House Democrats opened hearings Tuesday on the bungled occupation of Iraq, bringing Iraq’s former top administrator, L. Paul Bremer to Capitol Hill in what Democrats described as the beginning of a long line of attacks on the Bush administration’s war in Iraq.
Democrats asked Bremer about the $12 billion in cash that was sent on wooden pallets to Iraq and doled out from the backs of pickup trucks. They asked about the $8.8 billion that neither the U.S. nor the Iraqis can account for. They asked about the contractors hired, included an accounting firm that may have had no accountants on staff and received $1.4 million. They asked about reports that college graduates were hired from right-wing think-tank Web sites without any regard to their qualifications and given six-figure jobs in rebuilding Iraq.
Bremer acknowledged “mistakes” and once again criticized the Bush administration for it’s lack of planning ahead of the war.
“We were in the middle of a war, and we had to get that cash out to the Iraqi people,” Bremer said.
Democrats on the committee made clear that Bremer was a secondary target; several committee members used their introductory remarks to blast the Bush administration and the war in Iraq.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, said he hoped the House would explore whether top officials had committed high crimes and misdemeanors, which could warrant impeachment.
Committee chair Henry Waxman, D-Calif., promised that Tuesday’s hearing would mark the beginning of an aggressive confrontation with the Bush administration.
“To do this right, everything must be on the table and subject to potential scrutiny,” he said. “And we will need the help of anyone and everyone who has specific knowledge of waste, fraud and abuse in government programs.”
Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., said that the committee had 80,000 pages of testimony leading up to Tuesday’s hearing but hadn’t reviewed the evidence properly because they wanted to smear the president.
“This is a classic example of ‘ready, aim, fire’ oversight,” Davis said.
