Post by unlawflcombatnt on Apr 7, 2007 17:02:54 GMT -6
Below are highlights of an article chronicling misuse of Iraq war funds. Much of it involves American corporations like Dyn Corps International. The article is titled Iraq Loses $8 Billion Through Corruption
"Iraq Loses $8 Billion Through Corruption
By Bassem Mroue and Qassim Abdul-Zahra
Associated Press
April 4, 2007
Iraq's top corruption fighter said Wednesday that $8 billion in government money was wasted or stolen over the past three years and claimed he was threatened with death after opening an investigation into scores of Oil Ministry employees. In the chaos and lawlessness of Iraq, such threats are not taken lightly. Radi al-Radhi, who runs the Public Integrity Commission, leads one of the more dangerous missions in the country. He said in an interview with The Associated Press that 20 members of the organization have been murdered since it began its work....
Al-Radhi said the commission has investigated about 2,600 corruption cases since it was established in March 2004, a few months before the United States returned sovereignty to Iraq....
In February, for example, U.S. and Iraqi forces seized Deputy Health Minister Hakim al-Zamili, a supporter of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. He reportedly orchestrated kickback schemes related to inflated contracts for equipment and services, with millions of dollars allegedly funneled to al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. Al-Zamili was suspected of employing militiamen who used Health Ministry facilities and services for ``sectarian kidnapping and murder,'' the U.S. military has said.
Al-Radhi said that after starting an investigation of 180 Oil Ministry employees in the southern province of Basra, he and another colleague received death threats....
Commission records show arrest warrants have been issued for about 90 former Iraqi officials, including 15 ministers, on charges of corruption. Most have fled the country...
The Iraq war has proven a temptation for many in the United States as well. A quarterly audit released Jan. 31 by Stuart Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, found the $300 billion U.S. war and reconstruction effort continues to be plagued with waste and corruption.
According to Bowen's report, the State Department paid $43.8 million to contractor DynCorp International for a residential camp for police training personnel outside of Baghdad's Adnan Palace grounds. The camp has been empty for months. About $4.2 million of the money was improperly spent on 20 VIP trailers and an Olympic-size pool, all ordered by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior but never authorized by the U.S.
U.S. officials spent an additional $36.4 million for weapons such as armored vehicles, body armor and communications equipment that cannot be accounted for. DynCorp also may have prematurely billed $18 million in other potentially unjustified costs, the report said. Early in the U.S. occupation of Iraq, hundreds of millions of dollars were wasted on unnecessary and overpriced equipment for the Iraqi army. Much of that waste came during Allawi's tenure as transitional prime minister....
The full article can be found at
Iraq Loses $8 Billion Through Corruption
"Iraq Loses $8 Billion Through Corruption
By Bassem Mroue and Qassim Abdul-Zahra
Associated Press
April 4, 2007
Iraq's top corruption fighter said Wednesday that $8 billion in government money was wasted or stolen over the past three years and claimed he was threatened with death after opening an investigation into scores of Oil Ministry employees. In the chaos and lawlessness of Iraq, such threats are not taken lightly. Radi al-Radhi, who runs the Public Integrity Commission, leads one of the more dangerous missions in the country. He said in an interview with The Associated Press that 20 members of the organization have been murdered since it began its work....
Al-Radhi said the commission has investigated about 2,600 corruption cases since it was established in March 2004, a few months before the United States returned sovereignty to Iraq....
In February, for example, U.S. and Iraqi forces seized Deputy Health Minister Hakim al-Zamili, a supporter of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. He reportedly orchestrated kickback schemes related to inflated contracts for equipment and services, with millions of dollars allegedly funneled to al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. Al-Zamili was suspected of employing militiamen who used Health Ministry facilities and services for ``sectarian kidnapping and murder,'' the U.S. military has said.
Al-Radhi said that after starting an investigation of 180 Oil Ministry employees in the southern province of Basra, he and another colleague received death threats....
Commission records show arrest warrants have been issued for about 90 former Iraqi officials, including 15 ministers, on charges of corruption. Most have fled the country...
The Iraq war has proven a temptation for many in the United States as well. A quarterly audit released Jan. 31 by Stuart Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, found the $300 billion U.S. war and reconstruction effort continues to be plagued with waste and corruption.
According to Bowen's report, the State Department paid $43.8 million to contractor DynCorp International for a residential camp for police training personnel outside of Baghdad's Adnan Palace grounds. The camp has been empty for months. About $4.2 million of the money was improperly spent on 20 VIP trailers and an Olympic-size pool, all ordered by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior but never authorized by the U.S.
U.S. officials spent an additional $36.4 million for weapons such as armored vehicles, body armor and communications equipment that cannot be accounted for. DynCorp also may have prematurely billed $18 million in other potentially unjustified costs, the report said. Early in the U.S. occupation of Iraq, hundreds of millions of dollars were wasted on unnecessary and overpriced equipment for the Iraqi army. Much of that waste came during Allawi's tenure as transitional prime minister....
The full article can be found at
Iraq Loses $8 Billion Through Corruption