NYT: Violence in Iraq Is Creating Chaos in Bank System (praised by US)

[DeepModem Mom]

Violence in Iraq Is Creating Chaos in Bank System
By JAMES GLANZ
Published: July 29, 2006

....The only thing atypical about Thursday’s robbery, which was described by bank and Interior Ministry officials, is that most private banks try to avoid using armored vans, because they draw too much attention, and instead toss sacks of cash into ordinary cars for furtive dashes through the streets of Baghdad.

However the cash goes out, it risks being lost in the wash of robbery, kidnapping and intrigue that now plagues the system.

Praised by the United States as a success story as recently as a few months ago, that system has quickly become a wild landscape of clandestine cash runs, huge hauls by robbers dressed as police officers and soldiers, kidnappings of bank executives with ransoms as high as $6 million, American allegations of tie-ins with insurgent financiers, and legitimate customers turned away when they go to pick up their savings and flee the country.

“It is a crisis,” said Wisam K. Jamil, managing director of Iraq’s oldest private bank, the Bank of Baghdad, which lost $1.5 million in a literal case of highway robbery by men wearing police uniforms last December.

Because of that robbery, the bank lost much of its insurance coverage. Even more galling for Mr. Jamil, the insurance policy had a standard disclaimer saying that losses due to acts of war or terrorism were not covered, and as the Warka holdup on Thursday illustrated, no one can say if a theft in Iraq is committed by insurgents, bandits or genuine members of the security forces. So the insurance company has not paid Mr. Jamil’s claim....

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/29/world/middleeast/29banks.html?hp&ex=1154145600&en=18d7895a019d45bc&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[MadMaddie]

1. And the news in Iraq continues to get worse...

[dweller]

2. and just where is Dick Cheeney these days anyway? n/t

dp

[Tellurian]

5. wearing a police uniform at the gun range..n/t

[Robbien]

3. Robberies Threaten Iraqi Banking System

Robberies have brought the Iraqi banking system close to collapse.

To avoid robbers, who are often disguised as members of the army or police, banks use nondescript cars to move cash.

"Anywhere else in the world, throwing a few million dollars in the back of a Mazda and driving from the Central Bank is crazy," said Hussein al-Uzri, president and chairman of the Trade Bank of Iraq. "But many people will say that living in Baghdad is crazy."

The Warka Bank was robbed Thursday of more than a billion dinars, close to $1 million. Two armored cars traveling together pulled over to make way for what appeared to be a military convoy and ended up with the eight drivers and security guards locked in the back of a van.

Both the state-owned banks and the relatively new private banks are vulnerable, the Times said. The uncertainty has led to runs on some banks as depositors try to get their hands on cash.


http://www.playfuls.com/news_00000001840_Robberies_Threaten_Iraqi_Banking_System.html

[rzemanfl]

4. Saying Iraq has a banking system is like saying Howdy Doody

had freedom of movement.