The Need for Inspectors General

If there's something you should be angry about, it's this (from Newsweek): 

A military team sent to evaluate electrical problems at U.S. facilities in Iraq determined there was a high risk that flawed wiring could cause further "catastrophic results" — namely, the electrocutions of U.S. soldiers.

The team said the use of a required device, commonly found in American houses to prevent electrical shocks, was "patchy at best" near showers and latrines in U.S. military facilities. There also was widespread use of uncertified electrical devices and "incomplete application" of U.S. electrical codes in buildings throughout the war-torn country, the team found.

At least three U.S. service members have been electrocuted in Iraq while taking showers in the six years since the U.S.-led invasion of the country.

This story has been slowly trickling out for a while, and it should make you as furious as it makes me. There's simply no excuse.

But there's also no excuse for how little oversight DoD and Congress have exerted over procurement in Iraq and Afghanistan. SIGIR, the Special Inspectorate General for Iraq Reconstruction, is overwhelmed. SIGAR, the Afghanistan equivalent, wasn't established until 2007 and didn't release its first, very basic* reporting until late 2008. DoD's Inspectorate General office hasn't increased its number of staff inspectors even as its budget has doubled. 

Meanwhile, Secretary Gates has said that some of his proposed cuts were driven not just by lack of need for certain weapons, but because the acquisitions process itself is in severe trouble.  One proposal for Secretary Gates: push for a statutory maximum number of dollars per inspector general staff. Want to increase the defense budget? Increase the number of IG staff.**

*I like SIGAR overall, despite the roadblocks they've faced. Their first report was cannily designed to set up baseline budget and expenditures analyses for future investigation. That makes sense; it just should have been done years ago. 

** Uberwonkish aside: even if it can be gotten around, like the Nunn-McCurdy amendment, its mere presence will affect how bureaucrats and private firms deal with these issues. Which would be quite helpful.