Just another billion bucks ..

by **Pants Elk** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 5:33 am

From today's "Independent" (I "bolded" bits that struck me as boldworthy): What has happened to Iraq's missing $1bn? By Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad Published: 19 September 2005 One billion dollars has been plundered from Iraq's defence ministry in one of the largest thefts in history, The Independent can reveal, leaving the country's army to fight a savage insurgency with museum-piece weapons. The money, intended to train and equip an Iraqi army capable of bringing security to a country shattered by the US-led invasion and prolonged rebellion, was instead siphoned abroad in cash and has disappeared. "It is possibly one of the largest thefts in history," Ali Allawi, Iraq's Finance Minister, told The Independent. "Huge amounts of money have disappeared. In return we got nothing but scraps of metal." The carefully planned theft has so weakened the army that it cannot hold Baghdad against insurgent attack without American military support, Iraqi officials say, making it difficult for the US to withdraw its 135,000- strong army from Iraq, as Washington says it wishes to do. Most of the money was supposedly spent buying arms from Poland and Pakistan. The contracts were peculiar in four ways. According to Mr Allawi, they were awarded without bidding, and were signed with a Baghdad-based company, and not directly with the foreign supplier. The money was paid up front, and, surprisingly for Iraq, it was paid at great speed out of the ministry's account with the Central Bank. Military equipment purchased in Poland included 28-year-old Soviet-made helicopters. The manufacturers said they should have been scrapped after 25 years of service. Armoured cars purchased by Iraq turned out to be so poorly made that even a bullet from an elderly AK-47 machine-gun could penetrate their armour. A shipment of the latest MP5 American machine-guns, at a cost of $3,500 (£1,900) each, consisted in reality of Egyptian copies worth only $200 a gun. Other armoured cars leaked so much oil that they had to be abandoned. A deal was struck to buy 7.62mm machine-gun bullets for 16 cents each, although they should have cost between 4 and 6 cents. Many Iraqi soldiers and police have died because they were not properly equipped. In Baghdad they often ride in civilian pick-up trucks vulnerable to gunfire, rocket- propelled grenades or roadside bombs. For months even men defusing bombs had no protection against blast because they worked without bullet-proof vests. These were often promised but never turned up. The Iraqi Board of Supreme Audit says in a report to the Iraqi government that US-appointed Iraqi officials in the defence ministry allegedly presided over these dubious transactions. Senior Iraqi officials now say they cannot understand how, if this is so, the disappearance of almost all the military procurement budget could have passed unnoticed by the US military in Baghdad and civilian advisers working in the defence ministry. Government officials in Baghdad even suggest that the skill with which the robbery was organised suggests that the Iraqis involved were only front men, and "rogue elements" within the US military or intelligence services may have played a decisive role behind the scenes. Given that building up an Iraqi army to replace American and British troops is a priority for Washington and London, the failure to notice that so much money was being siphoned off at the very least argues a high degree of negligence on the part of US officials and officers in Baghdad. The report of the Board of Supreme Audit on the defence ministry contracts was presented to the office of Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the Prime Minister, in May. But the extent of the losses has become apparent only gradually. The sum missing was first reported as $300m and then $500m, but in fact it is at least twice as large. "If you compare the amount that was allegedly stolen of about $1bn compared with the budget of the ministry of defence, it is nearly 100 per cent of the ministry's [procurement] budget that has gone Awol," said Mr Allawi. The money missing from all ministries under the interim Iraqi government appointed by the US in June 2004 may turn out to be close to $2bn. Of a military procurement budget of $1.3bn, some $200m may have been spent on usable equipment, though this is a charitable view, say officials. As a result the Iraqi army has had to rely on cast-offs from the US military, and even these have been slow in coming. Mr Allawi says a further $500m to $600m has allegedly disappeared from the electricity, transport, interior and other ministries. This helps to explain why the supply of electricity in Baghdad has been so poor since the fall of Saddam Hussein 29 months ago despite claims by the US and subsequent Iraqi governments that they are doing everything to improve power generation. The sum missing over an eight-month period in 2004 and 2005 is the equivalent of the $1.8bn that Saddam allegedly received in kick- backs under the UN's oil-for-food programme between 1997 and 2003. The UN was pilloried for not stopping this corruption. The US military is likely to be criticised over the latest scandal because it was far better placed than the UN to monitor corruption. The fraud took place between 28 June 2004 and 28 February this year under the government of Iyad Allawi, who was interim prime minister. His ministers were appointed by the US envoy Robert Blackwell and his UN counterpart, Lakhdar Brahimi. Among those whom the US promoted was a man who was previously a small businessman in London before the war, called Hazem Shaalan, who became Defence Minister. Mr Shalaan says that Paul Bremer, then US viceroy in Iraq, signed off the appointment of Ziyad Cattan as the defence ministry's procurement chief. Mr Cattan, of joint Polish-Iraqi nationality, spent 27 years in Europe, returning to Iraq two days before the war in 2003. He was hired by the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority and became a district councillor before moving to the defence ministry. For eight months the ministry spent money without restraint. Contracts worth more than $5m should have been reviewed by a cabinet committee, but Mr Shalaan asked for and received from the cabinet an exemption for the defence ministry. Missions abroad to acquire arms were generally led by Mr Cattan. Contracts for large sums were short scribbles on a single piece of paper. Auditors have had difficulty working out with whom Iraq has a contract in Pakistan. Authorities in Baghdad have issued an arrest warrant for Mr Cattan. Neither he nor Mr Shalaan, both believed to be in Jordan, could be reached for further comment. Mr Bremer says he has never heard of Mr Cattan. ----snip---- Hmmm. Anyone else's RI antennae jangling here? IF Bush's intention is to pull his troops out as quickly as possible (now the mission is accomplished and everything), then yes, this looks like a setback. BUT, as we know his intention is to NEVER withdraw US troop presence from Iraqi soil, but to exploit it as a key and permanent US military base, then the "oh dear, looks like we'll have to stay on a little longer" scenario looks like what it is: a triumph for Dubya's Army. Plus, of course, he gets his billion bucks back and no questions asked. (Me, I'd want to know where Mark Phillips was while all this arms dealing was going on.)

