http://mpetrelis.blogspot.com/
On October 26, the Inspector General of the State Department, Howard J. Krongard, very quietly issued a rather depressing report about U.S. taxpayer funded rule of law programs. Haven't been able to find any MSM stories, blogger postings or references in the alternative media after a few Google searches, which is why I'm calling attention to the report's findings.
The IG said nearly $400 million is being spent by several federal agencies for rule of law efforts in Iraq, on top of $1 billion more for police training. Out of the $4 million, $300 million went to constructing the country's physical infrastructure for justice, and the remaining $1 million was for assorted capacity-building programs.
"Rule of law includes the entire legal complex of a modern state, from a constitution and legislation to courts, judges, police, prisons, a commercial code, and anticorruption mechanisms. To successfully implement an emerging rule of law, these activities must proceed somewhat sequentially and not randomly," the report stated.
Here are the major findings:
- "Most of the money for rule of law programs appears to have been well spent."
- "A fully integrated approach to rule of law programs in Iraq is essential and does not exist at present."
- "A new phase is beginning, in which the defining characteristics must be the successful transition from a U.S.-funded and directed program to a sustainable Iraqi-directed program."
- "There is less than optimal coordination within Washington, among U.S. elements in Iraq, and between Washington and Iraq."
- "There is also a need for a coordinator in Iraq to liaise with Washington and with U.S. organizations within Iraq."
- "Basic to the success of democracy and good governance is an effective anticorruption regime. Iraq's institutional framework for anticorruption activities is in place. However, the framework is fragile and untested and needs continued support."
- "Security requirements and logistics must be heavily factored into the current costs of activities in Iraq because these security issues detract from the efficiency and productivity of a project."
So, the State Department's IG starts off with just the appearance of the money being wisely used. That use of the word "appears" in the first finding is troubling.
But more unsettling is the lack of a fully functioning coordination in Washington. Hello, Bush administration? Why is this? There's no excuse for the GOP policymakers in DC on this matter. I could somewhat understand if that were said about the leadership in Iraq, after all, those over there face graver dangers just trying to get through every day, with a growing insurgency, so coordination there easily could be less than optimal. If we can't have optimal coordination from the crew that got us into this mess, one that has cost more than 2,000 American lives, then we need new leadership to deliver the coordination.
Finally, to learn that a framework for anticorruption is somewhat functioning and is "fragile and untested" gives me even more reason to be concerned about corporations like Halliburton and other friends of Veep Cheney. I wouldn't trust Dick's pals with anything fragile and untested.
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Stephen Labaton
slabaton@nytimes.com
The New York Times
Dear Mr. Labaton:
I was thoroughly fascinated by your front page article in today's New York Times about the inquiry by the State Department's Inspector General into accusations of improper use of federal funds and other possible misdeeds by Kenneth Tomlinson, chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/... )
After reading your story, I searched the BBG's web site, looking for minutes of all the public meetings held by the board. To my dismay, no minutes or transcripts of these meetings were available.
This lack of minutes led me to search the web for any Federal Register announcements from the BBG about their public meetings. I found lots of announcements, but every single one stated the BBG meetings would be held in closed session.
"The members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) will meet in closed session to review and discuss a number of issues relating to U.S. Government-funded non-military international broadcasting. The will address internal procedural, budgetary, and personnel issues, as well as sensitive foreign policy issues relating to potential options in the U.S. international broadcasting field. This meeting is closed because if open it likely would either disclose matters that would be properly classified to be kept secret in the interest of foreign policy under the appropriate executive order (5 U.S.C. 552b. (c)(1)) or would disclose information the premature disclosure of which would be likely to significantly frustrate implementation of a proposed agency action.
Here are eleven listings for BBG meetings, stretching back to 2002, where the public was kept out:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/...
http://www.csb.gov/...
http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/...
http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/...
http://www.ed.gov/...
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/...
http://www.csb.gov/...
http://www.gipsa.usda.gov/...
http://www.setonresourcecenter.com/...
http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/...
http://www.smartpdf.com/...
Last and certainly not least, I'm sure you're aware of the most recent independent audit of the Broadcasting Board of Governors for FY 2004.
Among the audit's major findings, these were of particular interest to me:
- Inadequacies in internal control;
- Instances of noncompliance with selected provisions of applicable laws and regulations involving BBG's financial management system;
- BBG's internal control over its finances and accounting system was inadequate;
- Certain elements of the financial statements, principally property, plant and equipment, are developed from sources other than the general ledger;
- The use of sources other than the general ledger to generate elements of the financial statements increases the potential for omission of significant transactions;
- BBG has not codified its financial management operating procedures;
- Overall, BBG did not comply with a number of laws and regulations, including the Budget and Accounting Procedures Act of 1950, which requires an accounting system to provide full disclosure of the results of financial operations;
- BBG financial systems did not issue interim financial reports that could be used for effective management operations. (Source: http://www.bbg.gov/... , pages 39 - 48.)
These troubling findings from a year ago, fit into the larger context of what you reported in the Times:
"Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, the head of the federal agency that oversees most government broadcasts to foreign countries, including the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, is the subject of an inquiry into accusations of misuse of federal money and the use of phantom or unqualified employees, officials involved in that examination said on Friday."
Having examined the 2004 audit of Tomlinson's fiscal leadership of the BBG, I do wonder if the investigation you wrote about is part of what may be a longstanding problem with his accounting and spending programs.
You might want to look at the audit and lack of publicly available minutes from BBG meetings, and include some the information in a story for the Times.
Regards,
Michael Petrelis