MuskogeePhoenix.com, Muskogee, OK

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September 2, 2010

Money wasted in Iraq a shame

— As the U.S. withdraws from military combat from Iraq, more than $5 billion in U.S. taxpayer funds has been wasted on projects in the war-torn country. That’s about 10 percent of the $53.7 billion the U.S. has spent on reconstruction in Iraq, according to audits from a U.S. watchdog agency.

That amount is likely an underestimate, based on an analysis of more than 300 reports by auditors with the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. And it does not take into account security costs, which have added almost 17 percent for some projects.

It’s a shame that much money was wasted.

It’s also a shame that we’ve become so immune to a massive amount of government waste that the numbers mean nothing to us.

But the true cost is much, much higher: More than 4,400 troops dead and tens of thousands more wounded.

Despite the many examples of waste — a $40 million prison sits in the desert north of Baghdad, empty; a $165 million children's hospital goes unused in the south; a $100 million waste water treatment system in Fallujah has cost three times more than projected, yet sewage still runs through the streets — there are success stories. Hundreds of police stations, border forts and government buildings have been built, Iraqi security forces have improved after years of training, and a deepwater port at the southern oil hub of Umm Qasr has been restored.

Some residents are pleased with the outcome. One, Ghassan Kadhim, said: “It is the duty of the Americans to do such projects because they were the ones who inflicted harm on people.”

Despite the waste, we had an obligation to make Iraq right once we decided to invade. What’s done is done. Whether we think the war was a mistake or not, we must move forward.

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