As we are all well aware, our defense budget has grown dramatically in the past several years. In fact, it's just about doubled since 2000. Despite this meteoric growth, the audit staff of the Pentagon's Inspector General has remained more or less constant. The question becomes whether we are maintaining the proper oversight over our defense spending. As you would expect, the auditors say no; they need more people.
A simple increase in the budget does not necessarily mean you need more people to audit these activities, but if you've been reading my outpourings for a while, you're aware that we are not watching our money as well as we should. If you have only read about Stuart Bowen's work as Inspector General for Iraq, you know we're talking billions in waste and corruption related solely to our efforts in Iraq. And DOD's purview is much wider than Iraq. How much have we blown?
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