At an Aug. 2 hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGR), outlined the findings of two reports detailing myriad delays, cost overruns and instances of enormous waste that have characterized the reconstruction effort.
Stuart W. Bowen Jr. said the SIGIR Quarterly Report to Congress, and its Lessons Learned report, showed that while progress has been made in the reconstruction effort, the government's failure to clearly define responsibilities and roles at the outset "resulted in a fragmented system that foreclosed the opportunity to collaborate and coordinate the contracts for procurement."