Stuart Bowen, Poacher turned Gamekeeper ?

On Tuesday July 6th 2005 the Right Hand Thief posted some information from the WSJ about their front page Col. 1 story "Former Bush Aide Turns Tough Critic as Iraq Inspector" (front page, column one). It's a profile of Stuart Bowen, the special Inspector General for Iraq reconstruction.

So who is Stuart Bowen asks RHT? It appears he's a Texas lawyer who "parlayed a job on George W. Bush's first gubernatorial campaign into senior posts in Austin and Washington." spending "35 days in Florida during the 2000 recount". He reward was working for Bush's transition team, and then then joining 'Abu' Gonzales as associate counsel for the White House. Subsequently he became a lobbyist for a big construction company angling for Iraq contracts. Basically, the guy has been a loyal Bushie confidant for over a decade.

Then RHT reports ,during the fall of 2003 something strange happened. Congress called for an Inspector General to audit the CPA in Iraq, and see how US tax dollars were being spent. It belatedly occurred to some esteemed representatives that "the largest U.S. reconstruction effort since World War II" could use a modicum of oversight.

Public Law 108-106, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense and for the Reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan, 2004, appropriated $18 billion for the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund (IRRF). To oversee the handling and treatment of these funds by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), this law also established the Inspector General of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA-IG) to provide for the independent and objective conduct and supervision of audits and investigations relating to the CPA's programs and operations.(www.sigir.mil website of his office)

Most Democrats were highly sceptical when Stuart Bowen was appointed to fill this new position, though, questioning whether he was truly independent (given his close ties to Bush). However, those skeptics changed their tune dramatically when Bowen began issuing reports ;

…that concluded that the American occupation authority failed to keep track of nearly $9 billion that it transferred to Iraqi government ministries, which lacked financial controls and internal safeguards to prevent abuse. One Iraqi ministry cited in the audit inflated its payroll to receive extra funds, claiming to employ 8,206 guards when it actually employed barely 600.

A third of the $10 billion in contracts signed in fiscal 2003 were awarded without competition.

A contractor charged the U.S. $3.3 million for phantom employees assigned to an oil-pipeline contract.

Iraqi construction firms allegedly paid U.S. soldiers to help steal construction equipment from the interim government.

At least a third[!!] of the government-owned vehicles and equipment that Halliburton was paid to manage were believed lost. [!!]

However, don’t expect for all that, and his first collar reported here this week of a CPA (ex felon) that he’s going to be nominated for a Congressional Gold Medal (by the way did Tony Blair ever get to receive his ?). Sounds to me that Mr Bowen is doing a grand job.AS is RHT. Go take a look.