WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. occupation authority in Iraq was unable to keep track of nearly $9 billion it transferred to government ministries, which lacked financial controls, security, communications and adequate staff, an inspector general has found.For those of you who need to visualize things to gauge sizes/amounts:
A stack of one billion dollar bills will reach from the ground 120 kilometers upward so that its top 20 kilometers would be immersed in a normal aurora.By using Google's conversion tool, one can ascertain that 120 km = 74.56 miles. So, multiply that by 9, and you get 671.04.
So, in Iraq, there is an amount of money equivalent to stack of $1 bills over 671 miles high that cannot be accounted for. True, its probably money backed by the Chinese yuan, but thats even worse, because if its a loan, it has to be paid back sometime. Hurray for being almost 22 and having most of my life in front of me! ;-)
I'm dying for someone to remind me that Bush and the Republicans are fiscally responsible.
Thanks to an anonymous friend in the live blogging post below for the tip.