by **wintler** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 6:04 am

Wow. What a business.. how many ways can you loot 2 countries (Iraq & US) simultaneously? Did they think noone would look/find out, or did they think they'd get away it anyway? Be interesting to see how long it takes for a whisper to emerge in mainstream press. I'll bet my grandfathers kidneys no US citizen goes to jail.

by **Pants Elk** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 11:58 am

Uh ... Mark Thatcher, not Phillips. Anyway - looks like this story will sink before even rising, doesn't it? What's a billion dollars between friends?

by **dbeach** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 12:04 pm

<a href="http://bushspeaks.com/home.asp?did=193&dir=b">bushspeaks.com/home.asp?did=193&dir=b</a> King George Bush the second= KGB II

by * » Mon Sep 19, 2005 12:05 pm

there's that plausible deniability word again: "negligence"

by **somebody** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 11:39 am

You know Jim Baker probably has something to do with it. He's their "go to guy" to get any job done. <a href="http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/20160/">www.alternet.org/waroniraq/20160/</a> And he has a business school at Rice Univ. that bears his name. Gawd, what they must be teaching many of those rich, spoiled, on their way to being ruthless in business, kids.

by **AnnaLivia** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 12:29 pm

Isn’t it just bizarre how people whose chronic reality is the stress of having a hundred bucks left ‘til next payday for food, phone bill, medicine, and gas…can be made aware of a story like this and still not pay attention or try to right the situation, as if a billion dollars was chump change to them. a mind really is a terrible thing to waste.

by **Pants Elk** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 5:23 pm

... and so is a billion dollars. That's a "billion", folks. With a "b".

