Kerry Hopes to Investigate War Profiteering

From a Kerry office press release:

Sen. John Kerry announced today that he is co-sponsoring a wide-ranging plan to finally investigate the scope and range of wasteful spending surrounding the war in Iraq. The bill, which he is co-sponsoring with Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and several other colleagues, would create an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate U.S. war contracting in Iraq....

The amendment would create a bipartisan commission to study and investigate contracting in support of the combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) in 2005, reported that nearly $9 billion spent on Iraq’s reconstruction was unaccounted for, as the result of inefficiencies and bad management. To date, SIGIR has investigated $32 billion in Iraq reconstruction and relief, resulting in arrests, imprisonments, $3.6 million in restitution orders, and $9.5 million in recovered and seized assets. More than 40 individuals and private companies have been suspended, debarred, or proposed for debarment. More than 30 SIGIR investigations await prosecution at the Department of Justice.

I shutter to think about the profiteering we don't know about yet, because the things we have learned doesn't leave a whole lot of room for hope.