APNewsBreak: Major Problems Found In Iraq Spending

RICHARD LARDNER

WASHINGTON (AP) — An independent panel investigating contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan has released a bleak assessment for how tens of billions of dollars have been spent since 2001.

In its first report to Congress obtained by The Associated Press, the Wartime Contracting Commission documents poor management, weak oversight, and a failure to learn from past mistakes as recurring themes in wartime contracting.

The report cites the case of a $30 million dining facility at a U.S. base in Iraq scheduled to be completed Dec. 25. But the decision to build it was based on bad planning and botched paperwork. The project is too far along to stop, making the mess hall a future monument to the waste and inefficiency plaguing the war effort.

The report is scheduled to be made public Wednesday at a hearing held by the House Oversight and Government Reform's national security subcommittee.

U.S. reliance on contractors has grown to "unprecedented proportions," says the bipartisan commission, established by Congress last year. More than 240,000 private sector employees are supporting military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thousands more work for the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development.