Reconstruction IG urges interagency coordination
Lessons learned report urges better integration of Defense, State and U.S. Agency for International Development, and supports creation of civilian reserve corps.
Congress should pursue reforms that would better integrate the departments of Defense and State and the U.S. Agency for International Development, according to the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.
In a special report on the reconstruction effort, IG Stuart Bowen urged the agencies to focus on clearly delineating authority and procedures in multiagency operations.
Bowen, who has garnered strong congressional support for his office's reports on contracting irregularities and mismanagement of reconstruction, encouraged Congress to consider reforms in the model of the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act that would help the three agencies work together in post-conflict scenarios.
Bowen singled out the State Department's Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization as an appropriate leader on interagency efforts, and urged Congress to fully fund it.
He also supported the creation of a civilian reserve corps, a proposal that President Bush announced in his 2007 State of the Union address.
In reference to the billions of dollars in Iraqi oil revenues that passed through American hands but cannot be accounted for, the IG urged planners to develop clear policies in advance for how non-U.S. funds will be managed. He said policies and systems that were developed on the fly were not followed consistently, and a lack of accountability has hurt investigations into reported fraud, waste and abuse.
Bowen urged that program managers consult with local experts during planning and project implementation. "The U.S. government should involve, from the outset, a broad spectrum of individuals with familiarity about the affected nation (from policy-makers to contractors to international experts)," he stated in the report, adding that managers who understood local customs had more success in Iraq.
Projects also should aim to replicate local, rather than American, quality standards, Bowen said.
And in a plug for offices like his own, the IG recommended that future post-conflict plans include "well-resourced and uninterrupted oversight." Bowen, who reports jointly to the Defense and State departments, urged that Congress provide clear guidance on reporting requirements that involve multiple agencies.