open Democracy News Analysis - 8 Billion unaccounted, - Comments

huck on "8 Billion unaccounted"

huck — Sat, 09 Jul 2005 22:30:18 +0000

Joeanne I wasn’t for one moment suggesting you were an america-hater. I don’t even believe in the term. I was merely poking fun at some contributors who interpret any opposition & criticism of government policies as haters of some sort, whether they be US haters or Israel haters or whatever. If I’m critical of or oppose my own government’s actions or policies, I suppose this makes me a UK-hater. Ludicrous. In addition, hate in general is far too costly to the soul or spirit to keep up for any length of time in my opinion. Good luck in your probings.

Joeanna Nee on "8 Billion unaccounted"

Joeanna Nee — Sat, 09 Jul 2005 18:49:27 +0000

Dear Huck, I cant be a US hater, I AM an American. I just believe that My government owes ME, as well as fellow, americans. There has been alot of conflicting reports from the demorats (well, Hilary Clinton in a press conference stated some huge discrepency in the defese budget.) , the soldiers asked Rumsfeld himself how the military is suppose to fight without armor. My personal opinion is that Bush is probably using alot of that cash for his homestead/patriot act. I dont have alot of time, but Ill dig around. It will probably be in peice meal, but Im curious to see how far Ill get, how long it reaches, and how much it really costs. Wish me luck Joeanna

huck on "8 Billion unaccounted"

huck — Sat, 09 Jul 2005 16:51:31 +0000

Joeanna You were pretty close in your first prediction. It hasn’t attracted much response. But in reality, what can one say except to be dismayed? I can’t say I was even very surprised. I have no idea if the allegations of cavalier distribution of vast sums of cash, & non existent accounting are correct, but presumably the US General Accountability Office does. My question is, do they have any power other than to publish their findings, tut tut and ask for answers? Are the relevant parties likely to end up in court if they don’t provide satisfactory answers? This is what would eventually happen to me if I didn’t account for my income or was found to be spending far more than my income allowed. Fines would follow, then maybe prison if I don’t play ball. Does seem to be a case of snouts in the trough on all sides. Mainly paid for by Iraqi oil sales which have been largely unmetered leaving no way of telling the actual revenue raised. Funds diverted from reconstruction to fighting the insurgency. Brolly’s re-quoting of Bremer’s order 39 is relevant. I must concur with him that this is not a good way to conduct business after overthrowing a dictatorial regime if you claim it was for humanitarian reasons, and wrecking much of the infrastructure in the process. The excerpt says “foreign firms can retain 100% ownership of Iraqi banks, mines and factories; and allowed these firms to move 100% of their profits out of Iraq” Doesn’t mention oil profits. Aren’t these supposed to be used for the country of Iraq & it’s citizens? Or am I being absurdly naïve? On the other hand, I did read recently [can’t remember where] that the current cost of the operation is 4 billion a month [is this correct?], so on this basis, the 8.8 billion unaccounted for is only slightly more than 2 months costs. Maybe in the scheme of things it’s not that much.............................. The article linked at the top is from the London Review of Books but doesn’t actually seem to be related to any book. Rather, it seems to be an investigative piece culled from reading the detailed reports issued by various US government and international bodies. In the interests of fairness, I haven’t got the time or patience to read the actual reports. It could be that the writer is one of those american-haters [we all know them don’t we;)] who has included all the negative bits and left out the good parts. Anyone out there brave or informed enough to read the reports and give us the positives?

