NYT: Iraqis Tallying Range of Graft in Rebuilding

[DeepModem Mom]

Iraqis Tallying Range of Graft in Rebuilding
By JAMES GLANZ
Published: June 24, 2005


BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 23 - Allegations of widespread corruption have dogged the Iraqi government since the invasion in 2003, when billions of dollars for reconstruction and training began pouring into the country. Many programs had far less impact than expected, but persistent rumors that money was being siphoned by corrupt officials were largely impossible to pin down.

Now, an office originally set up by the American occupation to investigate corruption in Iraq has accumulated the first solid estimates of the problem. The results are likely to fuel the most pessimistic concerns over where the money has gone.

The abuses range from sweetheart deals on leases, to exorbitant contracts for things like garbage hauling, to payments for construction that was never done.

Since it began doing business in earnest last July, the office, now run by the Iraqi government and called the Commission on Public Integrity, has looked into more than 814 cases of potential wrongdoing, producing 399 investigations that were still open at the end of May. So far, arrest warrants have been issued for 44 Iraqi government employees.

The open cases include investigations into several ministries in the government of the former prime minister, Ayad Allawi, and warrants for two of his ministers, said Ali al-Shabot, spokesman for the commission, who provided the data during interviews this week....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/international/middleeast/24corrupt.html?hp&ex=1119585600&en=043f50d5b7a5560b&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[LynnTheDem]

1. The IRAQI government "since 2003 invasion"??? There was no IRAQI

govt!

Let's look at the massive corruption and the $9 BILLION missing from the viceroy BREMER and the BUSHCO govt in Iraq since 2003!

[maddezmom]

2. NYT- Iraqis Tallying Range of Graft in Rebuilding

By JAMES GLANZ
Published: June 24, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 23 - Allegations of widespread corruption have dogged the Iraqi government since the invasion in 2003, when billions of dollars for reconstruction and training began pouring into the country. Many programs had far less impact than expected, but persistent rumors that money was being siphoned by corrupt officials were largely impossible to pin down.

Now, an office originally set up by the American occupation to investigate corruption in Iraq has accumulated the first solid estimates of the problem. The results are likely to fuel the most pessimistic concerns over where the money has gone.

The abuses range from sweetheart deals on leases, to exorbitant contracts for things like garbage hauling, to payments for construction that was never done.

Since it began doing business in earnest last July, the office, now run by the Iraqi government and called the Commission on Public Integrity, has looked into more than 814 cases of potential wrongdoing, producing 399 investigations that were still open at the end of May. So far, arrest warrants have been issued for 44 Iraqi government employees.

~snip~
more:http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/international/middleeast/24corrupt.html?hp&ex=1119672000&en=413ade2b16bd6191&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[thebigidea]

3. Fox Forms Taskforce to Account for Henhouse Discrepancies

Nothing inspires more confidence than "an office originally set up by the American occupation."

[mom cat]

4. The hens were lured away by that Chihuahua!

Notice that the focus of the inquiry is on 44 employees, not 44 officials. I also notice that the article did not say anything Halliburton.