MetaFilter posts tagged with corruption and iraq

Surely this. . .

bardic — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:02:14 -0800

"Liberal Hawk" Peter Galbraith played a major role in justifying the American invasion of Iraq. Later he helped write the new Iraqi constitution. Turns out he failed to disclose the hundreds of millions he stands to make on Kurdish oil fields, in part because of his engineering of the same constitution to put him in a favorable business position. Another blogger remembers the good ol' days of 2003 when the media and politicians were shocked --shocked! -- that anyone would dare suggest that the invasion and occupation of Iraq was "all about oil."

Bush's War

auralcoral — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 06:29:01 -0800

In honor of the 5-year anniversary of the Iraq War, PBS' Frontline presented a fantastic 2- part special on the issue this past Monday and Tuesday. It is now available in it's entirety online along with interview transcripts from senior officials, a video timeline of the war, and battlefield stories from soldiers. Bush's War

$9 billion missing

homunculus — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:15:27 -0800

Billions over Baghdad. "Between April 2003 and June 2004, $12 billion in U.S. currency—much of it belonging to the Iraqi people—was shipped from the Federal Reserve to Baghdad, where it was dispensed by the Coalition Provisional Authority. Some of the cash went to pay for projects and keep ministries afloat, but, incredibly, at least $9 billion has gone missing, unaccounted for, in a frenzy of mismanagement and greed. Following a trail that leads from a safe in one of Saddam's palaces to a house near San Diego, to a P.O. box in the Bahamas, the authors discover just how little anyone cared about how the money was handled."

corporate profiting in Iraq

nickyskye — Sun, 13 May 2007 15:52:04 -0800

"On May 10th, 2007, this video was banned in Congress" - Filmmaker, Robert Greenwald, wanted to show a four minute clip of his film when testifying to Congress, but Republicans disallowed it. This is the clip from his excellent movie now available on Google Video, Iraq for Sale.

In Their Own Image

digaman — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 12:22:20 -0800

"I'm not here for the Iraqis. I'm here for George Bush." How the reconstruction of Iraq was bungled by inexperienced staffers and officials who passed the GOP's loyalty test -- including their views on Roe v. Wade. A WashPost excerpt from Rajiv Chandrasekaran's new exposé Imperial Life in the Emerald City. (Corruption in Iraq previously discussed here.)

...action has been coordinated with VP's office...

amberglow — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 18:20:09 -0800

"I am copying you on this crap since I honestly believe the competitive procurement will never happen." --a multi-billion-dollar no-bid contract to KBR/Halliburton announced only after the fact, Cheney's extensive involvement, the attempted coverup of that involvement, lies, and you. Embarrassment is not sufficient cause for exemption from the Freedom of Information Act, no matter how much some may wish. ...Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press in September 2003 Cheney stated, “I have absolutely no influence of, involvement of, knowledge of in any way, shape or form of contracts led by the [Army] Corps of Engineers or anybody else in the Federal Government.”

an off the books slush fund that both the Americans and their Iraqi allies could use with impunity to cover expenditures they would rather keep secret

amberglow — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 18:43:47 -0800

How Much Oil Has Iraq Been Exporting Since We Invaded? And how much revenue should be recorded? --Iraq’s oil exports hit another post-invasion low in December and January, according to the Oil & Gas Journal. How do they know? Good question: according to Reuters, production and exports have gone unmetered since the Coalition Provisional Authority took over the country following the 2003 invasion; until new meters are installed (in 1-2 more years), everybody’s just guessing. Our Government's Energy Information Administration has all sorts of statistics--anyone wanna figure out how they're derived regarding Iraq?

Massive fraud, theft, corruption in Iraq rebuilding

Kickstart70 — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 11:32:48 -0800

Massive fraud, theft, corruption in Iraq rebuilding ...Iraqi money gambled away in the Philippines...spent on a swimming pool that was never used...US$700,000 in cash in an unlocked footlocker...millions to companies that never submitted required competitive bids or that were paid for unfinished work...paid US$14,000 on four separate occasions for the same job...US$1.3 million wasted on overpriced or duplicate construction or equipment not delivered..."needlessly disbursed more than US$1.8 million" of the estimated US$2.3 million spent for renovating the library...from new auditor reports from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.

smells like Kissinger, but he only slept with starlets

amberglow — Sat, 26 Mar 2005 13:21:10 -0800

Oh Wolfie! Wolfie! Invade me like you invaded Iraq! Pegged to head the World Bank, is Wolfowitz' lover, Shaha Riza, one of the reasons we invaded Iraq? Critics say it would be impossible for Wolfie - as he is nicknamed by Bush - to make independent decisions when his lover, who works on Middle Eastern and North African issues, is so committed to overthrowing Middle Eastern regimes. "His womanising has come home to roost," a Washington insider said. "Paul was a foreign policy hawk long before he met Shaha but it doesn't look good to be accused of being under the thumb of your mistress."

