Government Oversight Is Lacking

Who is to blame for the lack of government oversight? In New Orleans, it is becoming crystal clear that the Army Corps of Engineers and the local levee boards failed to design, construct, and maintain the levee system over the past 20 years (and could quite possibly stretch back even longer than that). Congress has the final say on the appropriations for the federal funding that goes towards the levees. Local elected officials are responsible for the local funding portion appropriated for the levee system.

At the same time, questions over whether the military is operating hand to mouth suggests that the military isn't necessarily getting the kind of support that it should. That support includes the proper appropriations towards the equipment and material needed to run during a war and during peacetime, and at all points in between. Congress is responsible for that as well.

So, is it the fault of Congress that they are failing on overseeing such a wide range of critical issues? After all, the levee failures may cost taxpayers, insurers, and property owners more than $300 billion. The costs of failing to properly supply the US military are astronomical.

The answer is yes and no. Congress is responsible - and individual members of Congress who are on the various committees responsible for oversight are responsible. However, the voters who permit members of Congress to shirk their duties are also responsible. We may like a particular member of Congress (usually their own) because they bring home the bacon, but their responsibility extends so much beyond that. They have to make sure that they uphold the Constitution of the United States - to protect and Defend, to make sure that the military is properly supplied, and that critical infrastructure is properly designed, constructed, and maintained.

So, if a particular member of Congress reads reports that state that the military is ill-prepared and is not getting the kind of equipment replacements the military officials deem necessary, then they should be doing their utmost to make sure that the equipment gets to where it is needed. Instead, we're seeing the same member of Congress who is 'whistle blowing' the inadequacies of the military, say that the only way to fix the problem is to bring the boys (and girls) home now. That's not a strategy for success, or for even making sure that the military is prepared to fight and win a war. It's a recipe for disaster.

Also commenting on the political dimensions of accountability for military readiness and the battle of words over Iraq: Wrechard at Belmont Club, Blackfive says we're in a battle to shape the history. I wonder whether they're going to have to rewrite the axiom that winners write the history. After all, the current revisionism over Iraq seems to be rewriting the history in favor of the losers - not the winning US, coalition partners, and the Iraqi people themselves.