Posted on 05/29/2004 7:08:35 PM PDT by wagglebee
Edited on 05/29/2004 7:12:22 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
HINESVILLE, Ga. -- He took the money. Sgt. Matt Novak admits that much. He and several fellow soldiers could not resist after discovering nearly $200 million in $100 bills sealed inside a gardener's cottage in a Baghdad palace complex last spring.
"Millions of dollars makes a lot of things go through your mind," Novak told a military review board in Georgia in December after confessing that he and the others had stolen about $12 million.
A year after American soldiers discovered about $760 million of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's cash hidden in several cottages, the case still raises questions. U.S. Treasury Department officials are trying to determine whether Hussein got the money from illegal oil sales and kickbacks, even as the cash is being spent on the U.S. occupation and rebuilding effort.
For Novak, one of six soldiers accused of stealing seven-inch-thick bundles of $100 bills, the affair has been a bitter lesson in military justice. He confessed, named higher-ups and led investigators to millions he and others had tried to hide. He has since been kicked out of the Army and banned from nearby Ft. Stewart, while the five others implicated received administrative punishments — and two were promoted, Novak's lawyer said.
LA Times items need excerpting, even when picked up from other sites. Just a reminder.
A lot of hypotheticals run through one's mind....
On Camp Grenada we discovered gazillions of US dollars on the Cuban "construction workers". It was pretty hard to hand over a ruck sack of hundreds to intel weenies. But it was a good thing as we found out later it was all counterfeit. We'd a been married to the MoFo with the most packs of cigarettes had we decided to keep a few for ourselves.....:o)
In DS-91 the booty we found in fragged vehicles on hell highway was awesome..... Philpe Patek watches, Jewelry, and gold coin etc...... Treasure is everywhere in a war zone . One has to decide if integrity really means doing the right thing even when no one is watching.
Stay safe !
Isn't this an old story - I remember seeing a film on the soldiers finding this money early on in the war .. maybe a year ago. Why is the LAT recycling it again ..?? Is it just to keep negative stories on the front pages about our military ..??
Eh, I disagree. In this situation, taking the money probably wouldn't have hurt anyone. But if displine breaks down and looting civilans becomes common, you end up with angry civilians who help insurgents or become them. Especially in the middle east. That means your political goals can fail, and you can expect a lot more bodybags.
None of these guys signed up expecting twelve million dollar paydays, and they are Americans. We expect a lot more than we do of some ratbag third-world ethnic milita.
"...integrity really means doing the right thing even when no one is watching."
My mother used to say that.
then yer Mom was kewl.........:o)
"...have a plan to kill everyone you meet."
I'll tell her that, but I'm glad she never met you.
Stay safe !
BP bump!
Seriously, are you serious??
I'd like to think you meant "series," but...
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