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Ear to the Ground

Private Contractors ‘Mismanaged’ $23 Billion in Iraq

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Posted on Jun 11, 2008
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A sign on a California highway adopted by Halliburton is defaced.

A BBC investigation on U.S. war profiteering estimates that $23 billion of taxpayer funds has been “lost, stolen, or not properly accounted for in Iraq.” The figure, which uses U.S. and Iraqi government sources, is meeting resistance from the Bush administration, which pushed through a gag order in dozens of court cases involving the alleged mismanagement of funds by private contractors.


The BBC:

The BBC’s Panorama programme has used US and Iraqi government sources to research how much some private contractors have profited from the conflict and rebuilding.

A US gagging order is preventing discussion of the allegations.

The order applies to 70 court cases against some of the top US companies.

To date, no major US contractor faces trial for fraud or mismanagement in Iraq.

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By troublesum, June 12, 2008 at 11:53 am #

I’ll bet it was mismanaged right into several Swiss bank accounts.

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By hippy pam, June 12, 2008 at 8:50 am #

The “BULLSH*T BUNCH”[all his FRIENDS AND FAMILY]
strike again…How much have THEY LINED THEIR POCKETS WITH at OUR EXPENSE???Let alone ALL THE LOST FUTURES[lives]-just a comment-They say abortion[killing of a fetus]is a SIN/CRIME!!!!WHAT DO YOU CALL THE MURDER OF THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN WARRIORS AND IRAQUI CIVILIANS?????

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By samosamo, June 12, 2008 at 1:41 am #

It has always been about the money. And what money you can see and account for legal or illegal is nothing compared to what is in these crook’s offshore accounts. That is where their big payoffs are. No taxes or accountability either, just unimaginably huge amounts of money that by the way are probably already converted to euros.
These neocons and with the current administration are well ahead of the poor people like waxman who seems to be genuinely trying to do some oversight and investigation, but with the neocon think tanks and decades of planning there will most probably be very little to prosecute these criminals with or get any of the money back.

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By Arabian Thoroughbred, June 12, 2008 at 12:48 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

I wish the media, especially the free non-corporate media, would focus more on the thousands of Iraqi and Americans killed, crippled for life, or were made miserable refugees than focusing on the material aspects of the war cost.

The last time I heard a count of the Americans killed in the Iraqi war, for example, was the figure of four thousand, some two or three months ago. The mainstream media has stopped counting, and we know why. However, the question that persists is, “Can’t this vast country of 300 million people produce half dozen non-corporate media outlets that can keep focus on the human cost of this very evil war?!

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By Elizabeth, June 12, 2008 at 12:15 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

$23Billion is just a drop in the bucket to the pail full the BBC can’t document because of the gag orders.  The Pentagon isn’t even trying to account.  The fraud on the “rebuilding” is probably the entire amount. These “cost+4%” contracts absolutely demand fraud.  The more you spend, the more you take homes.

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By purplewolf, June 11, 2008 at 4:50 pm #

Bush’s favorite-the gag order. Of course he won’t allow for the truth to come out. All of his buddies, as well as Bush himself are the ones benefiting from this rape of the taxpayers of America. Bush, being the college graduate from Yale/Harvard Business School, would never allow for his buddies to be tried for fraud and or mismanagement of Iraqi war funding. Being held unaccountable for his past errors in action or judgement or business or nation ruination are a Bush trademark trait. What else would one expect from such a shining example of greed.

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By felicity, June 11, 2008 at 4:37 pm #

“Lost, stolen or not properly accounted for”  is called the spoils of war.  Rather like the thousands of innocents killed or maimed - spoils of war.  Rather like the ‘walking dead’ who return from wars - spoils of war.  Rather like the battle-field dead who come home in coffins - the spoils of war.

For so many, war is suffering and death.  For a few, war is manna from heaven.

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