the real story of Iraq reconstruction money: this could sink the neo-cons

[welshTerrier2]

there was a brief AP written article in today's Boston Globe on the topic of $2 million dollars that was misappropriated from Iraq reconstruction money ... as usual, it's likely that the MSM will report this as a case of very isolated greed and a minor flaw in bookkeeping practices that is all too easily dismissed as unimportant because it occurred in a war zone ...

but the real story is not just about blatant theft ... the following allegations should be raised as issues for investigation by Democrats and the MSM:

1. linkage, linkage, linkage ... what impact did the waste of reconstruction funds have on the security situation in Iraq??? we all seemed to believe that reconstruction would appease the Iraqis, give them jobs and give them hope ... without reconstruction money, an improved infrastructure and quality of life, and jobs, the U.S. mission in Iraq, or at least the stated mission, had absolutely no chance of bringing peace to the Iraqis ...
2. there was one, exactly one, bookkeeper using an Excel spreadsheet put in charge of monitoring the spend down of $20 billion of reconstruction funds ... even kids running a lemonade stand would have a better system of controlling funds than that ... the failure to oversee the funds was done very, very intentionally ...
3. while simple fraud and corruption could have been the only motivation for such a total failure to ensure the proper use of reconstruction monies, it had to be more than obvious to anyone who cared to even glance at the situation that reconstruction dollars were not being used to reconstruct anything ... so, if reconstruction was to be valued as a pathway to peace in Iraq, the only possible conclusion is that those administering the funds did NOT want peace ... at least not in the near-term ... why would that be you ask? because a justification for continued occupation was needed ...
4. the story deepens though because additional crimes were committed ... whistleblowers have been murdered in Iraq ... other whistleblowers now in the U.S. fear for their lives ... the cover-up, that's right, a good old Watergate-style cover-up is now underway ... a few small fish may have to be punished, but without a vigorous press, this ain't going to be no Watergate story ... it's important to remember that ties between the multi-national corporations involved and the White House and the GOP have already been established ... if the neo-con credibility on Iraq can be permanently punctured, the end of their tyrannical rule could be at hand ... the cards are stacked against us but there's a big prize awaiting us if we can make the case ...

so remember, fraud and corruption are the visible components of the crimes committed in Iraq ... it's the "easy" story for the press to cover ... but the real story hits at the heart of neo-con evil ... and it will take real fighting Democrats and a real fourth estate to make the charges stick ...

[cthrumatrix]

1. I pray and hope the media would follow-up on this...it was amazing

the amount "crap" that came out.

[welshTerrier2]

2. Reid and Dorgan should call a press conference

they should call for additional BI-PARTISAN hearings and they should clearly layout the highlights of the testimony they heard ...

they also need to start educating the American people on exactly what THE IMPLICATIONS of the testimony are ... if the testimony is true, we have a wide-scale corruption of the U.S. military effort in Iraq ... it was an effort to sabotage the stated objectives of the military ... and, if proven true of course, it put our troops and our nation's reputation at serious risk ...

they should not be making the allegations; they should call for additional investigation and a more detailed exploration of the testimony they received today ...

[lyonn]

3. There was a hearing this a.m. on C-span concerning

this subject. Reid was there along with 2 or 3 other democrats, Repubs. refused to come, taking evidence from 3 or 4 witnesses concerning the money, equipment, supplies, the tv programming for the Iraqi's (the guy who started the project quit after about 3 months when he was constantly kept from setting up programming that was geared for the Iraqi's interest and told to not show certain things along with not providing the equipment needed since the old station had been demolished by the U.S. bombing, then sent Iraqi's to another (?) country for training which included Al Jeezera,,, well there was lots of info). Billions of $$ were kept in a safe that people claimed was left unprotected much of the time. Money was sent out in bundles of $100. bills still wrapped in plastic from the mint I guess to people in the field sopposedly for work people were doing. One can see there being chaos after the take-over but it sounded absolutely unreal, drew a pretty good picure of the Administration's failure to secure in anyway the country.

[welshTerrier2]

6. exactly ...

here's a link to the thread about the hearings ... i started this thread to highlight what i considered to be the essence of the story:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1594434

Senator Reid was truly stunned by this morning's testimony ...

[joanski01]

9. And everything was looted!

Everything! Even the wall outlets were pulled out. All the furniture was gone from the buildings. The US was busy guarding the oil wells.

This is just so incredible. I'm glad that Henry Waxman was there too. He heard it all.

[tanyev]

4. I would have to dig for the link on this,

but I remember reading a story about a 24 yr old kid who was entrusted with the job of setting up the new Iraqi stock market. Somebody who was already there, or else had submitted his resume, and had lots of experience was rejected. Why? Hard to prove, but he had served many years under the Clinton administration. The 24 yr old kid? He had submitted his resume to the Heritage Foundation.

When ideology trumps competence, chaos is sure to follow.


Adding links
I think the story I recall was in the Wall Street Journal, but since it is from Jan 2004, you have to be a paid subscriber to access it.
How a 24-Year-OldGot a Job RebuildingIraq's Stock Market
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ^ | Wednesday, January 28, 2004 | YOCHI J. DREAZEN
http://users2.wsj.com/lmda/do/checkLogin?a=t&d=wsj&sd=users2&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2F0%2C%2CSB107524435490013389%2C00.html%3Fmod%3Dhome%255Fpage%255Fone%255Fus

There is some mention of it in "Baghdad Year Zero" (Thanks, starmaker!)
Many of the other CPA postings were equally ideological. The Green Zone, the city within a city that houses the occupation headquarters in Saddam’s former palace, was filled with Young Republicans straight out of the Heritage Foundation, all of them given responsibility they could never have dreamed of receiving at home. Jay Hallen, a twenty-four-year-old who had applied for a job at the White House, was put in charge of launching Baghdad’s new stock exchange. Scott Erwin, a twenty-one-year-old former intern to Dick Cheney, reported in an email home that “I am assisting Iraqis in the management of finances and budgeting for the domestic security forces.” The college senior’s favorite job before this one? “My time as an ice-cream truck driver.” In those early days, the Green Zone felt a bit like the Peace Corps, for people who think the Peace Corps is a communist plot. It was a chance to sleep on cots, wear army boots, and cry “incoming”—all while being guarded around the clock by real soldiers.
http://www.harpers.org/BaghdadYearZero.html

[welshTerrier2]

5. i remember that story

lots of talk about political insiders ... again, i think the intent was to staff the reconstruction monitoring process with low-level people whom they wanted to fail ...

[starmaker]

7. Bagdad Year Zero Harpers

seems like it may have some of info

[annabanana]

8. Some money going to Pakistan to fund Sunni Insurgents

as per Asian Times...

See this thread and it's link..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3108936&mesg_id=3108936&page=