Never Mind the Missing $6 Billion

Back in June, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction took pains to clarify an alarming report that some $6.6 billion in U.S. funds sent to help reconstruct Iraq in 2004 might have been stolen or lost. The money was certainly unaccounted for.

Concerned citizens can now heave a sigh of relief. With little fanfare on Wednesday, SIGIR released a new audit concluding that most of the Iraq Development Fund had long ago been transferred, as intended, to the Central Bank of Iraq. The uncertainty stemmed from the fact that the funds were in the form of stacks of cash and there was no "receipt documentation."

A final SIGIR report on the remaining dollars is due in January.