by * » Tue Sep 20, 2005 5:48 pm

...don't forget the other 9 billion: <a href="http://www.kucinich.us/floor_speeches/iq_missing9bn1feb.php">Investigate $9 Billion Missing in Iraq</a> Dennis Kucinich speaking from the Floor of the House February 1, 2005 "Mr. Speaker, I have called for a Federal grand jury investigation of the administration's Coalition Provisional Authority which, according to the U.S. Inspector General, lost track of $9 billion in Iraq that it controlled over a period of 9 months, ending last October; $9 billion, gone. "Was the $9 billion stolen? Did it go to pay bribes? Do we have another Iran-Contra on our hands? We will not know until top U.S. officials under penalty of perjury are called before the grand jury to answer questions about the missing $9 billion. The administration's response has been, Hey, it's Iraq, it's chaos, it's war. I say, Hey, you can't account for $9 billion spent over 9 months. That is $30 million a day. And you want Congress to appropriate another $80 billion for Iraq? I do not think so. Investigate Iraq-gate and the unaccounted- for $9 billion."

by **Morgan** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 9:38 pm

Anna Livia wrote: Isn’t it just bizarre how people whose chronic reality is the stress of having a hundred bucks left ‘til next payday for food, phone bill, medicine, and gas…can be made aware of a story like this and still not pay attention or try to right the situation, as if a billion dollars was chump change to them. a mind really is a terrible thing to waste. What???????? Um, I'm probably one of those people whose 'chronic reality' is worrying how I'm going to make it until my next paycheck. How do YOU know that I, and others like me, whose 'chronic reality' is being poor are not paying attention? Do you make that assumption because we're too busy surviving to post every two seconds on this board, as some of you do? Further, what would you have us do? What have you done, for that matter, except jabber about it? Do you have any idea what it is like to worry about money every second? Too many Americans are in that boat - they are overwhelmed by the stress of everyday life to begin to know how to "right the situation." Most people are so busy working and worrying that they are too exhausted to go to the Sept. 24th march on Washington! That is, if they could afford a bus ticket in the first place. Needless to say, I'm extremely offended by this mindset against the working poor's lack of involvement in what has always been the game of elites. This is one reason John Kerry did not get more votes than he did: working class people are suspicious of guys like him. George Bush just happens to come off like 'just plain folks' - so the masses you feel so much contempt for voted for him, in droves, because they could not identify with a man like Kerry. Indeed, most liberals no longer know how to speak plainly to uneducated people. The last great liberal who did get it was Bobby Kennedy. His kind will never walk this earth again. More's the pity. BTW: Not that it's anyone's business, but I haven't wasted my mind. I worked my way through college after getting rid of an abusive husband and suffering some serious health problems. I attended my first lecture when I was 47. Can you imagine how it felt to be sitting in a classroom with dozens of rich brats whose shoes cost more than my rent? Yet, I stuck it out. It took me 7 long years to graduate, which I did this past May. Currently, I'm working a job for $8.73 an hour because I cannot compete with the younger people for the 'good paying' jobs. (I'm 54 now). Still, I plan to pursue an advanced degree - in hopes that I can better myself before I'm too old to even try. It makes me proud to know that I'm the first person in my family to graduate high school and college. I've come this far - why not go all the way? All I have is the desire to better myself, and my own two feet to keep me moving. Now, enough about me. There's something more important to say that people here need to realize. Much of the information posted on this board, and at blogs like RI, is never seen by the average person because they don't know about it. In case you're not well-informed on Digital Divide research, there is still a huge gap between the information haves and the information have-nots. In far too many households, owning a computer is a still a luxury; this is particularly true of minorities and low-income whites. If they own a computer, they use it for e-mail, genealogy, money management, and so forth. They little time to spend surfing the web looking for deep politics or conspiracy sites. (I know this because I did my senior thesis on the DD - after 4 years of field work observing how computers were used in a low-income neighborhood comprised of whites, latinos, blacks and other persons of color.) Knowing that computers are not the best way to reach the 'common man', I try to spread the word as best as I can, by talking to people. Sometimes, I print articles and make copies to hand out. I make book lists for those who want to know more but have no idea where to begin. Often, I start conversations at bus stops, or while I'm having coffee (not at Starbucks, or some expresso house, but in plain old Dunkin Donuts, where most of the patrons sitting there wear the proverbial blue collar). I also speak to people after services at the UU Meeting House. Although those folks are more likely to be educated, they are naive about the depth of corruption in their own government. They're not going to change overnight. It takes time and patience. Like a river, which wears away the hardest of stones, I do not stop. I have unlimited patience and I know the stakes. In my small way, I am making inroads, one person at a time. That is how I am making a difference. E tu? Thank you for letting me have my say. Morgan Wolf.

