The Guardian: So, Mr Bremer, where did all the money go?

[maddezmom]

So, Mr Bremer, where did all the money go?

At the end of the Iraq war, vast sums of money were made available to the US-led provisional authorities, headed by Paul Bremer, to spend on rebuilding the country. By the time Bremer left the post eight months later, $8.8bn of that money had disappeared. Ed Harriman on the extraordinary scandal of Iraq's missing billions

Thursday July 7, 2005
The Guardian

When Paul Bremer, the American pro consul in Baghdad until June last year, arrived in Iraq soon after the official end of hostilities, there was $6bn left over from the UN Oil for Food Programme, as well as sequestered and frozen assets, and at least $10bn from resumed Iraqi oil exports. Under Security Council Resolution 1483, passed on May 22 2003, all these funds were transferred into a new account held at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, called the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI), and intended to be spent by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) "in a transparent manner ... for the benefit of the Iraqi people".

The US Congress also voted to spend $18.4bn of US taxpayers' money on the redevelopment of Iraq. By June 28 last year, however, when Bremer left Baghdad two days early to avoid possible attack on the way to the airport, his CPA had spent up to $20bn of Iraqi money, compared with $300m of US funds. The "reconstruction" of Iraq is the largest American-led occupation programme since the Marshall Plan - but the US government funded the Marshall Plan. Defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Bremer have made sure that the reconstruction of Iraq is paid for by the "liberated" country, by the Iraqis themselves.

The CPA maintained one fund of nearly $600m cash for which there is no paperwork: $200m of it was kept in a room in one of Saddam's former palaces. The US soldier in charge used to keep the key to the room in his backpack, which he left on his desk when he popped out for lunch. Again, this is Iraqi money, not US funds.

The "financial irregularities" described in audit reports carried out by agencies of the American government and auditors working for the international community collectively give a detailed insight into the mentality of the American occupation authorities and the way they operated. Truckloads of dollars were handed out for which neither they nor the recipients felt they had to be accountable.

more:http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1522983,00.html

[Pithy Cherub]

1. The Brits keep the hits just coming and coming!

:wow:

Where is an AMERICAN media source in investigating the misuse of AMERICAN money in this Iraq travesty? :yoiks:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

7. IMHO, the CIA gave up trying to feed the American press incriminating...

...information about the NeoCons, and turned to the foreign press for assistance. The British press has little love for Blair, much less for Herr Busch.

Who else would have the ability to collect and disburse information of this nature? Who else would have the biggest set of motives to destroy the NeoCons, one piece at a time?

[glitch]

17. Makes sense - especially since aware Americans don't go to Corporate Media

first for their news anymore anyway.

[ovidsen]

8. I'd take one more step.

How about if an AMERICAN media source investigates the AMERICAN misuse of ALL the money supposedly budgeted for Iraq reconstruction? THIS is how the CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority) was accounting for money under Bremer's watch??:

"Pilfering was rife. Millions of dollars in cash went missing from the Iraqi Central Bank. Between $11m and $26m worth of Iraqi property sequestered by the CPA was unaccounted for. The payroll was padded with hundreds of ghost employees. Millions of dollars were paid to contractors for phantom work. Some $3,379,505 was billed, for example, for "personnel not in the field performing work" and "other improper charges" on just one oil pipeline repair contract."

That is simply obscene!

[Neerav B. Trivedi]

2. Maybe he is using it to bribe Bush

To make him President once Bush steps down or gets removed from office.

Jackasses.

[acmavm]

3. It will soon be that the only people who aren't aware of the illegalities

connected with this administration are the ones that are either mentally ill, fundie fu**-ups, or dead. The stories are being pushed out in front of the public and regardless of whether or not they like it, they're gonna be hearing about it.

[lyonn]

4. Congress held hearings on some of this

information but, no one listened, meaning the media. If you are a c-span nut you would have seen it.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

14. can I assume you are a fellow nut?

:)


Do you know about the daily CSPAN thread? Posted in GD everyday by notadmblnd

CSPAN Schedule Wednesday July 6
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4023508

[lovuian]

5. Showing Iraq is corruption and stealing boatloads of money!!!

The Bush's are just bank robbers!!!

[mom cat]

6. I know! Let's blame George Galloway for the missing loot!

:sarcasm:

[gratuitous]

9. Aw gee, you can't expect him to know where every last penny went

Gaw-lee, $9 billion goes missing, and everybody's all torked! What's the big schmeal, anyway? You never suddenly came up $10 short on your budget?

Good Christian men like George W. Bush and his appointees don't steal! Otherwise, they wouldn't be good Christian men. Jeez, wise up, libruls!

[Cocoa]

10. where did Paul Bremer go?

gotta find him first.

[maddezmom]

11. again...like everyone else hiding with DICK in the bunker

Where's Karen? Mary? Scooter? Andy?

:hide: :hide: :hide:

[underthedome]

12. Grand theft all while the world was watching. nm

nm

[mod mom]

13. Really. Why isn't this an issue with the fiscally conservative repubs? nt

[jillan]

16. and why isn't Congress bringing this up every time* wants more $ for Iraq?

They are all on such a guilt trip after what they did to Kerry and the 87 billion, making Kerry look like shit for voting against the troops (bs bs bs) They all don't want to be put in that situation.

* needs to be accountable for where all the money is going before WE give them anymore of our hard earned $$.

That is our $ that is missing.:mad: :mad:

[Al-CIAda]

15. Put back the 100's of BILLIONS you stole from the US taxpayers,

you sorry treasonous SOBS!

[warsager]

18. So, Mr Bremer, where did all the money go?

so glad this is FINALLY getting some press!! Geez I thought I was the only one who remembered.

[saigon68]

20. Thugs and Hoodlums affiliated with the Bush Criminals

STOLE THE MONEY.

[jokerman93]

19. I wonder if

I wonder if this Iraq debacle might go down as the single largest Ponzi scheme in history. The American people have been scammed out of billions of dollars,and uncounted thousands of innocent people have suffered and died in the machinery of Bushco's long con.

This nation has gone un-governed since the year 2000. We've been set up and cleaned out by a group of pros.

WE LACK LEADERSHIP IN WASHINGTON.

[warsager]

21. but where will they go?

get rich. rule the world into it's destruction. and then what? sip margaritas in st barts?

[jokerman93]

22. that's a scary question

because I'm convinced that whoever is complicit in the scheme has no intentions of backing down. They have a death lock on some grotesque vision of world domination. I really believe it now.

Fortunately their "plan" seems about as well conceived as a direct- to-video action flick -- and has already failed horribly -- though I'm not sure George Bush admits it to himself yet. Unfortunately though, now the world must endure the inexorable decline of Buchco and its minions before we can even hope to begin healing and redressing the terrible damage that's been done.