Bush Iraq rebuilding is filled with cronyism and corruption...

[whistle]

Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

http://www.veteransforpeace.org/The_14_characteristics_030303.htm



<snip to Washington Post Article>
Ties to GOP Trumped Know-How Among Staff Sent to Rebuild Iraq
Early U.S. Missteps in the Green Zone

By Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 17, 2006; A01



Adapted from "Imperial Life in the Emerald City," by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, copyright Knopf 2006

After the fall of Saddam Hussein's government in April 2003, the opportunity to participate in the U.S.-led effort to reconstruct Iraq attracted all manner of Americans -- restless professionals, Arabic-speaking academics, development specialists and war-zone adventurers. But before they could go to Baghdad, they had to get past Jim O'Beirne's office in the Pentagon.

To pass muster with O'Beirne, a political appointee who screens prospective political appointees for Defense Department posts, applicants didn't need to be experts in the Middle East or in post-conflict reconstruction. What seemed most important was loyalty to the Bush administration.

O'Beirne's staff posed blunt questions to some candidates about domestic politics: Did you vote for George W. Bush in 2000? Do you support the way the president is fighting the war on terror? Two people who sought jobs with the U.S. occupation authority said they were even asked their views on Roe v. Wade .

Many of those chosen by O'Beirne's office to work for the Coalition Provisional Authority, which ran Iraq's government from April 2003 to June 2004, lacked vital skills and experience. A 24-year-old who had never worked in finance -- but had applied for a White House job -- was sent to reopen Baghdad's stock exchange. The daughter of a prominent neoconservative commentator and a recent graduate from an evangelical university for home-schooled children were tapped to manage Iraq's $13 billion budget, even though they didn't have a background in accounting.

The decision to send the loyal and the willing instead of the best and the brightest is now regarded by many people involved in the 3 1/2 -year effort to stabilize and rebuild Iraq as one of the Bush administration's gravest errors. Many of those selected because of their political fidelity spent their time trying to impose a conservative agenda on the postwar occupation, which sidetracked more important reconstruction efforts and squandered goodwill among the Iraqi people, according to many people who participated in the reconstruction effort.
<more>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/16/AR2006091600193_pf.html

[magellan]

1. When do we stop calling it incompetence

...and start recognizing the long history this regime has for gaming the system in their favor?

BushCo aren't idiots. They let this happen and have done nothing to correct it. On the contrary, they've done their level best to discredit and oust anyone who blows the whistle on their corrupt schemes.

When will someone start calling them what they are: liars and crooks.

[ixion]

2. in there mind, there is nothing to correct.

Chaos breeds war, which means the big bucks flow to their cronies.

They are, as the saying goes, happy as pigs in sh**. :grr:

[Parisle]

3. Gravest "Error?"

---- One of the principle "interpretations" of the War on Iraq was as a giant redistribution of income,..... from taxpayers to corporate friends of the administration. And most particularly so for Halliburton - prior to the war, their stock was in the toilet from their asbestos lawsuits, remember? The war, in fact, probably "saved" Halliburton, and there is likely little doubt that this was one of the items discussed in Cheney's "secret" Energy Panel meetings.