Pentagon unable to account for €6.7bn of Iraq fund

AMERICA’S Defence Department is unable to account for about 95% of $9 billion (€6.9bn) supposedly spent on rebuilding the war-shattered country.

The report by the US Special Investigator for Iraq Reconstruction offers a compelling look at continued laxness in how such funds are being spent in a country where people complain basic services like electricity and clean water are lacking seven years after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

The audit found that shoddy record-keeping by the Defence Department left the Pentagon unable to fully account for $8.7bn (€6.7bn) it withdrew between 2004 and 2007 from a special fund set up by the UN Security Council.