Exciting Accounting

About $9 billion in funds spent by the Coalition Provisional Authority were found to be improperly accounted for, according to a recent audit by CPA IG Stuart Bowen. Bremer was just on Special Report with Brit Hume (the best news show on, IMHO). He defended the irregularities. (I'd provide a link to a transcript, but the Fox News Site is very confusing for me.)
Actually, Bremer submitted an 8 page rebuttal of the findings. The gist of the interview on Fox was that, in the middle of a war zone, and with reconstruction efforts critical to our future success, they worried about getting the funds out first, and setting up an audit-proof accounting system later. He diplomatically expressed contempt for accountants getting into full swing in the middle of a war zone.
Now, $9 billion is a lot of money. But Bremer is right - getting the money out on the street and setting up Iraqi government functions was of primary importance, accounting for it all secondary. I'm sure more than a few officials of the Iraqi Governing Council bought lovely dachas on the banks of the Tigris at our expense. And I'm also sure plenty on the left will be tripping over themselves to compare this to Oil-For-Food. The comparison will fall flat. I, for one, am fine with this - if guys who are trying to yank their country out of chaos lose track of a few bucks while getting mortared and car bombed, that's perfectly understandable.