by **Pants Elk** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 6:51 am

So we're talking about ten billion unaccounted for in Iraq. It's such an unimaginably huge sum. If you made a pile of dollar bills, what would it look like? It has no meaning for me. I can't picture it. And that's a big part of the problem, when you're trying to tell people about BushCo's crimes. The amounts of money (which is fundamentally what it's all about - the bottom line - "fundament" - "bottom" - the fecal filth of finance) are just so unimaginably huge. If he was stealing something we could understand, in a way we'd find credible, then maybe we'd do "something" about it. I don't believe it's a class thing, this lack of response. The NY intelligensia have been stupifyingly quiet about 9/11. "It's unbelievable that my own president could have ... no, surely he didn't ... what? Are you crazy?" And this ten BILLION. No, I don't want to think about it. I CAN'T. Even if it was true, what the hell can I do about it? It's not just Iraq. It's not just David Kelly. It's not just the ten BILLION fucking dollars of OUR money. It's not just 9/11. It's not just Giuliani. It's not just Jeff Gannon. It's not just two hijacked presidential elections. It's not just JFK, RFK, John-John. It's not just the Franklin cover-up. It's not just Diebold and Halliburton, Rove and Cheney ... And it's not just the pile of stolen dollars that's so hard to picture. Where do you start? Where does it finish? You get fed the official version, it's all you have to go on, so you believe it. The important thing is to get the other version out there; the version that hasn't been spun and polished by the broadcast news media. Morgan Wolf is doing a great thing here. We can all do a bit of it, where we can. Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=pantselk>Pants Elk</A> at: 9/21/05 4:53 am

by **Qutb** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 8:54 am

Thanks for posting, Pants. I can feel my blood pressure rising reading this. Wintler wrote: "Did they think noone would look/find out, or did they think they'd get away it anyway? " We know the answer to that, don't we? The worst thing is, I'm not even susprised by this. Business as usual. Qutb means "axis," "pole," "the center," which contains the periphery or is present in it. The qutb is a spiritual being, or function, which can reside in a human being or several human beings or a moment. It is the elusive mystery of how the divine gets delegated into the manifest world and obviously cannot be defined.

