Ex-Iraq reconstruction chief called to testify before House Committee

Well, Well, Well what do ya know, the Questions are finally to be asked maybe.

Bremer to testify on Iraq reconstruction

RAW STORYPublished: Thursday January 18, 2007

The former official appointed by President George W. Bush to manage reconstruction in the immediate aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq was called upon yesterday by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) to testify before a House committee, according to the Wall Street Journal.
An item by Yochi J. Dreazen in the Journal's Washington Wire blog last night said that Waxman, the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, had sent a letter to L. Paul Bremer seeking his participation at a February 6th hearing on Iraq's floundering reconstruction. Dreazen adds that Bremer has kept a low profile since leaving Iraq in 2004, especially in light of the harsh criticisms directed at his tenure at the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA).

If Bremer agrees to appear before the panel, Waxman will quiz him on "a government audit that found the CPA had largely lost track of $8.8 billion in Iraqi money that had been entrusted to the U.S. by the United Nations." Thee funds were believed to have been stolen from or misspent by Bremer's CPA. The Democratic Congressman will also investigate whether most CPA positions went to GOP loyalists instead of qualified individuals with knowledge of post-conflict reconstruction operations.

Waxman's office told the Journal that Bremer had not yet replied to the letter.

The full blog post, with a link to Waxman's letter, can be read at this link.