From Not Finding Oil in Texas to Losing it in Iraq

Remember this?

TED KOPPEL: All right, this is the first. I mean, when you talk about 1.7, you're not suggesting that the rebuilding of Iraq is gonna be done for $1.7 billion?

ANDREW NATSIOS: (administration official in charge of rebuilding Iraq) Well, in terms of the American taxpayers contribution, I do, this is it for the US. The rest of the rebuilding of Iraq will be done by other countries…and Iraqi oil revenues…They're going to get in $20 billion a year in oil revenues. But the American part of this will be 1.7 billion. We have no plans for any further-on funding for this.

TED KOPPEL: And we're back once again with ANDREW NATSIOS, administrator for the Agency for International Development. I want to be sure that I understood you correctly. You're saying the, the top cost for the US taxpayer will be $1.7 billion. No more than that?

ANDREW NATSIOSF: or the reconstruction. And then there's 700 million in the supplemental budget for humanitarian relief, which we don't competitively bid 'cause its charities that get that money.

TED KOPPEL: I understand. But as far as reconstruction goes, the American taxpayer will not be hit for more than $1.7 billion no matter how long the process takes?

ANDREW NATSIOS: That is our plan and that is our intention. And these figures, outlandish figures I've seen, I have to say, there's a little bit of hoopla involved in this.


I remember watching the episode of Nightline live as it happened, almost pulling whatever the hell muscle it is that controls the sharp, upward movement of the eyebrows, which forms the unmistakable expression on one’s face that says, “are you fucking kidding me?”

If I had TIVO, I’d have probably played it back on a loop for everyone that visits my house, following it by holding up some cash and saying, “anyone care to make this interesting?”

Obviously that interview has famously come to symbolize yet another miscalculation intentionally misleading screw-up of the Bush administration in Iraq, all a product of politicizing and marketing the war two a country in which 40% of the people were willing to believe it.

Natsios wasn’t alone. There were things the Bush administration had to tell us in order to get the war they wanted, and considering oil revenues paying for the war and its aftermath was something etched in the minds of American public, I thought it would be appropriate to get an update on this from the Government Accountability Office:

S. Comptroller General David M. Walker told Congress last week that "massive corruption" and "a lot of theft going on" in Iraq's government-controlled oil industry is hampering the country's ability to govern itself.

"It took me about, you know, a second and a half to realize that, obviously, there was massive corruption going on, because the numbers just didn't add up," Walker said, referring to a trip he took to Iraq this year in which he was shown figures on oil production and revenue. He said about 10 percent of Iraq's refined fuels and 30 percent of its imported fuels are being stolen…

Read on.

Now, I had a few reactions when I read this.

The first was this: The same administration that promised to usher in an era of accountability in sharp contrast to how they felt the Clinton administration operated, is probably pretty god damn sick and tired of the Government Accountability Office (see: illegal propaganda).

Secondly, I thought to myself, “Republicans are going to be pissed when they hear about this,” and believe me, unless I see a gay pride march or read a new development about stem cell research providing hope to people, I don’t say that very often. I realize this is anecdotal, but the Republicans in my office aren’t necessarily concerned about the war in terms 10’s of thousands of lives lost, the price we’ve paid with our allies, the lack of body armor, the destabilization of the Middle East, or that international terrorism has tripled worldwide…or any of the other stuff with which rest of us are a little concerned. No – the ears of the Bush supporters in these parts perk up when the talk turns toward vanishing tax dollars – which of course isn’t a good thing, but compared to 18 year old kids getting ripped into pieces by IDEs, well, I guess Republicans and I have a bit of a different list of priorities.

Third, this reminded me of when the Coalition Provisional Authority couldn’t account for $8.8 billion, or when Halliburton was caught by the Pentagon overcharging millions in service (not for the dirty food they served our troops, but for gas and other services), or when Custer Battles, the Republican no-bid contract winners hired for security in Iraq, ripped off the government to a tune of more than $10 million.

Now mind you – there is not finite number that can be associated with the amount of oil lost. This type of financial loss is probably worse, but much different, because it wasn’t really lost, it was simply stolen. Good times.

Finally, the report from the GOA went on to say this:

The report concludes that neither the Defense Department nor Congress "can reliably determine the costs of the war, nor do they have details on how appropriated funds are being spent or historical data useful in considering future funding needs."

Finally, something other than gay adoption and flag burning to get the Republicans’ attention.