US State Dept Office of Inspector General Opens Middle East Office

The US State Department has an Inspector General office (OIG) and in January, 2008, it opened its FIRST Regional office outside of the United State and it is for the Middle East, supporting audits for Iraq, Afghanistan and other Middle East Embassy areas. When I was in Iraq in 2004-2006, the OIG rarely ever appeared there, although the former IG, Howard Krongard came for meetings about every 3-6 months, and would have open door sessions.

The OIG visits many embassies to do inspections, but according to their list of audits on the State Dept. website at oig.state.gov , they don't do too many operational audits that focus on specific systems. Additionally, they post very short summaries of audit reports on the website, and not the full reports.

I did a search of the OIG website and found only 7 hits on the word "Corruption" with most being brief statements of the word without details.

You will notice several mentions of anti-corruption activities in the MERO statement below, but also with no specifics.

Click here for the official page, or read it below.
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Middle East Regional Office

OIG opened its first permanent office outside of the United States January 23, 2008, when the Middle East Regional Office (MERO) began operations in Amman, Jordan. MERO is located in Washington, D.C., and its first field office is at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan. It serves as the principal planning and coordinating office for all OIG activities within the regional area from Northern Africa to the Middle East and Central/Southern Asia. The office's purpose is to provide oversight and assistance for high-cost, high-risk Department programs located in crisis and post conflict areas and countries.

MERO provides oversight of Department activities and of crisis and post-conflict areas, especially in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries such as Pakistan, Lebanon, and Egypt. The staff conducts audits and investigations of contracts and grants, contractor performance and procurement issues, as well as program management evaluations. Audits and program evaluations of embassies in the region include security and security assistance, provincial reconstruction teams, refugee assistance, anti-corruption, police training, and rule of law programs. OIG assessments also include the effectiveness of foreign assistance programs in Iraq and Afghanistan and other countries in the region. OIG established an investigative capability in the Middle East and participates in the International Contract Corruption Task Force to address financial fraud involving Department employees, projects, and funds in Iraq, Afghanistan, at other U.S. missions, and in other crisis/post-conflict areas in the region. OIG also provides proactive assistance to the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization through increased oversight of post-conflict and anti-corruption activities.