Who Watches the Watchers

Agents from the State Department’s Office of the Inspector General are here in Beijing, inspecting the embassy to (from their website http://oig.state.gov): “determine whether policy goals are being achieved and whether the interests of the United States are being represented and advanced effectively. Additionally, OIG performs specialized security inspections and audits in support of the Department's mission to provide effective protection to our personnel, facilities, and sensitive intelligence information. OIG also audits Department and BBG operations and activities to ensure that they are as effective, efficient, and economical as possible. Finally, OIG investigates instances of fraud, waste, and mismanagement that may constitute either criminal wrongdoing or violation of Department and BBG regulations.”

They have been here for two weeks already, and I believe they will be here for only 2 more weeks or so. Interestingly, they have yet to contact me in any way, even though I had filed a report to them about the corruption issues I witnessed last summer when I was working in the Housing office (which my blogging about cost me my job). What’s more interesting is that my wife did have a private meeting with them, in which she brought up these issues and suggested to them that they meet with me – and they still haven’t contacted me.

I’m probably being extra paranoid, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the management here “warned” the OIG inspectors that I’m just a disgruntled employee that they could/should ignore. Let’s just go with this wild conjecture for a moment: if that is actually the case, isn’t that pretty much the textbook definition of mismanagement, the very thing the OIG should be looking into?

The OIG’s statement (above) mentions issues “that may constitute either criminal wrongdoing or violation of Department and BBG regulations.” I’m afraid that the shenanigans I witnessed may not have actually violated regulations and that the perpetrators may get away with significant waste through their abuse of power, despite several people being aware of the situation – and records in the Housing office showing the course of events.

Well, the OIG has a couple weeks yet to show that they’re actually interested in investigating waste and mismanagement. It seems to me that as inspectors they really need to at least investigate reports such as mine, even if they ultimately don’t find fault. If the OIG people leave Beijing without having contacted me, I’d say they’re just as corrupt as the management here. Which makes me wonder: who inspects the inspectors?