Posted on 02/04/2006 10:11:23 PM PST by ncountylee
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 4 — Iraqi and American officials say they are seeing a troubling pattern of government corruption enabling the flow of oil money and other funds to the insurgency and threatening to undermine Iraq's struggling economy.
In Iraq, which depends almost exclusively on oil for its revenues, the officials say that any diversion of money to an insurgency that is killing its citizens and tearing apart its infrastructure adds a new and menacing element to the challenge of holding the country together.
In one example, a sitting member of the Iraqi National Assembly has been indicted in the theft of millions of dollars meant for protecting a critical oil pipeline against attacks and is suspected of funneling some of that money to the insurgency, said Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, the chairman of Iraq's Commission on Public Integrity. The indictment has not been made public.
The charges against the Sunni lawmaker, Meshaan al-Juburi, lend credence to the suspicions of Iraqi officials that the insurgency is profiting from Iraq's oil riches.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Rare, reasonable NY Times article.
Corrupt Arabs? No way!
Just like how the Mafia works.
"It's gone beyond Nigeria levels now "
That's one bold statement, maybe an overstatement. Nigeria's oil thieves BUILT a pipeline to offload onto smuginlg tankers. Like 10 to 15% of Nigeria's daily output or over 100,000 barrels a day.
That's what happens when a government has control over an industry. Time to privatize.
Wait a minute I thought that this war on Iraqi freedom was about oil?
You meant "was not" about oil, with sarcasm right?
Who said it wasn't about oil?
Saw that one coming a mile away...
Well perhaps oil graft wouldn't be a problem had we simply annexed their oil industry, as we should have. If we have learned anything in the past 30 years, it is that NO Muslim nation should be permitted to control its own oil. Perhaps when the price hits $200 per barrel we can drop the "democracy" pretense and get on with what needs to be done.
Need to fire some of the oil company employees.
One of the risks of "spreading Democracy" in the Middle East is that terrorist organizations like Hamas in Palestine, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Taliban in Afghanistan, Shiite extremists in Iran and Iraq and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt will gain legitimacy through being elected and having surrogates in the governments. This gives criminals access to legitimate sources of power to do their evil work under the cloak of democratic legitimacy. This is what is happening currently in Iraq. Infiltration of the new sources of power and policy endanger the lives of our brave men and women on the ground.
The American influence will ultimately turn Iraq into a showcase, though, I think. It's the camel's nose under the tent.
very dismaying
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