Over the past two weeks, two of the most high-profile
inspectors general in government have faced public firing squads. As the Washington Post reported
on its front page on Friday, Stuart Bowen, the inspector general tasked with
investigating Iraq
reconstruction, now faces an investigation himself. Several government agencies
are examining charges that his office was involved in massive mismanagement and
waste, the very sins he had been tasked with uncovering in Iraq. Most puzzlingly, over twenty-five of his employees earned more than
General David Petraeus did last year.
Meanwhile, at the State Department, Inspector General Howard
Krongrad recently resigned amidst charges that he blocked investigations into
serious problems in Iraq.
For months, Krongrad had been accused of everything from ignoring fraud in the
construction of a US embassy
in Baghdad to
preventing his staff from looking into allegations of arms smuggling by the
embattled military contractor Blackwater. In a particularly charming episode at
a House hearing in November, Krongrad claimed that his brother was unaffiliated
with Blackwater, then abruptly changed his story after supposedly learning, during the hearing, that his brother did
in fact work there.
Alas, Krongrad and Bowen’s cases are hardly unique. In Washington, inspectors
general in each cabinet agency are supposed to serve a vital role, operating as
the watchdogs inside the federal government who sniff out fraud, misconduct,
self-dealing, waste, and a host of other criminal activities. But under the
Bush administration--surprise, surprise--inspector general positions have been
filled by White House loyalists or outright hacks, leaving agencies virtually
unpoliced. And while the inspectors general do nothing, the administration says
nothing. No one is watching the watchers.
During previous administrations, the White House appointed
impartial inspectors general, many of whom had extensive backgrounds in the
areas they would police. As a 2004 report by the Democrats
on the House Committee on Government Reform revealed, in the Clinton
administration, over 60 percent of Inspectors General had some past experience
conducting audits--the essential task of an IG--and less than one-quarter of
Clinton IG appointees had previous political experience, meaning they were not
hardcore Clinton loyalists. Under Bush, the committee found that more than 60
percent of Bush IG appointees had previous political experience, like working
for a Republican White House, and more than half of them had been contributors
to President Bush or other GOP candidates. Less than 20 percent of the Bush
Inspectors General had any previous auditing experience.