May 25, 2004

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  In Iraq, the Job Opportunity of a Lifetime
  Managing a $13 Billion Budget With No Experience

  
  

  By Ariana Eunjung Cha
  Washington Post Staff Writer
  Sunday, May 23, 2004; Page A01

  
  

  They supported the war effort and President Bush. Many had strong Republican credentials. They were in their twenties or early thirties and had no foreign service experience.

  
  

  They had been hired to perform a low-level task: collecting and organizing statistics, surveys and wish lists from the Iraqi ministries. But as suicide bombs and rocket attacks became almost daily occurrences, more and more senior staffers defected. In short order, six of the new young hires found themselves managing the country's $13 billion budget, making decisions affecting millions of Iraqis.

  
  

  None had ever worked in the Middle East, none spoke Arabic, and few could tell a balance sheet from an accounts receivable statement.  

  
  

  Other staffers quickly nicknamed the newcomers "The Brat Pack."

  
  

  "They had come over because of one reason or another, and they were put in positions of authority that they had no clue about."

  
  

  The group's primary responsibility was to hand out money. Each month, it sent out authorizations for the release of several hundred million dollars for government employees' salaries, reconstruction projects and sundry other expenses.

  
  

  "There were a lot of people who, being political science majors, didn't know what an income statement was."

  
  

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