Millions Stolen From Iraq's Treasury (More then half a billion dollars)

[ECH1969]

More than half a billion dollars earmarked to fight the insurgency in Iraq was stolen by people the U.S. had entrusted to run the country's Ministry of Defense before the 2005 elections, according to Iraqi investigators.

Iraq's former minister of finance says coalition members like the U.S. and Britain are doing little to help recover the money or catch suspects, most of whom fled the country. The 60 Minutes investigation also turned up audio recordings of a suspect who seems to be discussing the transfer of $45 million to the account of a top political adviser to the interim defense minister.

"The only explanation I can come up with is that too many people in positions of power and authority in the new Iraq have been, in one way or another, found with their hands inside the cookie jar," says Allawi, who left his post when a new Iraqi government was formed earlier this year.

Ziad Cattan was in charge of military procurement at a time when the ministry of defense went on a $1.2 billion buying spree. Allawi estimates that $750 to $800 million of that money was stolen.

http://keyetv.com/topstories/topstories_story_293013619.html

[Trajan]

1. Hey ! .... whats wrong with that ? .....

It is MUCH less than that stolen from the american treasury .....

An Associates Degree in a CC costs about $5,000.00 in Portland, Oregon ....

I know that more has been spent on this war of choice, but if we rounded the amount down to one-half trillion dollars .....

$500,000,000,000.00 / $5,000.00 = 100,000,000 Associates Degrees ......

One Hundred Million College Educations ..... into a stinking pit of blood, lies, and theft .....

That is one third of the American population .....

How shameful ... The American People deserve better for their children and their future ....

[tkmorris]

3. That's an excellent mathematical comparison

It's strange, people across America seem to hear these figures that are being spent in Iraq and it just makes no impact on them. It's as if they don't understand that it's US paying that bill, that it's OUR money being spent, or in this case simply allowed to be stolen. People need to understand what we COULD have done with that money, but cannot now because the money is just plain gone. It's sickening, but no one really seems to care.

[Frustratedlady]

4. People care. They just don't know what they can do.

I've watched the dollar figures fly by our eyes for this war, Katrina and all the other waste by this administration. I certainly can picture what could have been done with that money, if only this cabal was not in charge. We'll never know how much was funneled into the RNC fund or into administration officials' pockets, not to mention corporations who sucked in all those no-bid contracts. I have never felt so helpless and frustrated, but the best we can do is to do our best on November 7th and hope the new faces work for the people and for our beloved USA.

[rodeodance]

9. yes, i and others care----but it does seem hopeless at times.

[saigon68]

10. Well at least gay men can't marry

Or that tramp down the street can't get an abortion.

</EXTREME SARCASM>

[Kiouni]

5. I havent seen

that picture before. Priceless

[rodeodance]

11. they are not concerned with the 8$B that is missing---why would they

even bother with a mere half billion?

[markam]

19. i prefer to think of it as

50 gigawatts of installed solar power generation, or 500 gigawatts of wind power, or 20,000 miles of installed light rail transit system.

You know, things that could actually help the planet, and allow us to survive the coming energy crisis.

[Xenotime]

24. Love the photo

[burrowowl]

2. I must say

I am not surprised.

[PurityOfEssence]

6. Iraq: history's biggest kleptofest

Conceived out of greedy opportunism, run through graft and cronyism and driven into the stained and smoking ground with incompetent zeal, this righteous escapade is an embarrassment to us all.

Lest we forget, numerous thousands of people have conclusively died and many, many more are maimed; the dependents who are left struggling and bereft are too numerous to count.

As if this isn't bad enough, the basic truth is obvious: it didn't work; we didn't fuck them out of their resources or force our will upon the locals. Israel isn't any safer, and we don't have the toe-hold in the region we lusted after. It's a colossal failure from any vantage.

Evil. Imbecility. Financial ruin. Bad manners.

