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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Was The Iraq War Merely A Smokescreen For "The Largest Theft Of [Taxpayer] Funds In National History"?

Back in 2004, following the disastrous Iraq war, started on false Weapons of Mass Destruction pretenses, and which was nothing but a backdoor subsidy to various energy contractors close to the Bush administration, the US government decided to impose a mini Marshall Plan and literally flood the country with billions in crisp $100 bills. The LA Times reports: "Pentagon officials determined that one giant C-130 Hercules cargo plane could carry $2.4 billion in shrink-wrapped bricks of $100 bills. They sent an initial full planeload of cash, followed by 20 other flights to Iraq by May 2004 in a $12-billion haul that U.S. officials believe to be the biggest international cash airlift of all time." And here we are making fun of the Chairsatan and his puny helicopter. Yet where the story gets very disturbing is that it now seems that more than half of this "reconstruction" funding was blatantly stolen! "Despite years of audits and investigations, U.S. Defense officials still cannot say what happened to $6.6 billion in cash — enough to run the Los Angeles Unified School District or the Chicago Public Schools for a year, among many other things. For the first time, federal auditors are suggesting that some or all of the cash may have been stolen, not just mislaid in an accounting error. Stuart Bowen, special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, an office created by Congress, said the missing $6.6 billion may be "the largest theft of funds in national history."" Is another huge political embarrassment in store for the current US administration (even if on this occasion it can legitimately be blamed on the predecessor?): it appears so: "The mystery is a growing embarrassment to the Pentagon, and an irritant to Washington's relations with Baghdad. Iraqi officials are threatening to go to court to reclaim the money, which came from Iraqi oil sales, seized Iraqi assets and surplus funds from the United Nations' oil-for-food program." Prepare for many more hearings involving Halliburton et al. As for where the money is - why, it has long been spent.

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1 comment:

lmclain said...

Politicians arranged and approved this. Now, 6+ billion dollars is unaccounted for and THAT figure is probably low. Can't build a school, a hospital, or fix our roads. BUT, the politicians CAN give billions in bailout money to already rich CEO's, bankers, and investment firms. And billions to foreign countries, many of whom preach our death and destruction. Whats the common demoninator? None of the money can be traced or accounted for. No one goes to jail. BILLIONS!!! But, steal a loaf of bread to feed your family and you'll be pursued by a dozen cops and chased through several counties, with helicopters and infared tracking. And, according to many on this site....."the system works"....uh huh. It sure does.