Pentagon still years from having books in order!!

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Defense Department's finances may not be able to meet normal accounting standards for several more years, possibly not until after President George W. Bush leaves office, a Pentagon official said on Friday.

Richard Sylvester, Defense Department deputy director of property and equipment policy, said in a step toward reaching that goal the Pentagon had for the first time established the cost of each piece of military equipment in its massive arsenal.

The change is part of an administration drive to instill accepted financial standards at a Defense Department long criticized for questionable accounting practices.

But the Pentagon, for which Bush has proposed a $440 billion budget in fiscal 2007, will have to overcome several more hurdles before it can produce financial statements that meet accepted accounting standards.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060407/pl_nm/security_defense_dc;_ylt=A9G_RwL76zZEp0gAahMa.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--

that was announced on September 10th, 2001? (talk about a convenient distraction)