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PENTAGON STUDY CRITIQUES 2003 TRANSITION IN IRAQ

März 9, 2010 Hinterlasse einen Kommentar Go to comments

PENTAGON STUDY CRITIQUES 2003 TRANSITION IN IRAQ

The transition of U.S. military forces in Iraq to post-major combat operations in 2003 was marred by failures in leadership and planning, according to an internal report (pdf) prepared for the Pentagon that was partially declassified and released this month under the Freedom of Information Act.

„The transition that occurred was not the one that was planned,“ the 2006 report delicately stated.

„Insufficient and untimely availability of resources impeded effectiveness of post-combat operations and contributed to a difficult transition.“  Intelligence support, joint command and control, and communications infrastructure all „fell short of expectations or needs.“

See „Transitions in Iraq: Changing Environment, Changing Organizations, Changing Leadership,“ Joint Center for Operational Analysis, 21 July 2006.

The newly disclosed report was cited in a 2008 book by Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq.  According to Gen. Sanchez’s account, the report had been suppressed at the direction of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who did not welcome its critical findings.

In 2008, U.S. Joint Forces Command told TPM Muckraker that the report had been completed but was classified and not publicly available.  („Pentagon Report on Iraq Debacle ‚Remains Classified'“ by Paul Kiel, May 6, 2008). Now portions of it have been released.

Another newly declassified report found no corroboration of allegations that the DoD Joint Forces Intelligence Command (JFIC) had withheld information from the 9/11 Commission.  The DoD Inspector General said there was no basis for such a claim.  But the 2008 IG report, formerly classified Secret, provides some new details on the operation of the JFIC.  See „Review of Joint Forces Intelligence Command Response to 9/11“ (pdf), September 23, 2008.

http://www.fas.org/man/eprint/transitions.pdf

UK report slams MoD procurement
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been heavily criticised for wasting hundreds of millions of pounds on an unaffordable equipment programme, in a parliamentary report officially published on 4 March. The MoD made „ill-judged“ cuts to crucial research spending in a short term bid to plug a GBP6 billion (USD9.06 billion) funding gap, but has seemingly made „no attempt“ to calculate the real costs of repeated delays to equipment programmes, according to a defence equipment assessment published by the House of Commons defence committee

[first posted to http://jdin.janes.com – 04 March 2010]

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  1. geopolitiker
    März 23, 2017 um 5:39 pm
    Antworten

    Since 1996, the Pentagon can’t account for $10 Trillion
    Wednesday, 22 March 2017

    The Department of Defense has never had an audit. The result? $10 trillion in taxpayer money has gone unaccounted for since 1996

    Washington’s proposed $52 billion increase in military spending is beautiful news if you work in Lockheed Martin’s showroom. But maybe it’s time for a quick little audit before the American people write the Pentagon another blank check?

    We know that it’s extremely inconvenient to have to keep track of „how“ money is spent. The fact of the matter is that the money gets spent — shouldn’t that satisfy everyone’s curiosity?

    Not when $10 trillion is unaccounted for since 1996:

    although it’s required to by law, the DoD has never had an audit, something every American person, every company and every other government agency is subject to. The result is an astounding $10tn in taxpayer money that has gone unaccounted for since 1996.

    “Over the last 20 years, the Pentagon has broken every promise to Congress about when an audit would be completed,” the director of the Audit the Pentagon coalition, Rafael DeGennaro, told the Guardian. “Meanwhile, Congress has more than doubled the Pentagon’s budget.”

    Legislation in the early 1990s demanded that all government agencies had annual audits, but the Pentagon has exempted itself without consequence for 20 years now, telling the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that collecting and organizing the required information for a full audit is too costly and time-consuming.

    In the meantime, the GAO and Office of the Inspector General (IG) have published an endless stream of reports documenting financial mismanagement: $500m in aid to Yemen lost here, $5.8bn in supplies lost there, $8,000 spent on helicopter gears that really cost $500.

    Of course, we certainly can’t blame the Trump administration for the Pentagon’s lack of fiscal responsibility. Previous administrations have pointed it out — but unforeseen circumstances seem to block all attempts at reform.

    Let’s not forget that Donald Rumsfeld said that „the adversary is [close] to home. It is the Pentagon bureaucracy,“ and announced that the Defense Department was unable to track $2.3 trillion in transactions.

    Rumsfeld’s war on DoD excesses was shelved almost immediately. The day after he made his remarks, the Pentagon was attacked! Nope, this is not odd at all.

    In 2003, Reuters reported that „the Pentagon’s doctored ledgers conceal epic waste“, and detailed how DoD accountants were told to make „unsubstantiated change actions“ — in other words, to enter false numbers to make the Pentagon totals match the Treasury’s.

    The Pentagon is a giant embezzling racket. Even without an audit, the criminality is brazen.

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