Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
June 3, 2008
Pg. 22
To the Editor:
The May 30 editorial “Sticker Shock and Awe at the Pentagon” cited allegations of “shoddy accounting procedures” in payments to “boondoggling companies” and to allies in Britain, Poland and South Korea. All of the payments cited in the editorial are fully substantiated.
One was a $320 million payment, not to a boondoggling company, but rather to the director general for accounting of the Iraqi Ministry of Finance. This payment represented the return of Iraqi monies frozen in United States bank accounts before the war for use by the Iraqi government to pay Iraqi government employees.
Another was a $5.7 million payment on behalf of the Iraqi government using their assets, not United States taxpayer funds, which had been seized during the war from the prior regime. The Army’s internal auditors reviewed nearly $1 billion in payments made from Iraqi money and determined that proper accountability and controls were exercised over these payments.
Finally, payments to coalition allies are for their use in their assigned sector for urgent humanitarian projects. These projects are reported back through operational channels and up into financial channels here in Washington, where they are submitted to Congress quarterly.
Peter E. Kunkel, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management and Comptroller, Washington, May 30, 2008
June 3, 2008
Pg. 22
To the Editor:
The May 30 editorial “Sticker Shock and Awe at the Pentagon” cited allegations of “shoddy accounting procedures” in payments to “boondoggling companies” and to allies in Britain, Poland and South Korea. All of the payments cited in the editorial are fully substantiated.
One was a $320 million payment, not to a boondoggling company, but rather to the director general for accounting of the Iraqi Ministry of Finance. This payment represented the return of Iraqi monies frozen in United States bank accounts before the war for use by the Iraqi government to pay Iraqi government employees.
Another was a $5.7 million payment on behalf of the Iraqi government using their assets, not United States taxpayer funds, which had been seized during the war from the prior regime. The Army’s internal auditors reviewed nearly $1 billion in payments made from Iraqi money and determined that proper accountability and controls were exercised over these payments.
Finally, payments to coalition allies are for their use in their assigned sector for urgent humanitarian projects. These projects are reported back through operational channels and up into financial channels here in Washington, where they are submitted to Congress quarterly.
Peter E. Kunkel, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management and Comptroller, Washington, May 30, 2008