astonishing: the lack of state department spending-controls for private security contractors

the new york times has run
a story on the relatively-anemic
internal-oversight -- on contractor
spending at the department of state,
under condoleezza rice -- primarily
for security contractors in iraq, like
dyncorp and blackwater. . .

what may well otherwise be lost, i think,
on the average reader, is the sheer magnitude
of the spending -- compared to the skeleton-like
crew, supposedly overseeing it. so, i made this. . .

as ever, click it to enlarge:



a s t o n i s h i n g.

and yes, the
binoculars are
to relative scale.