U.S. Troops Crack Down on Fuel Smuggling (in Iraq, not here)

[Barrett808]

U.S. Troops Crack Down on Fuel Smuggling
By ANTONIO CASTANEDA, Associated Press Writer

BEIJI, Iraq - U.S. troops in this oil refining center are cracking down on a vast fuel theft and smuggling operation that robs from Iraq's economy and helps finance the insurgency.

The troops are chasing the smugglers and closely monitoring refinery workers. For American soldiers, it means ending a hands-off approach at the facility and doing jobs that would normally fall to police.

Capt. Adam Lackey of Trafalgar, Ind., said it was a problem that could no longer be ignored because the illicit money helps buy bombs and bullets that kill and maim soldiers.

"Our hand has been forced," said Lackey, of the 1st Battalion, 187th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. "We're going to make it harder for them, make it less profitable, and we're even going to make it more dangerous."

Before the crackdown began in recent weeks, fuel smuggling from Beiji was so extensive and flagrant that dozens of truck drivers would congregate just outside the refinery's gates. In plain sight, they would swap counterfeit export documents or transfer fuel to unauthorized trucks.

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060509/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_battling_smugglers

[Voltaire99]

1. Doctor, heal thyself. (nt)

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. "How dare they smuggle OUR oil!?!"

Unbelievable.