US fails to overhaul Iraq's corrupt accounting system
Four-year project by US government to replace Saddam Hussein's accounting system - created for secrecy and control - has failed, an official report reveals
A US government project to overhaul the corrupt accounting system in place
during the Sadam Hussein era has failed – after four years and an investment of
more than $38m.
One of the objectives of the American occupation was to change the practices
that flourished under Sadam’s rule, and to establish accounting systems that
would ensure that oil revenues – which made up almost all of the government’s
budget – could not be diverted from government coffers.
The US Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Construction
yesterday announced in a report that the system the United States had chosen had
shown a ‘lack of understanding of the existing Iraq financial and business
processes,’ and had not taken root, the
New
York Times reported.
A deputy inspector, Ginger Cruz, said the new system had little impact on
Iraq’s financial systems and that the old system, which was created for secrecy
and control, remained in place.