Via TPMmuckraker.com, the State Department rejected a request that 3 GAO auditors be allowed to make a three month visit to Baghdad in order to assess the situation there and report back to Congress on their findings. Why? Because they would strain “mission resources” and create too much of a burden to our troops (I kid you not):

The State Department recently turned down a request for three congressional auditors to make a three-month stay in Baghdad, saying that having them around for that long would be “a serious challenge to mission resources.”

In response, 22 Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), have called on Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to make room. “American taxpayers are currently being asked to spend approximately $3,420 every second and $280 million per day in Iraq,” reads a letter to Rice sent today. “It is imperative that GAO be given the access it needs to serve as the eyes and ears of the United States Congress….”

But the burden of having those three auditors around would seem almost insurmountable… or at least that’s the impression a State Department official gave in a letter to Harkin last week:

“each of [the auditors] would require lodging, extensive support services, security, computers, and other administrative support, as well as the attention of our staff in Baghdad in responding to their requests and inquiries.”

The complete letter from the State Department to Senator Harkin, dated March 7. 2007, is available at TPMmuckraker’s archives at this link. Democrats have responded back to Rice by upping the ante: they now want the GAO auditors in Baghdad for 6 months. Good for them. I still will criticize Congressional Dems for their craven failures, but in fairness, I should also applaud them when they do the right thing. This is the right thing. Every step in the right direction helps.