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Report: $6 billion missing in Iraq may have been stolen (U.S. sent cash - Iraq now wants it back)
CBS News ^ | 6/14/11 | Tucker Reals

Posted on 06/14/2011 7:33:17 AM PDT by Libloather

Report: $6B missing in Iraq may have been stolen
By Tucker Reals
June 14, 2011 7:35 AM

The man Congress put in charge of auditing the billions of dollars dumped on Iraq after Saddam Hussein was toppled has told the Los Angels Times he can't rule out the possibility that $6.6 billion in cash sent from the U.S. was stolen.

Special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction Stuart Bowen told the Times the missing money may represent "the largest theft of funds in national history."

It was not, it is crucial to note here, U.S. tax-payer dollars which have gone missing in Iraq. The money came from a special fund set up by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York with Iraq's own money -- funds which were withheld from the nation during a decade of harsh economic sanctions under Saddam.

Now, and here's the real kicker, Iraq wants it's money back. The Los Angeles Times says some officials in Baghdad have threatened to take the U.S. government to court to reclaim the missing loot. The last known holder of the funds, before they mysteriously disappeared into the dusty oblivion of post-war Iraq, was the U.S. government.

"Congress is not looking forward to having to spend billions of our money to make up for billions of their money that we can't account for, and can't seem to find," Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) told the Times. Waxman was head of the House Government Reform Committee which held hearings on U.S. waste, fraud and abuse in Iraq about six years ago.

(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: billion; cash; iraq; stolen; waxman
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Never, EVER send cash.
1 posted on 06/14/2011 7:33:23 AM PDT by Libloather
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To: Libloather

deduct it from the bill they owe us


2 posted on 06/14/2011 7:35:53 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: Libloather

Color me surprised...


3 posted on 06/14/2011 7:36:26 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks (Eh ?)
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To: Libloather

how about we just send them a bill for twice the amount for all “our” blood and treasure we’ve spent liberating them from their sadistic dictator...


4 posted on 06/14/2011 7:36:52 AM PDT by jed turtle (Trust in the Lord and acknowledge Him in all your ways)
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To: Libloather

It’s there somewhere, keep looking.

Wait till we see how much is missing from
the trillions shifted around by golden boy obama.


5 posted on 06/14/2011 7:39:06 AM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: Libloather
OK... the money has evaporated into the terrorist backpocket. We all knew that would happen. It's in their DNA to lie and steal.

The question is... why would our clueless reps keep repeating the same mistake and send them a few more billion we don't have?

/shaking head in disgust

6 posted on 06/14/2011 7:39:11 AM PDT by BigFinn
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To: jed turtle

Oil @ $1/bbl works for me.


7 posted on 06/14/2011 7:40:04 AM PDT by Paladin2
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To: Libloather
funds which were withheld from the nation during a decade of harsh economic sanctions under Saddam.

So we actually DO have a lockbox for "money to Iraq" but we DON'T have a SS lockbox? WTH? Have we set up similar funds for every country in the world? I am thinking more and more that the Federal Reserve of New York needs a severe independent audit!!!
8 posted on 06/14/2011 7:40:36 AM PDT by Eagle of Liberty ("You're a different kind of special..........")
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To: Libloather
Never, EVER, send cash.

And always, ALWAYS, if you are inclined to give charity, personally walk the beneficiary through each benefit -- utilities, groceries, fuel, etc., and use your credit card.

That way, the poor get what they need; they DON'T get drugs, liquor, lottery tickets, whores; there is a complete accounting on your statement at the end of the month (thus, the money isn't just "missing"); and you get reward points on the card. It's a win-win-win-win situation.

9 posted on 06/14/2011 7:42:45 AM PDT by Migraine (Diversity is great... ...until it happens to YOU.)
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To: Libloather
It was not, it is crucial to note here, U.S. tax-payer dollars which have gone missing in Iraq.

Then where did the money come from? Was the theft was ever investigated? This report is nothing but a white wash.

10 posted on 06/14/2011 7:42:50 AM PDT by mas cerveza por favor
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To: Libloather

Yawn. According to Senator Coburn, something like $80 billion is stolen from the US government every year through phony medicare claims. Wake me when you’re talking real dollars. /s


11 posted on 06/14/2011 7:43:26 AM PDT by Meet the New Boss
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To: Libloather

Small potatoes compared to the TRILLIONS of dollars that disappeared during the TARP debacle and the Porkulus Bill scams in ‘09.
Even the GAO, our toothless Congressional “watchdog”, estimates $200 billion disappears from government agencies EVERY YEAR, with no investigations and no one going to jail.
Everybody’s money becomes somebody’s money stashed in some off-shore bank account. That’s why there are so many crooks attracted to “government service.”


12 posted on 06/14/2011 7:45:29 AM PDT by kittymyrib
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To: Libloather

Montgomery Burns strikes again?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trouble_with_Trillions

“They reveal that in 1945, President Harry Truman printed a one trillion-dollar bill (with his photo on it) to help reconstruct post-war Europe. He handed the bill over to Montgomery Burns to transport to the Europeans. However, the money never arrived and the FBI suspects Burns still has the money with him.”


13 posted on 06/14/2011 7:48:05 AM PDT by heiss
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To: Libloather

Barney Frank and his compatriots probably used those funds to prop up their Fannie and their Freddie.


14 posted on 06/14/2011 7:48:41 AM PDT by WayneS ("I hope you know this will go down on your PERMANENT record...")
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To: Libloather

Have they looked under the couch cushions?


15 posted on 06/14/2011 7:49:24 AM PDT by WayneS ("I hope you know this will go down on your PERMANENT record...")
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To: Libloather
6 Billion Unexpectedly Missing In Iraq
16 posted on 06/14/2011 7:50:24 AM PDT by TexasCajun
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To: Libloather
Just have Ben "Inky" Bernanke print up another few billion for them. What's a little hyperinflation between friends.
17 posted on 06/14/2011 7:54:27 AM PDT by KarlInOhio (Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! Tea Party extremism is a badge of honor.)
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To: BigFinn

They say that Iraqis only got half of the 12 billion sent and that American handlers kept the rest. If Iraq is correct, Congress will probably pay up to get those handlers off the hook and avoid an investigation in exchange for a share of the loot in campaign contributions.


18 posted on 06/14/2011 7:55:42 AM PDT by mas cerveza por favor
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To: Libloather

No problem. I’ll write them a check!


19 posted on 06/14/2011 7:55:47 AM PDT by Doc Savage ("I've shot people I like a lot more,...for a lot less!" Raylan Givins)
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To: Libloather

Dealing with thieving savages,Hey deduct it from the 1.5 Trillion you owe us,pay in Oil ,Gold or Dollars.


20 posted on 06/14/2011 7:56:22 AM PDT by Cheetahcat ( November 4 2008 ,A date that will live in Infamy.)
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