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" When contracting officers procure goods and services to meet the needs of government agencies and programs, they seek best value and manage risk as best they can. These contracting officers and their government agencies must comply with fiscal laws while fulfilling their needs. Fiscal laws and regulations were originally designed for peacetime environments, processes, and systems. When unforeseen events occur that require an immediate response -- such as a contingency environment mission -- the regulatory framework is stressed. In a contingency environment, the constraints of fiscal laws and Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) often put contracting officers in the position of compromising mission results or failing to comply with the rules. This study examines cases in which fiscal law constraints led to either violation of the Antideficiency Act or a negative impact to the mission. We find that different contingency environments and phases of the contingency operation present different risks to mission effectiveness and regulatory compliance. We provide recommendations for more flexible funding and regulatory models in contingency environments."--Abstract.

To date, some 4,800 US Service members have been killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and about 33,000 wounded. These military operations have also incurred substantial financial costs, including both direct budgetary costs and associated interest payments on the federal debt. These costs have grown dramatically over the past few years. In addition, some observers argue that as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan the United States has incurred significant economic and social costs that go beyond, and may even exceed, the wars' budgetary costs. Along with the concerns over strategy and the size and duration of the US deployments in these operations (especially in Iraq), the Bush Administration has also been criticized because of the way in which it has budgeted for and financed these wars.

A policeman on a motorcycle with "Senate Curbs" on a paper in his pocket, pulls over President Nixon who is in jumbled mess of tanks, fighter jets and the Constitution Ave street sign.