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Panorama investigates claims that as much as $23bn (£11.75bn) may have been lost, stolen or not properly accounted for in Iraq.
There are contracts for caterers, tanker drivers, security guards and even interrogators, many of them through companies with links to the White House. Now more than 70 whistleblower cases threaten to reveal the scandals behind billions of dollars worth of waste, theft and corruption during the Iraq war. Gagging orders A total of $23bn (£11.75bn) is under scrutiny.
The US justice department has imposed gagging orders which prevent the real scale of the problem emerging. But Panorama’s Jane Corbin has spoken to some of those involved – with astonishing stories to tell of who got rich and who got burned. She hears allegations of mismanagement, fraud and waste; tales of contractors chosen for their US government connections without a competitive bidding process; contractors inflating their costs and double counting to increase their profits and billions supposed to be used to rebuild the Iraqi military allegedly ending up in the pockets of some Iraqi government officials.
NorthStar Consultants Oversight Contract – No CPA’s in House
Even the contract to oversee the expenditure went to a company with no relevant qualification in accounting. “They are the quintessential war profiteers,” said a witness to one of the most notorious companies involved. “They made money out of chaos.”
More below the fold …
Even Juan Cole was misled by earlier accusations between Shalaan and Chalabi:
Shaalan also accused Chalabi of defaming him. CNN expressed puzzlement about the latter, but the reference is in part to charges Chalabi made of financial corruption against Shaalan, involving a shipment last week of $300 million in cash to Beirut for an arms deal that, Chalabi implied, may have involved kickbacks. He was also referring to Chalabi’s charges that Shaalan spied for Saddam in 1998 through 2003 and even spied on Chalabi (reported here a couple days ago from Chalabi’s web site.) Chalabi was attempting to smear Shaalan as an unreconstructed Baathist and Saddam collaborator …
Chalabi’s latter move was typically sleazy and implausible (the Americans are better at vetting people than to allow a recent Saddam spy to become Minister of Defense), and was extremely troubling. It wasn’t just down and dirty campaigning. It was closer to a kind of McCarthyism. I don’t like Shaalan or his hardline views, and do think he still has some Baath attitudes (especially his anti-Iranian racism).
STOP THE WAR – BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!
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GWB: still trying to get it
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."The habit of cognizant people today is to refer to the Cheney-Bush administration. Why hasn’t the press picked up on this obvious detail?
Thanks for putting this all together, Oui!
The extent of graft, corruption and mismanagement is mindboggling. I’m afraid the stakes are so high that we will never get to the bottom of it. Even an investigation with honest intent would be obstructed and misled; the web of grifters will be difficult to penetrate.
the war profiteering is going on with the acquiescence, and involvement of politicians on both sides of the aisle, and there is little impetus to pursue any in depth investigations…too many bodies in positions of power and influence.
the center for public integrity has assembled a great deal of data regarding the huge sums of money being paid to u.s. contractors in iraq and afghanistan in their Windfalls of War series.
one of the top ranked…highest paid…contractors on their list was none other than the Perini Corporation:
they’ve received over $2,525,000,000 for work in iraq, and $14,000,000 – $25,000,000 in afghanistan. through the last report c 2004.
little wonder she supports BushCo™ at every opportunity.
All is worm eaten. Not just the panels, but the entire framework.
Dog bites the hand that feeds
Professor Juan Cole notes: U.S. presence in Iraq coming to an end is on the horizon – within 18 months…and Chalabi weighs in:
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Sept. 2007 – Hunt Oil Company of the Kurdistan Region is a wholly-owned affiliate of the Hunt Oil Company, Dallas, Texas, USA, which is a part of the Hunt family of companies directed by Ray L. Hunt. Hunt Oil Company is one of the largest privately held independent oil companies and conducts a variety of petroleum related operations in several regions of the world, including a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Peru which is considered the largest project ever built in that country. In addition to oil and gas interests, the Hunt family of companies is engaged in real estate; private investments; refining; electrical power, ranching and farming interests.
Mr Mathew Heysel, an IEC representative, added, “We are pleased to partner with Hunt Oil on this important project to develop the oil and gas resources in the Kurdistan Region.” Impulse Energy Corporation (IEC) is a private company that invests in the energy sector in developing economies targeting oil, gas and power.
Iraq: Kurds, Foreigners and Oil
Also: Ray L. Hunt as Iraq advisor to George Bush
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."wondering who laid the groundwork for hat sweet, no-bid oil deal that shell, bp, exxon mobile, total and chevron just got in iran? well wonder no more:
no conflict of interest there. nice to see your tax dollars at work, eh.
it was just 5 days ago that dana perino claimed publicly that the White House was staying out of Iraq oil negotiations…so much for veracity.
great info Oui, as always. many thanks
there are so many more situations like this, from the same group, and not only in Iraq…
when Katrina hit, and the so-called Fema failure, guess who took over the releif effort??? HALIBURTON, yeppers, the whole thing was handled by Trick-Dick’s corp.
first, they lowered all the workers wages by half, but surprisingly the contract prices went above the norm….
I can name many other things that will amaze you…
we have never witnessed such a group of crooks in our history.
“The Second Guilded Age” has a whole new meaning these days. ; )
peace
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A report by Seymour Hersh in The New Yorker
But the scale and the scope of the operations in Iran, which include the Central Intelligence Agency, have now been significantly expanded, the article said, citing current and former officials.
Many of these activities are not specified in the new finding, and some congressional leaders have had serious questions about their nature, it said.
Among groups inside Iran benefiting from U.S. support is the Jundullah, also known as the Iranian People’s Resistance Movement, according to former CIA officer Robert Baer. Council on Foreign Relations analyst Vali Nasr described it to Hersh as a vicious organization suspected of links to al Qaeda.
None of the Democratic leaders in Congress would comment on the finding, the article said. The White House, which has repeatedly denied preparing for military action against Iran, and the CIA also declined comment.
The United States is leading international efforts to rein in Iran’s suspected effort to develop nuclear weapons, although Washington concedes Iran has the right to develop nuclear power for civilian uses.
The Iran Plans
Getting priorities right could save lives, including your own!
● US warns Taliban will step up fight in new Afghan areas
● Pentagon: Progress toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."$400 million funding from Congress. No choice having passed what is essentially the Iran War Resolution.
when will they ever learn?
Oui, You’re a real treasure here at the BooMan Community.
This observation by Laura Rozen on the Sy Hersh piece is quite interesting and as well, links to the discussions at Mojo – Iran Panic?
Hmmm. Tense relationships in store for Gates?
imho, on nuclear weapons in the Middle East, the focus should be on Pakistan. There lies the danger. Hot and getting hotter.
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However there are quite a few others at the pond keeping busy … I’m just doing my bit.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."