Among numerous corruption-related materials reflected in "Ethicsworld" special bulletin of February 19, 2009, two articles on public sector management, corruption and courage are of particular importance. This issue covers a remarkable report, published by U.S. Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), entitled "Hard Lessons: The Iraq Reconstruction Experience" concluded with 13 lessons drawn from 6 difficult years of Iraq reconstruction. Another article refers to Lasantha Wickremetune, an investigative journalist in Sri Lanka and recipient of the first Transparency International Integrity Award in 2000, who has been murdered.

The report is free of hype and drama, and provides insights into what has become a catastrophe of mismanagement, waste, fraud and corruption. The oversight jurisdiction of the SIGIR covered about 50 billion USD in U.S. funds appropriated by the U.S. Congress for Iraq – the largest relief and reconstruction effort for one country in U.S. history. This "sea of taxpayer dollars" embraced many activities, including efforts to establish the rule of law. Virtually all the leadership interviewed by SIGIR for this report agreed that the US approach to contingency relief and reconstruction operations needs reform. The lessons documented in this report could help guide reform in this critical area, so that the hard lessons learned from the Iraq reconstruction experience become lessons applied and not lessons lost.

As for the investigative journalist’s death, it underscores the exceptional dangers that corruption fighters across their world face.

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