Iraq Still Plagued by Many Forms of Corruption and Chaos
By Adam Kredo
WASHINGTON, April 25 – Rampant corruption is just one of the many problems Iraq and the United States face in the three-year-old war in that Middle East country, the head of the Government Accountability Office, Congress’s watchdog agency, told lawmakers Tuesday.
David M. Walker, who as comptroller general heads the Government Accountability Office, told a Government Reform subcommittee chaired by Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4, that a “legacy of corruption” left over from Sadaam Hussein’s government continues to plague the war-torn country.
Walker’s conclusions were based on several recent agency visits to Iraq and four reports the GAO presented to Congress since last July.
“Transparency and accountability mechanisms are essential given the legacy of corruption inherited from the previous regime,” Walker said during the subcommittee hearing. “More needs to be done to help the Iraqis help themselves build capable government institutions that can deliver real results.”
Walker said it is “critically important” for the international community to get involved in Iraq, but he said that many countries have been hesitant because of unstable security conditions and Iraq’s failure to pay back previous investments.
Walker insisted that Iraq must rid itself of corruption and increase its oil revenues in order to produce a successful and viable economy.
“Sadaam Hussein is gone,” he said. “We’re dealing with a new situation.. The real key is substantive success.”
Addressing the panel, Shays, who just returned from his 12 th trip to Iraq, asked rhetorically, “how do we succeed” in Iraq? He agreed with Walker that America must stay the full course, saying, “I am convinced that premature withdrawal of our military will guarantee failure.”
But Walker reminded the committee that the “war in Iraq will not be won by the military alone.” Instead, he emphasized the need for reconstruction projects, calling 2006 a critical and revelatory year in America’s war effort.
When asked if President Bush had fulfilled his reconstruction promises, Walker said, “No; the objectives have not been met with regard to oil, electricity and water sectors.”
As of last month, oil and electricity production was below pre-war levels and the administration’s reconstruction goals for oil, electricity and water had not been met, according to the Government Accountability Office’s report.
Walker also said that while the U.S. effort has helped Iraq produce clean water, 60 percent of that water is lost to leakage and contamination.
“We have not achieved the objective with regard to potable water,” Walker said. “There are problems in transmission, there’s a significant amount of loss of water between the water treatment facilities and Iraqi homes.”
In addition, Walker said Iraq produced 2.6 million barrels of oil per day before the war, but by 2005, production averaged 2.1 million barrels per day. This resulted in diminished oil revenues.
Walker said that “we’ve got a ways to go” when it comes to electricity production in Iraq, stating that current levels are “slightly below pre-war levels” and “quite a bit below what the goal is.”
Currently, Iraq produces an average of 12.3 hours of electricity per day, but the level can vary depending on area and circumstance, Walker said.
In fiscal years 2001 through 2005, the United States spent $278 billion attempting to secure and stabilize Iraq, according to the Government Accountability Office’s report. Another $248 billion, the report said, was spent “to support U.S. military operations and forces.”
“Higher than expected security costs, funding reallocations, inadequate maintenance and other challenges have slowed the pace of reconstruction efforts and limited the impact of the services provided,” Walker said.
Approximately 130,000 U,S. troops remain in Iraq and about $30 billion has been spent to develop capable Iraqi security forces. Moreover, in February, the administration requested an additional $123 billion “to support U.S. stabilization and reconstruction operations” in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Walker estimated that Iraq is likely to need more than the $56 billion originally estimated for reconstruction and stabilization efforts, but he said it was unclear where the money would come from, citing decreased Iraqi oil revenue and international hesitance as reasons for the uncertainty.
