Bush faces opposition to send more funds to Iraq

Source: CCTV.com | 02-07-2007 09:34

US President faces opposition to plans to send more funds to Iraq, critics are asking if money sent earlier went into the right hands.

Congressional hearings have begun as the newly-empowered Democrats begin investigating what they say was fraud, waste and abuse of funds in Iraq, after the US-led invasion in 2003. The Chief Investigator has questioned the wisdom of airlifting what was literally tons of money into uncertain territory.

Henry Waxman, democrat chief investigator, said, "Who in their right mind would send 360 tons of cash into a war zone?"

More damaging for the Bush administration is the possibility that money could have ended up in enemy hands, funding insurgents fighting US troops in Iraq. But the former US occupation chief has defended his actions. He says funds were due to Iraq in any case. He's also stressed that while he would have preferred to use regular channels such as paying salaries to Iraqi government officials, the chaos post-invasion made this impossible.

Paul Bremer, former head US coaltion provisional authority, said, "Ideally we would have liked to put those records straight before paying the salaries and pensions, but as often in Iraq, the ideal collided with the harsh realities on the ground."

A report two years ago already suggested that close to 9 billion US dollars could not be accounted for. And with the Democrats back in control, the US President's Republican Party will be squirming in their seats as they search for answers to some very tough questions.

Editor:Du Xiaodan