Where did the money go?

As members of Congress consider the Bush administration's request for
another $82 billion in military funding -- most of which will go to a
war that was supposed to have cost about $50 billion total -- they might
think about how the administration has handled finances in Iraq so far.

As we noted last month, the inspector general assigned to audit
reconstruction efforts says there's no way to know what became of $8.8
billion that was once in the hands of the Coalition Provisional
Authority. A hearing before the Senate Democratic Policy Committee
brought forth more news on that front Monday. At the hearing -- called
by Democrats who lack the numbers to hold actual congressional
investigations -- a lawyer for two whistleblowers said that the
Coalition Provisional Authority paid the Republican-friendly security
firm Custer Battles $15 million to provide security for civilian flights
at Baghdad International Airport.

The catch, according to today's Washington Post: No planes actually flew
during the contract term.