# $6.6 Billion Simply Stolen From Iraq War Funds **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 14, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464 "2011-06-14T18:10:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464/1 "2011-06-14T18:10:42Z")
What a [clusterfuck](http://gawker.com/5811812/missing-iraqi-war-cash-may-be-biggest-heist-in-history). > [@](#): > > This month, the Pentagon and the Iraqi government are finally closing the books on the program that handled all those Benjamins. But despite years of audits and investigations, U.S. Defense officials still cannot say what happened to $6.6 billion in cash - enough to run the Los Angeles Unified School District or the Chicago Public Schools for a year, among many other things. > > For the first time, federal auditors are suggesting that some or all of the cash may have been stolen, not just mislaid in an accounting error. Stuart Bowen, special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, an office created by Congress, said the missing $6.6 billion may be “the largest theft of funds in national history.” Ah but don’t worry, it’s not out money, it’s the Iraqis own money from their oil sales. We just mismanaged the shit out of it for them, meaning we’ll probably get sued by the Iraqi government. Man, that war was awesome! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464/2 "2011-06-14T18:17:48Z")
Tell me again how Republicans are good with money… I bet we could make a lot of it back if we sold little bits of Bush, Cheney and Rummy on EBay. However, I’m sure that the people responsible for this were well qualified, since they no doubt were Republican donors and had the proper opinion on abortion - which is they way they seemed to staff the Green Zone. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464/3 "2011-06-14T19:16:56Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Tell me again how Republicans are good with money… > > I bet we could make a lot of it back if we sold little bits of Bush, Cheney and Rummy on EBay. > > However, I’m sure that the people responsible for this were well qualified, since they no doubt were Republican donors and had the proper opinion on abortion - which is they way they seemed to staff the Green Zone. While I’m not supporting the war in Iraq, this kind of clusterfuck happens while either party is in charge. Medicare fraud: [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/23/60minutes/main5414390.shtml](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/23/60minutes/main5414390.shtml) > **[Medicare fraud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_fraud)** > > In the United States, Medicare fraud is the claiming of Medicare health care reimbursement to which the claimant is not entitled. There are many different types of Medicare fraud, all of which have the same goal: to collect money from the Medicare program illegitimately. > The total amount of Medicare fraud is difficult to track, because not all fraud is detected and not all suspicious claims turn out to be fraudulent. According to the Office of Management and Budget, Medicare "improper payments" ... [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22184921](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22184921) While there is no solid concensus on exactly how much, the estimate are still much greater than 6.6 billion. I am not defending bad behavior by pointing out other bad behavior, I want it all cleaned up. I just object to painting the Republicans (only) to blame here. Oversight of Federal money is a bipartisan (or nonpolitical, if you will) duty, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464/4 "2011-06-14T20:05:24Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Tell me again how Republicans are good with money… Bureaucrats who disburse federal funds are nonpartisan civil service appointees. Not _everything_ shitty in the world is the fault of Dick Cheney. The real crime here is that the assfaced OP linked to a worthless blog post instead of the [actual fucking article](http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-missing-billions-20110613,0,4414060.story). ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464/5 "2011-06-14T20:20:47Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > Man, that war was awesome! If you have a better way of setting up client states in a geopolitically vital area the USG is all ears. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464/6 "2011-06-14T20:22:48Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Tell me again how Republicans are good with money… > > I bet we could make a lot of it back if we sold little bits of Bush, Cheney and Rummy on EBay. Can’t imagine anybody paying for that – hell, between the cats and the dog they gotta make at least 2 or 3 pounds of shit a day. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464/7 "2011-06-14T20:28:15Z")
So I wonder how much the US government waste on a yearly basis all by itself? Nevermind, I don’t want to know. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464/8 "2011-06-14T20:33:00Z")
> [@gravitycrash](#): > > So I wonder how much the US government waste on a yearly basis all by itself? > > Nevermind, I don’t want to know. Yeah, but at least most of what’s wasted stays here. It mostly goes to individuals and corporations in the US, who can at least spend it or save it. That type of waste is the equivalent of a stimulus, regardless of the intent. When it’s lost in another country, it’s the equivalent of pissing it away. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464/9 "2011-06-14T20:38:34Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Yeah, but at least most of what’s wasted stays here. It mostly goes to individuals and corporations in the US, who can at least spend it or save it. That type of waste is the equivalent of a stimulus, regardless of the intent. When it’s lost in another country, it’s the equivalent of pissing it away. But it wasn’t America’s money in the first place: it was Iraq’s money. Some of it may have stayed in Iraq, but it seems likely that at least some was stolen by Americans. It was supposed to stimulate the Iraqi economy, but who knows where it finished up. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464/10 "2011-06-15T00:51:26Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > If you have a better way of setting up client states in a geopolitically vital area the USG is all ears. Rule the First: Never, ever try to create a client state. Rule the Second: If you are too goddamn stupid to follow the first rule, then never, ever try build a client state out of a nation you neither know nor understand, and who’s general indigenous population hates your guts. