Neff Zone Column -- May 3, 2008

Print Edition: May 3, 2008

A DAY AT THE ZOO

Ah, spring is here. What better time to take a trip down to Royal Oak to visit the animals at the Detroit Zoo? Of course, this is not the zoo you might remember as a youth because it takes a lot of money to run a zoo, so financial cutbacks have impacted what the zoo has to offer these days.

Then there’s the cost. Gas at nearly $4.00 per gallon, $11 for a zoo ticket, $5 for parking, $4 if you want to ride the railroad from the parking lot to the zoo entrance, snacks; you could easily drop $250 or more for your family’s outing.

There is an alternative, however. You could visit the Baghdad Zoo. It only costs 20-cents for admission, it’s guarded by the 2^nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 101^st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and American taxpayers have generously funded five years of new animal purchases, refurbished exhibits, and zoo keeper training.

To be sure, the city of Baghdad contributes $400,000 per year to the zoo’s budget, but that pales in comparison with your tax dollars. In the past 15 months you’ve spent $2.15 million for new generators, new bathrooms, trash cleanup, and more. The zoo now has electricity 24/7/365, which is unique in Baghdad because, as a USA Today article noted last Monday, the average Baghdadian only receives about one hour of electricity per day. The zoo’s animals have a higher priority than the citizens themselves!

Now, I realize things are tough in Baghdad and I don’t begrudge Baghdadians a little pleasure in their miserable surroundings. On the other hand, I have to wonder why American taxpayers are picking up the tab for this. The special U.S. auditor for Iraq announced last week that Iraq’s government will reap $70 billion in oil revenues this year. You might wonder where all that money is going. Well, the short answer is that much of it is going into accounts in foreign banks and is not being spent on reconstruction in Iraq. Michigan Senator Carl Levin said in a Detroit Free Press editorial: "What kind of absurdity is it that we are paying for the reconstruction of Iraq with American taxpayers’ dollars if Iraqi oil sales, to a significant degree, are going into foreign banks and not being used for their own reconstruction?"

A look at the numbers indicates that since 2003 the U.S. has appropriated $48 billion for Iraq’s reconstruction and (supposedly) Iraq’s government has budgeted $50 billion. However, as the special auditor reported: "Though Iraqis have budgeted the money, they have a poor record of actually spending it."

The auditor also noted: "Political considerations also have tainted the way money is handled. So has theft, fraud, skimming and corruption (in what amounts to) a second insurgency."

As if it’s not enough that Iraq would rather bank their oil profits than actually pay for the reconstruction of their own country, the special auditor found that at least 855 reconstruction contracts given to American firms were never completed due to delays and poor performance. The cost of these could total $100 billion of American taxpayers’ money. In one case, a children’s hospital was only 35% complete when the project was terminated.

So there you have it. American soldiers are risking their lives and American taxpayers are footing the bill so Baghdadians can enjoy watching chimps at play. The Iraqi government is taking the oil profits they’re making and putting the cash into accounts in foreign banks rather than chipping in to build essential services, like hospitals for their own children.

Meanwhile, gasoline prices are soaring, the price of food is skyrocketing, and the American economy is going into the dumpster. Nothing like a day at the zoo, eh?

Jim Neff is a local columnist. Comments to neffzone@gmail.com. Read Neff Zone columns online at www.neffzone.com/cadillacnews.