Senators team up on anti-war resolution

WASHINGTON — Two senators — a Republican and a Democrat — leading separate efforts to put Congress on record against President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq joined forces Wednesday, agreeing on a nonbinding resolution that would oppose the plan and potentially embarrass the White House.

Sens. John Warner, R-Va., and Carl Levin, D-Mich., had been sponsoring competing measures opposing Bush's strategy of sending 21,500 more U.S. troops to the war zone, with Warner's less harshly worded version attracting more Republicans who have grown tired of the nearly four-year war and want a chance to express their concerns.

The new resolution would vow to protect funding for troops while keeping Warner's original language expressing the Senate's opposition to the buildup.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he wants to begin debate Monday on the new measure, bypassing committee review.

"I believe we have a better chance now" of passing a resolution against the president's plan, said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill.

Warner's resolution will now rival a proposal by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., that would identify benchmarks for the Iraqi government.

Audit: Reconstruction problems continue

WASHINGTON — A quarterly audit released Wednesday by Stuart Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, found the $300 billion U.S. war and reconstruction effort continues to be plagued with waste, spiraling violence and corruption.

According to Bowen's report, the State Department paid $43.8 million to contractor DynCorp International for the residential camp for police training personnel outside of Baghdad's Adnan Palace grounds that has stood empty for months. About $4.2 million of the money was spent on 20 VIP trailers and an Olympic-size pool, all ordered by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior but never authorized by the U.S.

U.S. officials spent another $36.4 million for weapons such as armored vehicles, body armor and communications equipment that can't be accounted for.

DynCorp also may have prematurely billed $18 million in other potentially unjustified costs, the report said.

Meanwhile, nine major U.S. companies with multimillion-dollar contracts for Iraq reconstruction — including Bechtel National and Kellogg, Brown & Root Services — say they are being forced to devote 12.5 percent of their expenses for security due to increasing violence in the region.

Seattle Times news services