Somewhere in Washington is the Congressional Research Service. Somehow they have produced something of great awe and mystery, just in the nick of time. It is perhaps the best (only?) study of the structure of the Coalition Provisional Authority produced by the federal government. The study cannot determine if the CPA is part of the DoD, because apparently it isn't a government agency. Also the CPA essentially has to contract out its contracting in the outlying areas, because it can't manage the process... There is direct evidence of Ahmed Chalabi's cronies getting plum contracts that later failed to adequately train the Iraqi police force.
Also note closely the description of how the Secretary of Defense can control administrative functions at all levels of the CPA, but the money pots are never clear (and apparently these people can sit in Mesopotamia for a year without spending a damned dime on irrigation projects)
The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA): Origin, Characteristics, and Institutional Authorities" by L. Elaine Halchin, Congressional Research Service, April 29, 2004.
Enter this one under 'primary sources.' Wow.
Establishment of CPA
Detailed information that explicitly and clearly identifies how the authority was established, and by whom, is not readily available. Instead, there are two alternative explanations for how it was established: one version suggests that the President established CPA; the other suggests that it was established pursuant to a United Nations (U.N.) Security Council resolution. While these possibilities are not mutually exclusive, the lack of a clear, authoritative, and unambiguous statement about how this organization was established and its status (that is, is it a federal agency or not) leaves open many questions, particularly regarding the area of oversight and accountability....
....According to this excerpt, the authority is an entity of the federal government. Nonetheless, questions remain regarding how CPA was established, who established it, the precise nature of its relationship to DOD (including DOD components) and other federal entities, and whether CPA is a federal agency or some other type of government organization. Another unanswered question concerns the scope of CPA's authority when functioning in its capacity as an entity of the U.S. government. Information provided by CPA itself indicates that its sector program management offices (SPMOs) are part of the federal government. (The CPA's PMO is supported by six SPMOs.) In a written response to a question asked at a January 21, 2004, pre-proposal conference on contracting opportunities, the CPA stated that "the Sector Program Management Office (SPMO) is a Government entity."
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