hand out
http://villagevoice.com/blogs/bushbeat/archive/000712.phpWhile U.S. soldiers in Iraq are so plagued by shortages of equipment that their parents are shipping armored vests to them, their commanders are riding around the desert handing out hundreds of millions of dollars from a slush fund that appears to be totally unregulated.
-snip-
The program was designed to let military commanders on the ground launch local development projects and use cash to spread goodwill. Doug Struck of the Washington Post wrote about it last July, saying that "cash has become the U.S. military's first line of defense in some parts of Iraq." Struck's story noted:
Even patrol leaders now carry envelopes of cash to spend in their areas. The money comes from brigade commanders, who get as much as $50,000 to $100,000 a month to distribute for local rehabilitation and emergency welfare projects through the Commanders Emergency Response Program.
-snip-
Meanwhile, while this haphazard cash is being strewn around, Iraqi children are dying for want of medical care, as Christopher Bollyn points out in an American Free Press article. Bollyn notes that there are several unregulated slush funds containing billions of dollars:
A simple spread sheet of 35 rows lists how more than $11.3 billion of the fund had been disbursed by the CPA. The sheet reveals that the "Commanders Emergency Response Program" received $391 million of Iraqi money, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers got another $367 million, and the CPA Front Office got $2.8 million etc. Details, dates and specifics are not provided.
-snip-
------------------------------
wish I could post more
bet a lot of this money went into US military officer's pockets.
bring the troops home now.
wonder what's in Bremer's briefcase?
Cash and carry: Jerry Bremer and the POTUS at the White House in June 2004. It's not known whether there's any money in the satchel that Bremer is lugging. (White House photo)