Strange dissappearance in Iraq

nTeleKy — Mon, 21 Feb 2005 11:21:29 -0800

Kirk von Ackermann mysteriously dissappears on October 9, 2003. He was working for a contracting company in iraq and had called for assistance after getting a flat tire. When help arrived, he was gone without a trace leaving behind a laptop, his satellite phone and a briefcase with $40,000 destined for Iraqi subcontractors in the back seat of his truck.

Rick Manelick, a colleague of his, had told army investigators investigating the appearance that large sums of money were being paid to an army officer in exchange for granting contracts to Ultra Services, the company they both worked for. Two months after the disappearance he was killed in a drive-by shooting a day after telling a SF Chronicle reporter "I'm in fear of my life, you know. It's not Iraqis I'm worried about, either, it's people from my own country." (Found via SojoMail, see also Topeka DIY and Time.

Did the Interim Iraqi Defense Minister have these two Americans murdered for $300 million?

insomnia_lj — Sat, 22 Jan 2005 13:21:40 -0800

Did the Interim Iraqi Defense Minister have these two Americans murdered for $300 million? In the middle of a election that will decide who controls Iraq, Interim Iraqi Defense Minister Hazim Shaalan has announced that Ahmad Chalabi -- a rival candidate -- will be arrested on 13-year-old charges. But why now? Shaalan says Chalabi "wanted to malign the reputation of the defense ministry". How?
1> Shaalan claims Chalabi released documents accusing Shaalan of being a former member of the Mokhaberat, Saddam's intelligence service. (Shaalan claims political fraud, with the intent of silencing his claims against the Iranians.)
2> Chalabi claims that Shaalan flew $300 million in U.S. currency to a shady businessman in Lebanon, bypassing financial controls, the public bidding process, and Iraqi government oversight.
So, how does this tie in with Stoffel and Wemple? Stoffel recently alerted senior U.S. officials that the Iraqi Defense Ministry was involved in a kickback scheme involving a shady businessman in Lebanon and a multimillion-dollar arms deal. Late last year, Stoffel, a prominent Republican donor and arms dealer, met with aides to Sen. Santorum, R-Pa. Santorum wrote Donald Rumsfeld on Stoffel's behalf, asking him to raise the issue with Shaalan. Stoffel was later invited by the Coalition to arbitrate a solution with the Lebanese businessman. After several days, the arbitrator told the businessman to pay Stoffel -- a debt which is still unpaid. Upon leaving the base, Stoffel and Wemple were attacked and killed nearby. A video from a previously unknown terrorist group claimed responsibility, but one expert suggests that the video may be "manufactured". A reporter recently granted an interview with an Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman was forbidden to ask "dangerous" questions about the contract. Stoffel and Wemple are survived by their wives and five children.

Another day, another criminal probe into Halliburton dealings with shady regimes.

clevershark — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 19:06:18 -0800

Another day, another criminal probe into Halliburton dealings with shady regimes. This is for activities going back to the 1995-2000 period, when the current Vice-President was CEO of the petroleum exploration leviathan. It's also been well documented that Halliburton did business with Iraq during that same time period. This begs the question, how many "forbidden countries" were Halliburton doing business with during Mr. Cheney's stewardship? Note: it's somewhat related, though not quite the same, as this previous thread.

A Temporary Coup

y2karl — Mon, 14 Jun 2004 14:28:15 -0800

"A Temporary Coup" -- after a brief commercial, read Salon's interview with CIA historian Thomas Powers, who wrote The Trouble with the CIA and The Failure previously for the NYRB, and herein relates a tale of terror and truly Byzantine intrigue.

Hey, that 3/4 million in the briefcase, can we have some of that?

Ignatius J. Reilly — Mon, 15 Dec 2003 16:11:54 -0800

Halliburton Gets $222 Million Worth of New Business in Iraq Not a bad haul, considering their tough week.

Cherry picking shopping

Ignatius J. Reilly — Wed, 13 Aug 2003 08:28:02 -0800

$20,000 bonus to official who agreed on nuke claim A former Energy Department intelligence chief who agreed with the White House claim that Iraq had reconstituted its defunct nuclear-arms program was awarded a total of $20,500 in bonuses during the build-up to the war, WorldNetDaily has learned...His officers argued at a pre-briefing at Energy headquarters that there was no hard evidence to support the alarming Iraq nuclear charge, and asked to join State Department's dissenting opinion, Energy officials say. Rider ordered them to "shut up and sit down," according to sources familiar with the meeting.

Today's most buried headline

jackspace — Mon, 19 May 2003 09:28:33 -0800

This week's most buried headline could be a real stinker this week for the Pentagon. Apparently over $1 trillion are missing as well as "dozens of tanks, missiles and planes."

owillis — Sat, 23 Jun 2001 09:44:14 -0800

Cheney caught in lie. "According to oil industry executives and confidential United Nations records, however, Halliburton held stakes in two firms that signed contracts to sell more than $73 million in oil production equipment and spare parts to Iraq while Cheney was chairman and chief executive officer of the Dallas-based company."

That would be the same Iraq Cheney/Bush blew to smithereens for his oil buddies.