Let's just call it a clean sweep for conservatism: selfishness run amok that only garners a small short-term benefit for the few, like Halliburton.

[saigon68]

12. This guy died for Halliburton greed and Cheney's millions (GRAPHIC PHOTO)

[OneBlueSky]

7. when is someone going to stop these people? . . . (BushCo, I mean). . .n/t

.

[HuffleClaw]

8. erm, it wasn't IRAQIS who stole most of that, and other money.

it was US 'contractors'.

[Disturbed]

13. Has that $9 billion been found yet?

This is pathetic!

[DemoTex]

16. US "contractors" beholden to the GOP.

And since Iraq is a pay-to-play war, some of that money makes its way into GOP coffers to use against the Democrats in November and in 2008.

[Amonester]

23. Picture this story:

Put:

into:

to play:

while nearly 50 millions can only dream of:

when they'll need professional help, because:

Republicans couldn't care less for them ever (proof = Katrina).
:grr:

[Eurobabe]

14. Probably Jr. , he needed $$ for that Paraguayan land deal

eom

[goforit]

25. Well, I would say Poppy Bush is probably the richest man in the world.

But it is all hidden and hidden well.

If you think about Prescott and his wealth hidden through the Nazi's,
All the drugs via Afghanastan and Colombia
All the gold mines and diamond mines,
all the oil fields,
The US treasury,
All the military hardware sales,
Pharmaceuticals,
We shouldn't forget his new naval-aircraft carrier that set out to sea,
.....You can imagine the stolen historical artifacts of Iraq are sitting right in his little pocket.

[seafan]

15. Sen. Carl Levin on Franken's show yest said that much of the *missing*

money in Iraq disappeared via extortion by al-Qaeda types. He said that these types of people knew who and where the US contractors were, and that the contractors had been awarded Million$ by the US Gov't.

The insurgent types would tell the contractors... 'We'll blow you up if you don't give us money, and we know you have it.' So the contractors would throw gobs of money at them to decrease their threats.


What an unbelievable catastrophe for Iraqis and Americans, who are just trying to survive while the * administration robs us blind and skips merrily off, scot-free.

There is a special place in hell for them.


'Worse than Watergate' barely scratches the surface.

[pinniped]

17. So, how much did puppet Allawi make off with?

?

[BigDDem]

18. Get out the checkbook...

looks like we owe Halliburton another $500,000

[deadparrot]

20. Millions Stolen From Iraq's Treasury (60 Minutes report)

(CBS) More than half a billion dollars earmarked to fight the insurgency in Iraq was stolen by people the U.S. had entrusted to run the country's Ministry of Defense before the 2005 elections, according to Iraqi investigators.

Iraq's former minister of finance says coalition members like the U.S. and Britain are doing little to help recover the money or catch suspects, most of whom fled the country. The 60 Minutes investigation also turned up audio recordings of a suspect who seems to be discussing the transfer of $45 million to the account of a top political adviser to the interim defense minister.

Correspondent Steve Kroft reports on this mother of all heists this Sunday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

"We have not been given any serious, official support from either the United States or the U.K. or any of the surrounding Arab countries,”" says Ali Allawi, who was confronted with the missing funds when he took over as Iraq’s finance minister last year.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/19/60minutes/main2109200.shtml

[FormerDittoHead]

21. Don't worry. The market will correct itself... n/t

[BeachBuckeye]

22. Why would the U.S. be concerned over this?

It's "chump change" compared to the bottomless pit we're pouring money into over there.

[Megahurtz]

26. Look in Cheney's pocket!

Or Poppy's, or.....Hell! Any one of thoses guys.:sarcasm:

[Blue_Tires]

27. the real tragedy is you would think that

something like this would anger the conservatives as well (at least those that used to tout fiscal responsibility)...i still remember the 80s when conservatives used to absolutely hate wasted spending

[cassiepriam]

28. Chicken feed, Halliburton latte and limo money. nt