detail. Stay tuned for more on that.
Some more Bush mismanagement:
Bush vetoes water projects bill
By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer 31 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - An increasingly confrontational President Bush on Friday vetoed a bill authorizing hundreds of popular water projects even though lawmakers can count enough votes to override him.
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In doing so, Bush brushed aside significant objections from Capitol Hill, even from Republicans, in thwarting legislation that provides projects for a host of aims, including those that would repair hurricane damage, restore wetlands and prevent flooding in communities across the nation.
Bush continues his lies about the "biggest reconstruction project in the US..." when he spoke from Jackson Square after NO was flooded.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Bush's argument that the bill is fiscally irresponsible rings hollow when the White House is asking for an additional $200 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Just maybe, our congress will begin to act in the interest of the American People.
Bush's last year in office is essentially a "dead man walking." He's going to be spending more time overseas, because he knows there's not much he can accomplish at home. His talk of making his tax cuts permanent is also dead in the water; all his promises of our economy improving with his tax cuts five years ago never happened - and never will. But he'll keep repeating this refrain, because there's nothing more conservatives can do. With more Americans without health insurance, more debt, and more losing their jobs and homes, it'll be interesting to see how many really support Bush.
We can anticipate his last SOTU speech to tell us how much progress was made in Iraq, and none of the negatives such as over 2.5 million leaving Iraq - most of their countries professionals, more orphaned children all in danger of starvation, and their government is crisis.
He's going to leave this mess he created for the next president.
Thanks for this thread, CI. Most informative.
Regarding the execution and funding of Iraq/Afghanistan/Pakistan (but hopefully NOT Iran) is equivalent to the largest case of grand scale fraud and misdirection of gov't in the history of the world. Stealing taxpayers dollars to feed a misdirected war in Iraq/Afghanistan should be a crime against humanity. We have no WMD and no just cause for forces being there. No proof exists that a link to the tragic attack on US and 9/11. More proof exists to link to the Saudis than does for Iraq. Should this be considered a 'proxy' war designed to dissuade rogue nations from attacking US or its allies??
As US citizens we should be ashamed of our collective inaction if we allow it to STILL continue past this next national election. Unfortunately, we can't do anything about what has gone on already. The war as it is currently waged will not stop Al Qaedah nor will it stop the spread or terrorism. Witness the assassination of Bhutto as partial proof of that. We need an exit strategy and timeline. Terrorism will not and cannot be stopped this way.
Bush has only fanned the flames of the cause by giving the terrorists more reason to recruit more terrorists, become entrenched and continue on with their cause with an incompetent pursuit of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nation-building in Iraq and the attempt at transplanting democracy is an absurdity. Democracy in Iraq cannot blossom with the efforts that are currently being made.
Ragman, The simple truth is that Bush's "war on terrorism" has created more terrorists and terrorist activity in this world. With our occupation of Iraq, more Muslim/Arabs are turning to terrorism; and our endless Iraq war will disable the world security for many decades to come.
All thanks to Bush and his minions who continue to think our illegal attack on Iraq was for our security.
CI
Do you really think that Bush started this war for our security? Or was it for his and his friends enrichment?
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