brolly3 on "8 Billion unaccounted"

brolly3 — Fri, 08 Jul 2005 16:30:22 +0000

Huck and Joanne Nee, The US administration's avowed goal of bringing freedom and democracy to the Iraqi people never had a chance of winning hearts and minds because of the brutal bombardment with which it began and the continuing disregard of the numbers of innocent Iraqis that have been killed and wounded. Offering the families of those killed a few hundred Dollars does nothing to redress the crime and is adding insult to injury. What is, however, staggering is the complete failure to appreciate how bringing US Corporations into the reckoning of the spoils before the war had even begun, would be the most stupid act of shooting the whole escapade in the foot. Whatever are the Iraqi people to make of the way that there country was intended to be taken over by foreign investors ( read 'US' for foreign) under the economic and legal Orders of Paul Bremer, while heading the Provisional Authority. I quote from the UK's 'The Economist' magazine: "On September 19,2003, Bremer enacted the now infamous Order 39. It announced that 200 Iraqi state companies would be privatized; decreed that foreign firms can retain 100% ownership of Iraqi banks, mines and factories; and allowed these firms to move 100% of their profits out of Iraq. The Economist declared the new rules a "capitalist dream". If ever there was anything that pointed to the total corruption of the US aims in Iraq this is it. The question that repeatedly comes to mind is what democratic mandate did Bremer have for his Order? The answer is NONE WHATSOVER. So much for the spurious claims of the pro-war that it the invasion was for the benefit of the Iraqi people.

Joeanna Nee on "8 Billion unaccounted"

Joeanna Nee — Fri, 08 Jul 2005 14:39:55 +0000

Gee Huck, I asked for accountability as to where all the money was going and I got slammed hard by the prowar people. Thanks, I feel much better now. You realize that you will either be ignored or torn apart, right? Good luck huck. Thanks for putting the truth up there. Truly, Joeanna

8 Billion unaccounted,

huck — Fri, 08 Jul 2005 13:31:21 +0000

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v27/n13/harr04_.html There are so many allegations in this article. Here's a few extracts: The financial irregularities described in audit reports carried out by agencies of the American government and auditors working for the international community collectively give a detailed insight into the mentality of the American occupation authorities and the way they operated, handing out truckloads of dollars for which neither they nor the recipients felt any need to be accountable. The auditors have so far referred more than a hundred contracts, involving billions of dollars paid to American personnel and corporations, for investigation and possible criminal prosecution. They have also discovered that $8.8 billion that passed through the new Iraqi government ministries in Baghdad while Bremer was in charge is unaccounted for, with little prospect of finding out where it went. A further $3.4 billion earmarked by Congress for Iraqi development has since been siphoned off to finance security. Pilfering was rife. Millions of dollars in cash went missing from the Iraqi Central Bank. Between $11 million and $26 million worth of Iraqi property sequestered by the CPA was unaccounted for. The payroll was padded with hundreds of ghost employees. Millions of dollars were paid to contractors for phantom work: $3,379,505 was billed, for example, for personnel not in the field performing work and other improper charges on a single oil pipeline repair contract. An Iraqi sports coach was paid $40,000 by the CPA. He gave it to a friend who gambled it away then wrote it off as a legitimate loss. A complainant alleged that Iraqi Airlines was sold at a reduced price to an influential family with ties to the former regime. The investigation revealed that Iraqi Airlines was essentially dissolved, and there was no record of the transaction. Most of the 69 criminal investigations the CPA-IG instigated related to alleged theft, fraud, waste, assault and extortion. It also investigated a number of other cases that, because of their sensitivity, cannot be included in this report. At around this time, 19 billion new Iraqi dinars, worth about £6.5 million, were found on a plane in Lebanon which had been sent there by the American-appointed Iraqi interior minister. $3 billion was diverted from the budgets to restore Iraqs destroyed electricity supply, water supply and sewers to security and law enforcement. The reduced electricity budget (down from $5.6 billion to $4.4 billion) was to be spent patching up neighbourhoods flattened by American fire power, and electricity pylons and stations sabotaged by the insurgents. The electricity supply had become one of the wars main battlegrounds. In the absence of any meaningful accountability, Iraqis have no way of knowing how much of the nations wealth is being handed out to ministers and civil servants friends and families or funnelled into secret overseas bank accounts. Given that many Baathists are now back in government, some of that money may even be financing the insurgents.