Published: 21 November, 2011, 10:41
As the date for the US troop withdrawal from Iraq nears, questions have been raised over those who do not leave the war zone empty-handed, as billions of dollars have reportedly been wasted or stolen during the military intervention.
Some arrests have been made of individual soldiers making cash on the side, but the big players behind the losses remain at large.
The number of people indicted and convicted by the US for bribery, fraud and theft in Iraq and Afghanistan has never been so high.
Among those is a marine in Iraq who sent home $43,000 in stolen cash by hiding it in a footlocker among American flags.
Another soldier shipped home thousands of dollars concealed in a toy stuffed animal.
Michael O’Brien, the author of America’s Failure in Iraq says “They go after people who stole $43,000. That’s great; they should go after that, but what about on a larger scale?”
In 2006, Michael O’Brien was tasked with helping build the Iraqi military. He says those who have pocketed millions enjoy complete impunity. M ichael O’Brien said:
They rebuilt an Iraqi army base and I’m telling you the condition of that base – this is just one example – was so deplorable, it was so pathetic, and when I asked the American construction project manager how much money was into this, I really thought he was going to say 3 or 5 million – it was $160 million.
This is the sort of graft and coruption that occurs in the "Fog of War." This problem was addressed in the movie "Catch 22,"
The World War 2 movie had a character named Milo Mindbender who devoted most of his time not to war maneuvers but as a relentless private entrepreneur darting from country to country in search of profit.
As Wikipedia explains:
This predicament indicates a tension between traditional motives for violence and the modern economic machine, which seems to generate violence simply as another means to profit, quite independent of geographical or ideological constraints.
Will Fox News or the main street media cover this story? Rightardia doubts it.
Hats off to Russia Today.
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