As Much As $2 Billion Stolen in Iraq

In what may be the largest theft in history, nearly $2 Billion of US tax dollars were embezzled under the noses of the US Military and civilian administration in Iraq by the Iraqi officials appointed by them. The Iraqis are investigating the possibility that rogue elements of the US military may have been involved or at least grossly negligent. Yet, do you find this story in the American press?
Middle East : app1" href="http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article313538.ece">Independent

One billion dollars has been plundered from Iraq's defence ministry in one of the largest thefts in history, The Independent can reveal, leaving the country's army to fight a savage insurgency with museum-piece weapons.


The money, intended to train and equip an Iraqi army capable of bringing security to a country shattered by the US-led invasion and prolonged rebellion, was instead siphoned abroad in cash and has disappeared.


"It is possibly one of the largest thefts in history," Ali Allawi, Iraq's Finance Minister, told The Independent. "Huge amounts of money have disappeared. In return we got nothing but scraps of metal."


The carefully planned theft has so weakened the army that it cannot hold Baghdad against insurgent attack without American military support, Iraqi officials say, making it difficult for the US to withdraw its 135,000- strong army from Iraq, as Washington says it wishes to do.

[...]
The Iraqi Board of Supreme Audit says in a report to the Iraqi government that US-appointed Iraqi officials in the defence ministry allegedly presided over these dubious transactions.


Senior Iraqi officials now say they cannot understand how, if this is so, the disappearance of almost all the military procurement budget could have passed unnoticed by the US military in Baghdad and civilian advisers working in the defence ministry.


Government officials in Baghdad even suggest that the skill with which the robbery was organised suggests that the Iraqis involved were only front men, and "rogue elements" within the US military or intelligence services may have played a decisive role behind the scenes.


Given that building up an Iraqi army to replace American and British troops is a priority for Washington and London, the failure to notice that so much money was being siphoned off at the very least argues a high degree of negligence on the part of US officials and officers in Baghdad. MORE

Every time a new scandal emerges from the Bush Administration, I think people will finally understand who they have as President. But of course, the American press has been all but cowered into submission by the Republican party. The press have been publishing some bad news about Bush ever since Republican leadership started making distance from Bush.