Where much of the missing $9 billion in Iraq went....

[jmcon007]

Ok, I'm guessing, but I have little doubt.

A refresher taken from Uncommonthought.com,(http://www.uncommonthought.com/mtblog/archives/080903-privatize_this_-_cor.php):

_______________________________________________________________

The looting of Iraq by U.S. corporate raiders had begun. Pentagon bombers and tens of thousands of invading troops had smashed open the doors.

Some of the same giant U.S. corporations that had received multi-billion dollar contracts to participate in the destruction of Iraq were the first to receive no-bid contracts for reconstruction. Halliburton, MCI World/ Com, Bechtel--all insiders in the Bush administration--were at the front of the line for giant handouts.

The Bush administration and Corporate America had a detailed plan for the reconstruction of Iraq long before Bush gave the order for the massive destruction and military occupation. The May 1 Wall Street Journal reported that the confidential plan prepared by U.S. Agency for International Development and the Treasury Department was drafted in February--before the U.S. invasion and occupation.

The plan calls for mass privatization of Iraqi industry, liquidation of insolvent Iraqi industries and assessment of others for sale. It also proposes a year-long propaganda effort to persuade the Iraqi people that this is in their best interests.

Overseeing the restructuring of Iraq's financial system is Peter McPherson, a top Treasury Department official who is now the head of the Iraq National Bank. The U.S. AID/ Treasury Department report echoes the recommendations of the Heritage Foundation. This powerful, neo-conservative think-tank calls for preparing state assets for privatization, including industries, utilities, transportation, ports, airports--and most importantly, the energy sector. (The Corporate Looting of Iraq Flounders, CRG 7/24/03)

Hopefully everyone remembers the massive destruction and looting of government offices in Baghdad shortly after the city was "taken." It seems likely that this was part of the privatization plan. As noted in Kiryakos' article Destroying Iraq's Public Records (7/30/03 CRG), the destruction of these records eliminated all record of ownership and assets in Iraq. This of course leaves the door open to "new" (or perhaps redistributed) ownership. Imagine if the property and business records of the US were destroyed. Imagine the free for all that would result. Now imagine a foreign invading force in control of making the decisions. I think you can see the endless possibilities for power and control.

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Remember Paul Bremmer when he was head of the Iraq Coalition Authority and the reports of his losing $9 billion dollars, due to sloppy bookkeeping?
I believe a little known fact is that Bremmer staffed his organization almost exclusively with Heritage Foundation relatives. It's easy for me to imagine these civilians stuffing hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not millions) in suit cases before they made their ways home to the States. They kept millions in cash in the basement and I doubt they resisted the temptation.
Oh, well. God will forgive them.

[Nikki Stone 1]

1. The Heritage Foundation. How charming.

:sarcasm:

[Patty Diana]

2. Slaughter is circulating a petition on the net calling for an iraqaudit

I think it's iraqaudit.com

[Nikki Stone 1]

3. When you get the link, post it

I'm all for auditing these greedy corporations.

[jmcon007]

4. There is a nice piece by Raw Story (I believe) on this.....

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

10. Why does a member of the US Congress need to have an

internet petition to ask for an audit on Iraq??? It seems that Congress has been denied access and knowledge about a host of things - the real cost of Medi-care, where the money is going in Iraq, etc. So what's the deal? Isn't Congress entitled to this information anyway?

[KoKo]

5. And kids of the PNAC'ers went over to create an Iraqi Stock Market

Michael Ledeen's early 20 something year old recent college grad daughter along with young heirs to PNAC (recent college grads) were involved in the budget for reconstructing Iraq. Washington Post had a huge article on it...I posted the article myself about it. It's somewhere in DU archives or a Google would find it.

It was disgusting what went on after the fall of Baghdad when Iraq was like the Gold rush with everyone coming in who had no clue and the kids of the privileged were making huge bucks. :puke:

[KoKo]

7. In Iraq the Job of Lifetime:Managing $13 Billion Budget with no experienc

washingtonpost.com
In Iraq, the Job Opportunity of a Lifetime
Managing a $13 Billion Budget With No Experience

By Ariana Eunjung Cha
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 23, 2004; Page A01

BAGHDAD -- It was after nightfall when they finally found their offices at Saddam Hussein's Republican Palace -- 11 jet-lagged, sweaty, idealistic volunteers who had come to help Iraq along the road to democracy.

When the U.S. government went looking for people to help rebuild Iraq, they had responded to the call. They supported the war effort and President Bush. Many had strong Republican credentials. They were in their twenties or early thirties and had no foreign service experience. On that first day, Oct. 1, they knew so little about how things worked that they waited hours at the airport for a ride that was never coming. They finally discovered the shuttle bus out of the airport but got off at the wrong stop.

Occupied Iraq was just as Simone Ledeen had imagined -- ornate mosques, soldiers in formation, sand blowing everywhere, "just like on TV." The 28-year-old daughter of neoconservative pundit Michael Ledeen and a recently minted MBA, she had arrived on a military transport plane with the others and was eager to get to work.

They had been hired to perform a low-level task: collecting and organizing statistics, surveys and wish lists from the Iraqi ministries for a report that would be presented to potential donors at the end of the month. But as suicide bombs and rocket attacks became almost daily occurrences, more and more senior staffers defected. In short order, six of the new young hires found themselves managing the country's $13 billion budget, making decisions affecting millions of Iraqis.

Viewed from the outside, their experience illustrates many of the problems that have beset the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), a paucity of experienced applicants, a high turnover rate, bureaucracy, partisanship and turf wars. But within their group, inside the "Green Zone," the four-mile strip surrounded by cement blast walls where Iraq's temporary rulers are based, their seven months at the CPA was the experience of a lifetime. It was defined by long hours, patriotism, friendship, sacrifice and loss.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&q=related:www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A48543-2004May22%3Flanguage%3Dprinter

[Karenina]

8. The ultimate in

white privilege.

[tanyev]

11. 24 year old hired to rebuild Iraq stock exchange

Grad Has Bigger Job Than He Bargained For
By YOCHI J. DREAZEN
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

From The Wall Street Journal Online


BAGHDAD, Iraq -- At Yale University, Jay Hallen majored in political science, rarely watched financial news stations and didn't follow the stock market.

All of which made the 24-year-old an unlikely pick for the difficult task of rebuilding Iraq's shuttered stock exchange. But Mr. Hallen, a private-sector development officer for the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority, was given the job immediately after arriving in Baghdad in September.
http://www.collegejournal.com/globalcareers/newstrends/20040202-dreazen.html

Wonder how that Stock Exchange is doing these days?

[LittleClarkie]

6. Must be why they are reluctant to use Iraqi contractors

to repair Iraqi systems. It's supposed to be America's pie.

But those contractors are dying. I bet that wasn't in the contract.

[Disturbed]

9. Iraq & Afghanistan invasions were...

U.S. Capitalist territory, resource and oil and gas distro grabs. Anyone that believes they were for spreading democracy is a fool.