The New York Times is reporting the Bush administration and leading Congressional Republicans are trying to close the office overseeing corruption and abuse in the US-led reconstruction of Iraq. A provision attached to this year’s military authorization bill says the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction will close on October 1st of next year. The office is headed by Republican lawyer Stuwart Bowen. Bowen’s investigations have indicted several American officials on corruption charges, documented wasteful and inept work by large contractors and found the Pentagon did not properly track hundreds of thousands of weapons given to Iraqi troops. Democratic Congressmember Henry Waxman said: “It appears the administration wants to silence the messenger that is giving us information about waste and fraud in Iraq.”