No Room at the Inn

Posted by Mission Man at 8:55 PM

While I'm as critical as the next person about the inability (or refusal) of the Democrats to try and end the war in Iraq, I am happy that they are at least taking their oversight responsibilities seriously.

After too many years of the Republican Congress allowing Bush, Cheney, et al., to do as they jolly well pleased, public be damned, we're beginning to see some scandals uncovered and investigated that would have been swept under the table by Hastert and Frist -- three top people have fallen in the Walter Reed/VA scandal with more to come; hearings are beginning on the repulsive and regrettable firings at the Justice Department (which were apparently aided, if not requested or pushed, by Karl Rove); and Darth Cheney, Rove and possibly even the Shrub will apparently be investigated as a result of the Libby verdict.

Which brings us to today. According to Paul Kiel at TPM Muckraker, the State Department is unable to find room in Baghdad for three congressional auditors, stating that having the auditors around for three months would be "a serious challenge to mission resources." The State Dept. agreed to a two-week visit, since three months would be far too long to have GAO auditors in Baghdad, and even that "will place considerable burden on Embassy staff and resources." You can read the entire letter from the State Department to Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) here.

I like the response to this by the Democrats, however. Sen. Harkin leads a group of 22 senators who have sent a letter to Condi Rice requesting that room be found for the auditors -- not for three, but instead for six months.