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Billion-dollar pillage of ravaged Iraq

Posted by Tiglath (Guest) - Tuesday, September 20 2005, 8:13:36 (CEST) from 203.58.120.11 - ip11.ip120.ip58.ip203.sensis.com.au Australia - Windows XP - Internet Explorer Website: Website title:

Billion-dollar pillage of ravaged Iraq By London September 20, 2005 Page Tools Email to a friend Printer format MORE than a billion dollars has been plundered from the coffers of Iraq's Defence Ministry, seriously affecting the Government's ability to combat the insurgency, The Independent newspaper reports. "It is possibly one of the largest thefts in history," it quoted Iraqi Finance Minister Ali Allawi as saying. Most of the money was "siphoned abroad in cash and has disappeared" to finance the purchase of arms in Poland and Pakistan. But rather than buying state-of-the-art weaponry, Iraq had procured "museum-piece weapons," The Independent charged. The paper listed a series of problems with the arms purchased, including armoured cars that "turned out to be so poorly made that even a bullet from an elderly AK-47 machine-gun could penetrate their armour". Other armoured cars leaked so much oil that they had to be abandoned. A shipment of the latest MP5 American submachine-guns turned out to be Egyptian copies worth a fraction of the price, according to the report. "Many Iraqi soldiers and police have died because they were not properly equipped," The Independent said. Advertisement AdvertisementThe rip-offs were so huge, said the paper, that Baghdad officials estimated that the Iraqis involved "were only frontmen, and 'rogue elements' within the US military and intelligence services may have played a decisive role behind the scenes". Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari has been told of the problem "but the extent of the losses has become apparent only gradually". "The sum missing was first reported as $US300 million and then $US500 million ($A394 million, then $A656 million), but in fact it is at least twice as large," the paper said. "It is nearly 100 per cent of the ministry's procurement budget that has gone AWOL," Mr Allawi was quoted as saying. Mr Allawi says a further $US500 million-600 million has disappeared from the electricity, transport, interior and other ministries. "This helps to explain why the supply of electricity in Baghdad has been so poor since the fall of Saddam Hussein 29 months ago despite claims by the US and subsequent Iraqi governments that they are doing everything to improve power generation." Iraq's parliament finally approved a draft constitution on Sunday, just four weeks before the text is put to a referendum, as violence persisted after one of the bloodiest weeks since the US invasion of 2003. The agreement came at the end of a week of carnage in which 250 people were killed in the capital and elsewhere. The Kurdish and Shiite-led Government, backed by occupying US forces, is facing a Sunni Arab insurgency aimed at bringing it down, and the US military has said it expects violence to rise before the October 15 constitutional referendum. AFP, REUTERS --------------------- - BACK TO INDEX - REPLY - QUOTE - EDIT - DELETE -

The full topic: Billion-dollar pillage of ravaged Iraq Tiglath - Tuesday, September 20 2005, 8:13:36 (CEST) Re: Billion-dollar pillage of ravaged Iraq Maggie - 09/20 08:54 Re: Billion-dollar pillage of ravaged Iraq bezelbub - 09/20 17:23

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