Bill Keller knew that rebuilding Iraq's shattered telecommunications network meant throwing money into a black hole. As the clock ticked down to the U.S. transfer of power last June, reconstruction projects were hopelessly mired in delays, and financial controls at the Iraqi Communications Ministry appeared nonexistent. Yet instead of putting the brakes on spending, top U.S. officials urged that contracts be accelerated, Keller said. "We were squandering the money we were entrusted to handle," said Keller, who at the time was a deputy advisor to the ministry. "We were a blind mouse with money."

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