From Bill Keisling:
Here’s an interesting comment on Pennlive about Gen. Lynch:
“From July 2006 through July 2007 (Gen. William Lynch) served as Chief of Staff, Iraq Reconstruction Management Office (IRMO), according to his bio on the C2 Associates web site.
“Google ‘Mismanagement’ + ‘Iraq Reconstruction’ and you will see it was such a fiasco (around $9B to $10B unaccounted for), that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) had to create a special unit, Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), to try to sort things out, and keep an eye on people to make sure they didn’t continue to screw up the financial management of the huge project. In short, the division Lynch worked for could not be trusted to act competently on their own.
“Now, I am not saying that Lynch had anything to do with mismanagement, but this is not the sort of career highlight that inspires confidence. All it shows is that he has experience holding a relatively high position in a huge mess.
“His qualifications also clearly lack any in-depth understanding of municipal finance, securities law, and bonds. I can’t imagine that anyone actually qualified for the job would be willing to accept it. I think Corbett found the ‘Yes Man’ Piccola was probably asking him for.”
Also from the Washington Times:
“U.S. efforts to rebuild Iraq are so beset with daily violence, corruption and poor maintenance that Iraqis will not be capable of managing reconstruction anytime soon, investigators say.
“Corruption among Iraqi officials also appeared to be worsening. Iraq’s annual financial loss now exceeds $5 billion from fraud and abuse that “afflicts virtually every Iraqi ministry,” according to the report. It cites the ministries of oil, interior and defense as the biggest offenders.
“Responding to specific portions of the audit, William Lynch, acting director of the State Department’s Iraq Reconstruction Management Office, indicated that it was unfair for investigators to hold the U.S. responsible for several of the cited problems, such as maintenance issues that he said were the Iraqis’ responsibility.”