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464/11 "2011-06-15T01:17:30Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > If you have a better way of setting up client states in a geopolitically vital area the USG is all ears. Not a few years ago they weren’t: > [@](#): > > I’ll give you an example: Jay Garner was the first civilian administrator in Iraq after the war. Already in June 2003, he told Defense Secretary Rumsfeld that three tragic decisions had been made that, in his opinion, were reversible at the time: the dissolution of the army, ignoring the Iraqi leadership stratum and the wide-reaching ban on former members of the Baath Party from participating in efforts to rebuild the country. Rumsfeld dismissed his warning. Things are the way they are, he told Garner. When I asked the secretary of defense about this several months ago, he praised Garner, but said he could only vaguely recall the warning. > **[SPIEGEL Interview with Bob Woodward: "A Systematic State of Denial"](https://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/spiegel-interview-with-bob-woodward-a-systematic-state-of-denial-a-441841.html)** > > US star journalist Bob Woodward, 63, discusses in an interview with DER SPIEGEL the resonance of his new book "State of Denial," which explores the Bush administration's policies in the wake of the Iraq invasion. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464/12 "2011-06-15T03:38:46Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Bureaucrats who disburse federal funds are nonpartisan civil service appointees. Not really. Lots of people left the federal government out of embarrassment or moral outrage with the Bush Administration, and they stuffed the federal agencies with their own people. They only wanted the corrupt and incompetent. > [@Giles](#): > > But it wasn’t America’s money in the first place: it was Iraq’s money. Some of it may have stayed in Iraq, but it seems likely that at least some was stolen by Americans. It was supposed to stimulate the Iraqi economy, but who knows where it finished up. Probably right where we intended it to, in the hands of Bush cronies. Nothing we did in Iraq was to benefit them in any way, any more than a mugger intends to benefit his victim. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464/13 "2011-06-15T03:48:39Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Not really. Lots of people left the federal government out of embarrassment or moral outrage with the Bush Administration, and they stuffed the federal agencies with their own people. They only wanted the corrupt and incompetent. > > Probably right where we intended it to, in the hands of Bush cronies. Nothing we did in Iraq was to benefit them in any way, any more than a mugger intends to benefit his victim. Yes I’m sure Bush and his Cabinet laughed sadistically as they delibrately calculated how many Iraqi civilians would di8e and how much money they stole. Hey maybe they stole Christmas too. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![blueskiesfrompain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@blueskiesfrompain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blueskiesfrompain)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464/14 "2011-06-15T03:57:03Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Rule the First: Never, ever try to create a client state. Better known as _Vizzini’s Iocane:_ Never get involved in a land war in Asia. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464/15 "2011-06-15T04:45:58Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Yes I’m sure Bush and his Cabinet laughed sadistically as they delibrately calculated how many Iraqi civilians would di8e and how much money they stole. It would be perfectly in keeping with their their personalities to just do that. They are mass murderers and torturers, as well as vandals & thieves on a grand scale. Utter vermin. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464/16 "2011-06-15T05:34:05Z")
Look, all they did was fly billions of dollars in untraceable cash to a war-ravaged, corruption-ridden country. Who could have expected anything to go wrong?! ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464/17 "2011-06-15T15:16:56Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > It would be perfectly in keeping with their their personalities to just do that. They are mass murderers and torturers, as well as vandals & thieves on a grand scale. Utter vermin. You forgot to point out that they also stomp kittens, impregnated Octo-mom, and stole the magic moment from Taylor Swift’s award. ---
**Author:** ![AlienVessels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@AlienVessels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienVessels)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464/18 "2011-06-15T15:31:00Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Yes I’m sure Bush and his Cabinet laughed sadistically as they delibrately calculated how many Iraqi civilians would di8e and how much money they stole. Hey maybe they stole Christmas too. :rolleyes: That would actually be better than appointing people with zero experience to manage and disburse funds in Iraq, blindly ignoring any and all consequences of handing out large sums of cash to people without any documentation. And yes, I would expect that any occupation would include estimates of civilian deaths and “shrinkage”. Bush/Cheney complicated this by deliberately turning a blind eye to the consequences. Bush achieved his goal of being a war president and Cheney got his Halliburton et all buddies their contracts. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464/19 "2011-06-15T16:37:17Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Bureaucrats who disburse federal funds are nonpartisan civil service appointees. The occupation authority was full of political functionaries with thin resumes and little to no relevant experience wrt to their jobs. Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s “Imperial Life in the Emerald City” offers a good overview of this. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464/20 "2011-06-15T17:38:39Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Look, all they did was fly billions of dollars in untraceable cash to a war-ravaged, corruption-ridden country. Who could have expected anything to go wrong?! The sad thing is, this doesn’t even rate a spot in the Top 10 most stupid things done by that administration… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-6-billion-simply-stolen-from-iraq-war-funds/585464.md?page=2)