Further evidence that the Bush administration rushed into war in Iraq with no clue to a postwar plan is clear in a recent government report detailing how millions of dollars were frittered away by the U.S. occupation authority.

The report, by the inspector general for the Coalition Provisional Authority, presents an incredible picture of incompetence, waste and abuse in the expenditure of taxpayer dollars and Iraqi oil money on the part of U.S. officials dispatched to administer Iraq after the March 2003 invasion. At least 27 criminal investigations are pending.

In one case, a civilian employee of the U.S. Defense Department was appointed to coach an Iraqi amateur sports team and was given a $40,000 advance for travel -- in cash. The coach gave the money to his military aide, who gambled most of it away.

That's only a small example. The report documents instance after instance in which contracting, procurement and operating safeguards were ignored, resulting in $200,000 spent for police trucks with no verification that the vehicles were ever delivered; a $7.2 million security contract improperly awarded by a U.S. official who "manipulated" the process and $3.3 million paid for nonexistent workers on an oil-pipeline repair contract.

"In the early days, there was no record keeping," a former CPA official told the Los Angeles Times. "They were flush with money and seized assets. People just didn't follow established procedures."

No wonder the administration was in a hurry to transfer the business of running Iraq back to an interim Iraqi government. The CPA, except for its inspector general, has been disbanded. The mess is now somebody else's problem, but the bill eventually will be paid by -- no surprise -- U.S. taxpayers.

The justification, according to the inspector general, is that CPA officials "faced a variety of daunting challenges, including extremely hazardous working conditions." But that doesn't excuse why the administration didn't put off the invasion until it had a proper occupation plan and competent personnel in place.

The government's report is only more confirmation that Iraq has become a large hole in the desert into which the United States is destined to continue dumping taxpayer dollars.