Targeting fraud in Iraq

Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007 | 10 p.m.

The Pentagon has finally acknowledged the scope of fraud and thievery that have been plaguing the Iraq war since its outset in March 2003.

Despite reporters' accounts over the years, and congressional and military audits that have pointed to shockingly little oversight of contracts and materials, the Pentagon has waited until now to make a serious effort to examine records and root out criminal activity.

There have been a few indictments, but given the tens of billions in cash, weapons and supplies that are missing without a trace, they amount to almost nothing.

But as The New York Times reported Tuesday, the Pentagon, under pressure from the Senate Armed Services Committee, is now responding in force. By the end of next week a team of investigators is scheduled to be fully assembled in Iraq for an indefinite stay.

Led by Pentagon Inspector General Claude Kicklighter, the team's members will include investigators from the Army Criminal Investigation Command, the Justice Department, the FBI and other federal agencies. Team members will also travel to Afghanistan, where fraud is also rampant.

The Times' listing of some of the activities that will be investigated reads like a primer on white-collar crime: conspiracy, bribery, product substitution, bid-rigging, false claims and double-billing. In addition to scrutinizing contractors, the investigators will target members of the military, government employees and Iraqi citizens.

Americans should be outraged by the sheer immensity of this scandal, especially when considering the number of our soldiers and Marines who have been killed because the Pentagon skimped on money for armor.

And part of the outrage should be directed at the early planners of the Iraq war in the White House and Pentagon, who failed to anticipate fraud at this level and procrastinated when it began occurring.