Series Documents the the Hidden Charges to Taxpayers of Corruption in Iraq

[Robbien]

LOS ANGELES, April 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Americans are spending $22 billion for the reconstruction of Iraq, the largest postwar reconstruction effort ever undertaken. But the lack of independent investigators -- both in the United States and in Baghdad -- has fueled corruption and inflated the cost to taxpayers. In a four-part series that will air this week, the public radio business program Marketplace highlights the bribes, thefts and price gouging that have marred the reconstruction project and threaten the future of Iraq.

Reporting from Baghdad, Marketplace's Middle East Correspondent Adam Davidson tells the story through interviews with Iraqis who witness the corruption every day -- businessmen, accountants, shopkeepers, health officials and others. Reporting from Washington, Mark Schapiro of the Center for Investigative Reporting documents the failure of the U.S. government to effectively oversee expenditures in a reconstruction effort that is costing 10 times more per capita than the Marshall Plan.

Marketplace, the national business program that is produced by Minnesota Public Radio, will air the segments from Tuesday, April 20, through Friday, April 23, during its regular half-hour program, which is carried during afternoon drive time on more than 300 public radio stations across the county.

Among the disturbing revelations featured in the series:

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/04-19-2004/0002154391&EDATE=

[denverbill]

1. Hey, Ahmed Chalabi didn't sign on to this job for free.

But what the hell? We're paying mercenaries 5-10 times more than a US soldier to do the same job, just so a corporation can pocket the 15% markup. Of course, that's not called corruption. It's just called 'profit margin'.

[maddezmom]

2. my god...do the bushies think they will never get caught at anything?

In Washington, congressional initiatives that would have sent a strong
anti-corruption signal to contractors in Iraq were derailed by the
House Republican leadership and the White House. These included
amendments to the Iraq appropriations bill last fall that would have
criminalized war profiteering and required ongoing audits by the
General Accounting Office of contracts over $25 million. "The fact
were made and defeated signaled, 'We don't agree
oversight is necessary'," says Jeffrey Jones, former head of the
Defense Energy Support Center, in charge of purchasing fuel for the
Pentagon. Jones watched as gasoline bills doubled when part of his job
was outsourced to Halliburton. "So, it's laissez faire. That's the
message that was sent."

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. The question is...

How much of this money is going to cut-outs and getting laundered back into the states?

You can be well and truly assured that such a thing is happening.