by **AnnaLivia** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 4:26 pm

I really thought that my posts here had clearly illustrated where I stand as per the working people of the world, their innate nobility which I firmly believe trumps the baseness that is also in man, their capability, their terrible burden AND their responsibility…and what I do about the situation. I am actually constantly amazed that no one in here tells me to shut the f**k up with the one-note-nelly stuff about the extreme danger of extreme economic injustice. What do I talk about EXCEPT the extreme wealth gap, the cause of it being overpay/underpay, how that causes every problem, where the fault does and doesn’t lay, and what to do about it? Who said “Please stop calling him Joe Sixpack and call him Joe Workingman, instead”? who recognizes the dignity in work of all kinds? Who ALSO said that to excuse us from our duty to govern ourselves…to excuse Joe Worker from his own responsibility…is to insult his capability and dignity and to underestimate him? Who said “I have more faith in people, than that?” Joe Workingman is not stupid, not helpless, certainly not shiftless, and doesn’t want a handout. Joe wants a decent job with fair wages so he can take care of his own. He wants an even break. Or he should, anyway. he should want what is his, no more, no less. so that all can have that. But it sure appears to me from my personal interactions, that plenty of Joe’s in “the west” seem to think the status quo shouldn’t really be done away with, because hey, his ship might be the next one coming in. These Joe’s need to unlearn a whole buncha untrue crap. Have you ever heard me use the term “the poor”? If I did, it was an uncharacteristic slip for me to leave the word “working” off the front. They are the super-underpaid or the working poor, in my vocabulary. As the wealthpowerful are cheap-labor predators. (and did I not encourage the use of that term? Tell you all to pin it on them like a scarlet letter? Explain how cheap labor is the pillar of their system and the reason for every move they make?) Do you hear me calling for charity? Only as a (still at this time necessary) stop-gap measure to prevent starvation, which is all charity or “welfare” can ever be. The answer to poverty is full employment, affordable housing, healthcare, and insurance, quality education and daycare, affordable transportation, access to investment capital by communities, etc. The global happiness plan that I promote, is the key to seeing these things fall into place and remain in place forever. Economic justice is the key to unlock peace. When I put up that Stephen Crane quote there was disagreement as to what it meant. Well, to me that quote said “Look what you’re doing, People! You’re cooperating with your own enslavement and making it possible! That’s insane!” Well, by golly, I think Joe needs to hear that message. I think Joe is irrational to look away from these messages, is passively courting danger, and I think I do Joe no favor to talk nonsense to him if he isn’t understanding sense! What I do is very similar to what you do, Morgan, and I’ve been at it for the bulk of my lifetime’s moments for four solid years. Grrlfrend, I started in from the moment I got the first clue, and it’s been non-stop ever since. For example, the young man who was running the cash register at the grocery last week, asked me the obligatory “how are you” question after I said hello, and I answered as I’m want to, with “madder at this corrupt government of ours than I was yesterday, thanks. How are you?” If funny stares could kill, I’d be dead long ago. The young man recovered from hearing such strange talk and said “Why, what’s wrong with the government?” THIS WAS WHILE WE WERE ALL OBSERVING KATRINA AND AFTERMATH. I told the young guy that history proves that government is both necessary and necessary to be watched. I said when people stop paying attention to what their government is doing, government gets out of control and the people suffer, losing their wealth and their rights. I said our current government has reached this point already, and people need to take the responsibility to govern themselves in a democracy, seriously. Because it affects their every day in ways they don’t seem to see. I do not whisper these things under my breath. Let everyone “overhear” such talk. You should have seen the optometrist’s face last year. That one was priceless. “how are you?” same answer. I told him I was there to have my eyes checked, not my vision, as my vision was just fine and I readily saw the big picture. Signs in my yard, messages designed to disturb worldviews made up of a barking mass of misconceptions painted right on my garage door (and on the side facing the bike path), lots of personal conversations with both strangers and acquaintances, cyber communication, exchanging information with WILPF (women’s international league for peace and freedom), banging pots and pans in front of the federal building, showing up for trespassing trials, taking garden produce to the C. Worker house…and bundles of beautiful dried flowers I made for them to sell at fundraiser…I do all of these things. Remember the worldwide vigil right before we invaded Iraq? I was in New Zealand at the time (flew on free airmiles and was housed and mostly fed for free by friends) (of course I pitched in what I could), and New Zealand kicked the whole thing off as they’re “first” at the dateline. With 48 hours notice, I helped organize a local vigil at the café. With nothing but a message on the chalkboard out front and a bright, handmade sign on the door, we had 24 people from 5 countries show up. I still have the paper where they all listed their names and countries of origin. This was in a comparatively remote and financially repressed area. It’s where the tourists DON’T go in NZ, compared to all the places they do usually go. The people you meet there who aren’t locals, are travelers, not tourists. Did I mention the place is absolutely magic? And that I’d tell you where it is, but then I’d have to kill you? (seriously, I don’t send Americans there. The only ones who come are rich, and they buy up the best properties and then the locals can’t afford to live there. One woman was so sad, describing how she used to look out every night at all the houselights on in the village around her and it made her feel happy, and how now half the houses have no lights on, because the foreign owners are away for their six months.) They sure ain’t spending money in the local economy in that six months. But even there, I found plenty of people…working people… (one guy I especially remember), who were glad the US was going in, or else Saddam would come after THEM. Again, I believe my position is in the sane middle. I play both defense and offense for working people with the core of my being. I work constantly in every way I can think of to educate people to why we HAVE poverty, but I refuse to give them a pass for their lack of attention to what must become our priority if we’re to survive. Do I know what it’s like to worry about money? You can’t have read my posts and still ask me that question. Yes, I know. It’s the story of my life, kiddo. No one knows more personally than I do, what happens when the breadwinner’s job is taken away. No one. If you want the gory details, I can provide. For one, it cost us almost a thousand a month for private health insurance for the family, which we kept as long as we could, until all the meager savings we had managed in years were gone, the retirement plan and life insurance and everything that could be was cashed in, and everything of value I could sell had been sold. Grandmother’s treasures, a small box of antique books, an old picture in a beautiful frame, a little costume jewelry…all gone to the antique dealer, for a few dollars. Yet, through it all we kept these kids fed and kept a roof over our heads, though sometimes i still wonder how we managed. I did my time in Micky-D’s drive through. I did construction and remodeling work. I can, and have, roofed houses, done simple plumbing and electrical wiring, built additions, garages, decks…done siding and stonemasonry, tile work, drywall, replace an old toilet, crawl through crawlspaces…you name it. And through it all, I have kept spreading the word to anyone who will listen, and kept urging us all to get real about the global situation, or else. some of the construction guys would listen...prolly because they liked having a female around who had to keep bending over for the work we'd do. but did these guys spend the next weekend doing something different than their usual going to "car night" at the local hangout? did they take me up on the offer to lend one of two copies i buy of the most important books...buy specifically to lend out? i am so sorry to tell you the answer is no. what does this mean to me? it means i must have missed something. try again. and again. and again. So, bottom line, you’re going to keep hearing me work for myself and for Joe, who’s best interests are inseperable from mine, and you’re going to hear me keep nagging and chiding Joe when he needs it. i hardly forget to encourage him at the same time. to get him to think about what is possible, what choices are being made and what other choices exist. We don’t have the luxury of excuses. We must prioritize. Morgan, please don’t say I have contempt for the masses. Nothing could be further from the truth, and I’m frankly puzzled how you could ever have construed that from what I have written since I got here. I hope I’ve finally made my position clear with this post. if not, just please ask me to clear it up.

