The discussion forum for Photographs of OIF IIIpreviously touched on the state of disrepair within Baghdad. Such systemic behavior has often been lamented by service members deployed to Iraq. Recently, an Inspector General report on the state of reconstruction efforts put the matter into perspective.

• less than 50% of installed generators at BIAP still function
• scheduled plans do not exist for the most basic maintenance
• barracks were dismantled with no recorded reason
• electrical circuits and lights have been replaced with substandard riggings
• medical waste was flushed into a toilet which clogged plumbing despite having a state of the art incinerator

Two years ago, American efforts were saddled when auditors discovered $9 billion of reconstruction funds "missing." Coincidentally, the auditor's database was lost rendering them unable to report any findings on the money's whereabouts. Although Iraqi indifference is largely to blame, poor engineering and management by ill-trained, profiteering Americans also played a role. Adding the recent confirmation that what money was spent has been squandered by the Iraqis only confounds the issue further. While the infrastructure reconstruction effort in Iraq has seen both hits and misses over the years since Saddam's overthrow, only the misses are making media headlines of late. As America's public sentiment continues to sour over casualties and lost money, the Iraqi's failure to maintain what they've been given may be the final nail Congress needs to curtail the President's war budget.