Iraqi authorities are preparing an arrest warrant for the country’s former defence minister in connection with a massive fraud case involving the “disappearance” of more than $1bn from ministry coffers.
Judge Raid al-Radhi, who is head of Iraq’s commission on public integrity, said yesterday that he had given Iraq’s central criminal court a dossier of evidence against Hazim Shaalan, who was minister of defence under the former government of Ayed Allawi.
“What Shaalan and his ministry were responsible for is possibly the largest robbery in the world. Our estimates begin at $1.3bn [£720m] and go up to $2.3bn,” Judge Radhi, who is Iraq’s senior anti-corruption official, told Reuters.
There you go, folks. Fraud is down drastically. So is torture and terrorism. What an improvement, and all this was accomplished at no fiscal or human cost.
The description “possibly the largest robbery in the world”, were Judge Radhi’s words, as quoted from the article.
Yes, the $10B stolen by Saddam was horrible and criminal. Yes, the UN oil-for-food scandal is a stain on the UN that I, as an employee of the UN, and all of my colleagues, are deeply ashamed of and the likes of which we hope never to see again.
However, as they say, two wrongs don’t make a right, and the existence of corruption and criminality in so many other places (such as those mentioned above by Brian, and also the those perpetrated by the Bush administration - Halliburton no-bid contracts come to mind - and by major corporations worldwide) does not diminish the fact that the stealing, by an Iraqi defense minister, of more than $1B, the majority of which likely came from taxes paid by Americans, is wrong and bad for all of us.
It may not be the biggest robbery in the world, but it’s still a bad, bad state of affairs.
Hold on a sec–the vast majority, ie 90%, of the ten billion wasn’t part of oil for food at all, but was smuggled out of Iraq via good US allies Jordan and Turkey, with the full knowlege and (public) disapproval of the US. Smuggled Iraqi oil kept Jordan’s economy afloat for nearly a decade. Oddly enough, no one’s talking about this, even though King Hussein made more money sanctions-busting than anyone at the UN.
The entire Oil for food ‘scandal’ consists of illegal commissions paid on roughly a billion dollars worth of oil; a scandal dwarfed by the theft going on inside Iraq.
The US, by the way, STILL hasn’t explained what happened to the nine billion in Iraqi oil money which had been held by the UN and which was turned over to Bremer’s administration after the invasion.
It has vanished without a trace; congress briefly stirred itself to promise an investigation, and then promptly forgat about it as soon as it was decent to do so.
…and I thought it was going to be about some of those pubs in Cornwall who charge £2.50 for a pint of Guinness just because it’s the peak tourist season…
Show me the illegality of the Halliburton contract(s).
And whose taxes are the lion’s share of the UN corruption?
And why don’t media outlets (such as The Guardian, here) bother to report the corruption at the UN with the same vigor and intensity?
Just a few observations which have led to these questions.
Nowhere do I imply that ‘2 wrongs make a right’… but please - do show me the illegalities which you allege. Otherwise, it’s just hyperbole.
Sanctions. UN sanctions. Put in place by a group that was only too happy to look the other way (while their hands were outstretched for their ‘fair share’).
Dude, the ‘sanctions’ were imposed by the US and rubber stamped at the UN. The overworked staffers at the UN had no control over, ability to enforce, or ‘put in place’ anything. They were assigned to administer the sanctions imposed by the Bush 1 administration after Gulf War 1. The UN administrative staff has no role in setting policy of any kind, which remains as always the purview of the member nations.
Bwa ha ha ha ha… just try to ignore this thread… I dare ya… I double dare ya… you can’t, can you…
WARNING: Political threads are impossible to ignore and will cause you to become disoriented and unable to find all the important threads you prefer to read.
I’ve seen twoof these sort of posts now. (Three, actually.)
What are you trying to tell us? We treated you badly? Hurt your feelings? We’re unjust little hyporcrits who didn’t accept you, just the way you are, so you didn’t have to exert yourself and actually pay attention to what is going on around you?
Is there a point to these posts beyond self-righteousness or pettiness?
Wait. Let me rephrase that—I’m not actually asking you that question.
There is no point to these posts byond self-righteousness and pettiness. That, and impertinence.
Actually, Bloomfield, I think it’s obvious. The ridiculous Straw Man argument about how the political threads got in everyone’s way so they couldn’t find the threads they wanted was the self-righteousness pettiness. Myself and a couple of others asked the members of the board why it was so impossible to just ignore the political threads – the extremely limited response was underwhelming and failed to answer the question. It was basically just political bigotry incognito if you ask me. This is why I chose to stop contributing to political discussions or starting threads in this forum. Some of you tried to go along with the silly notion of putting all political topics on one thread, but as is evidenced by these 2 or 3 political posts already down here (where they belong) – it’s not working so far. I still think it would be like trying to put all flute related posts on one thread.
Actually I think you guys like political threads; it’s obvious in that they are so popular. But what you don’t like is when the political threads cut too close to the bone. What’s going on today is cutting too close to everyone’s bones, and it ain’t very cozy – but there’s no sense in not discussing it just because it doesn’t shine a very positive light on the Bush Administration or US government policies. In other words; it’s not “Bush Bashing” as some of you like to accuse us of, – it’s just reality – and it sucks. And obviously reality is impossibe to ignore.
As for me, I could sit down and play tunes on the flute and whistle with anyone here and have a good time. I came to this board because that’s what we have in common. It’s very disappointing that I would be told by the moderator that I have “bad manners” simply because I defended myself from errant Straw Man attacks on my posts. I don’t know what it’s like where you guys play tunes with your pals, but where I go, we don’t shy away from uncomfortable political topics if they come up.
So if this post isn’t deleted before anyone reads it I’d just like to say (in the style of that great 60s British TV program – The Prisoner)
“I’ll be seeing you.”
P.S. Please don’t start in about how I’m a “troll” or any such nonsense… ok? Bloomfield asked… I answered.