by **Gouda** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 5:37 pm

sorry, pants elk, to stay off the topic of the missing billions (and there is even more than that missing from HUD, for one, and so can you imagine how much has disappeared, government + hidden government-wide, into their other holes - pun intended?!) but the important viewpoints of morgan and annalivia brought to mind one another "Joe", one of my favorite (internet) writers: Joe Bageant. Anyone familiar with his stuff? He's an old Lefty living with "his people" in the backcountry of Virginia, and sets about getting the comfy, educated Left acquainted with the mindset of his working class rural brothers and sisters. And he does it with incisive wit and humor. Get all your Joe here: <a href="http://www.coldtype.net/joe.html">www.coldtype.net/joe.html</a>

by **Gouda** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 6:00 pm

Pre-emptive self-clarification: when I advocate reading Bageant because he writes to acquaint the "comfy, educated Left" with the realities of the majority of people struggling to make a living, I do not assume that readers of this board are mostly urban educated liberals out of touch with the working classes and mired in a conceptual self-referential universe. I do not know that. Though I think we all suffer once in while from getting stuck in our own worlds, and so it is great that morgan and AL, and Bagaent are reaching out to their peers and others over the fence to educate, and form a basis of unity.

Just another billion bucks ..

Just another billion bucks ..

..

-edit-

generous george

Re: Just another billion bucks ..

Baker?

unCONscious

A mind is a terrible thing to waste ...

Re: A mind is a terrible thing to waste ...

A mind is a terrible thing to waste???????

Ten Billion, and counting ...

Re: Ten Billion, and counting ...

Dang. How CAN I have been so dreadfully unclear?!

Re: Dang. How CAN I have been so dreadfully unclear?!

Re: Dang. How CAN I have been so dreadfully unclear?!

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