The job of inspector general

Learning about the audit function and role in other countries is always interesting. However, this story about Iraq was alarming. In the U.S. inspector generals are appointed either by the president or by the federal agency head. There were protections written into the U.S. Code to ensure independence. Just recently the Inspector General Reform Act was passed to further enhance independence. According to the N.Y Times article about Iraq "But Stuart W. Bowen Jr., who leads an independent oversight office in Washington, the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, and who is currently working in Iraq, said he knew of six of the dismissals. He said the inspectors general were vulnerable because once their offices were created, the United States provided little support and training for what was a startling concept for the bureaucracy, which was shaped by the secrecy and corruption of the Saddam Hussein era." While inspector generals have had problems with independence in the U.S, it has been nothing in comparison to this.