Corruption In Iraq & World

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.
vj

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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.

US State Dept 2008 Performance Plan Skips Corruption as an Objective

I just looked at the US State Department's Annual "Performance Plan" for 2008, which is almost 200 pages and is HERE.

I did a search on "corruption" and found only about 12 hits, and none were a major subject area. The only one making the two page "quick list" of primary performance objectives was to report the "Status of UN Convention Against Corruption" - it wasn't even to take action, only to report on it.

There is a saying that "what gets written gets watched", and if reducing corruption isn't an objective in the annual State Dept. Performance Plan, things don't look good.

I can't understand why reducing corruption isn't a major objective of the State Dept's INL or the State Dept.'s Anti-Terrorism programs, but it just isn't considered important.
vj

Below is an excerpt from the State & USAID "Joint Strategic Goal Framework" objectives. In my opinion, there are at least three sections (counter terrorism, rule of law and building the economy) where anti-corruption programs should be listed as one of the supporting objectives, but it is not listed.

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Department of State/USAID Joint Strategic Goal Framework

The joint strategic goals of the Department of State and USAID are anchored in the President’s National Security Strategy and its two pillars: promoting freedom, justice, and human dignity; and confronting the challenges of our time by leading a growing community of democracies. The seven strategic goals represent the core of our transformational diplomacy efforts. The first five of these goals correspond to the five objectives of the foreign assistance framework, reflecting the integrated nature of the work of the two organizations. These joint strategic goals, and the key strategic priorities within them, are as follows:

1. Strategic Goal 1: Achieving Peace and Security
•
Counterterrorism
•
Weapons of mass destruction and destabilizing conventional weapons
•
Security cooperation and security sector reform
•
Conflict prevention, mitigation, and response
•
Transnational crime
•
Homeland security

2. Strategic Goal 2: Governing Justly and Democratically
•
Rule of law and human rights
•
Good governance
•
Political competition and consensus building
•
Civil society

3. Strategic Goal 3: Investing in People
•
Health
•
Education
•
Social and economic services
•
Protection for especially vulnerable populations

4. Strategic Goal 4: Promoting Economic Growth and Prosperity
•
Private markets
•
Trade and investment
•
Energy security
•
Environment
•
Agriculture

5. Strategic Goal 5: Providing Humanitarian Assistance
•
Protection, assistance and solutions
•
Mitigate disasters
•
Migration management

6. Strategic Goal 6: Promoting International Understanding
•
Offering a positive vision
•
Marginalizing extremism
•
Nurturing common interests and values

7. Strategic Goal 7: Strengthening Consular and Management Capabilities
•
Consular services (visas, passports, American citizen services)
•
Major management functions
20

Anti-Corruption in Iraq Colloquium Sept. 12, 2007 in Arlington, VA

The speaker at the colloquium is Paul Tyson, who I worked with at the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity in 2005. He started at CPI in mid-2004 when I did, and he replaced the outgoing CPI founder, Chuck Grinnell in early 2005 and Paul left in mid-2005 before I did.
vj

Peace Operations Policy Program
School of Public Policy
Peace and Stability Operations Colloquium The Peace Operations Policy Program of the School of Public Policy, George Mason University is proud to present the following in its "Peace and Stability Operations Colloquium Series" of events:

Anti-Corruption in Iraq: The Bridge Too
Far?

Date:
Wednesday, 12 September 2007

Time:
1:00 PM-3:30 PM

Location:
George Mason University
3401 North Fairfax
Drive, Room 317
Arlington, Virginia
22201
(Virginia Sq/GMU Metro
station)
http://coyote.gmu.edu/map/arling.html

Speaker:
Paul H. Tyson

Paul H. Tyson has spent the last three years engaged in Iraq issues on behalf of the U.S.
Department of State. He will join us to discuss his time working as the senior U.S. Embassy official for the newly established Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity. Tyson is currently the Senior Director for International Business at PRO-telligent LLC. Prior to his Iraq work, he had been assigned to State's Office of the Inspector General (1999-2003) where he evaluated and suggested improvements for the Front Offices, Economic, Political and Public Diplomacy sections of U.S. missions overseas and in Washington, D.C. Other past positions include work in the Bureau of Political Military Affairs Executive Office (1998) to draft an agreement on Department of Defense-State personnel exchanges; in U.S.
Embassy Kuwait (1993-96) where he tracked the
$2 billion dollar foreign military sales program; in U.S. Embassy London (1989-93) where he served as an expert on electricity privatization; and in the U.S. Mission to the United Nations (1988-89) where he negotiated Third World debt resolution. Tyson also served as a civilian observer with the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai Peninsula (1985-86). He has a B.A. in Government-Urban Studies from Dartmouth College, a J.D. from George Washington University, and an M.S. in National Security Strategy from the National War College.

Host:
Robert W. "Bill" Farrand, Amb.
(Ret.)
Peace Operations Policy Program, GMU

RSVP: Please contact Dr. Allison
Frendak at 703.993.4983 or afrendak@gmu.edu

Wikipedia is a source for basic information on anti-corruption

Wikipedia.com - the huge online "open" encyclopedia, has a political corruption section at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_corruption

It is an interesting source of background on definitions, concepts, etc.  However, remember that Wikipedia allows anyone to edit information on

a page, so someone might post how a country has a really low ranking in the Transparency International anti-corruption index, and someone from

that country could edit that section out later.

Below is an extraction from the introduction:

In broad terms, political corruption is the misuse by government officials of their governmental powers for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of

government power for other purposes, like repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political

corruption. Illegal acts by private persons or corporations not directly involved with the government is not considered political corruption

either.

All forms of government are susceptible to political corruption. Forms of corruption vary, but include bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism,

patronage, graft, and embezzlement. While corruption may facilitate criminal enterprise such as drug trafficking, money laundering, and

trafficking, it is not restricted to these organized crime activities. In some nations corruption is so common that it is expected when ordinary

businesses or citizens interact with government officials. The end-point of political corruption is a kleptocracy, literally "rule by thieves".

What constitutes illegal corruption differs depending on the country or jurisdiction. Certain political funding practices that are legal in one

place may be illegal in another. In some countries, government officials have broad or not well defined powers, and the line between what is

legal and illegal can be difficult to draw.

vj