Senators Slam Calls to ‘Seal’ Records on Iraq, Afghan War Fraud and Waste

Sens. Webb, McCaskill Want Records Made Public

A new statement from Senators Jim Webb (D – VA) and Claire McCaskill (D – MO) condemned the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, following a call by the commission to seal all records of fraud and waste in the conflict for at least 20 years.

“Sealing records for 20 years is inconsistent with the goals we established for the Commission,” the statement complained. The commission says as much as $60 billion in US funding for the war has been “lost” to either waste or fraud.

Following the commission’s report, they disbanded, but not before urging all the relevant documents involved in the creation of the report be kept secret for the next two decades, a call they made no serious effort to justify.

The massive waste in the conflicts has been a source of considerable embarrassment for both the Bush and Obama Administrations, and the efforts to tackle the corruption inherent in war spending has often itself been a source of more waste.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.