While discussing Iraq’s Police Development Program (PDP) at the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, Ranking Member Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) criticized U.S police forces for continuing Iraq development programs that he contends accomplish little.
“I’m just a little bit dismayed with this whole thing,” Ackerman told Deputy Assistant Secretary of State M. Brooke Darby about the PDP. “We’re going to screw this up again, aren’t we?”
The PDP is a $900 billion program meant to generate a stable and advanced Iraqi police force. Audits of the PDP, however, found that it was lacking a detailed goal, transparent funds and Iraq support.
While Darby assured Ackerman that she is committed to efficiently using the taxpayers’ money, she was unable to provide a timeline of completion for this project.
“This is turning into what happens after a Bar Mitzvah or a Jewish wedding,” Ackerman deplored. “It’s called a Jewish goodbye. Everyone keeps saying goodbye but no one leaves.”
“If we don’t know how long it is going to take,” Ackerman continued, “I am going to stop paying the tuition when my kid is in his 19th year of college.”
US troops are scheduled to withdraw from Iraq by the end of the calendar year, which is less than a month away.