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BILLION DOLLARS PLUNDERED FROM IRAQ'S DEFENCE MINISTRY!
Regarding the latest caught SAS/MI6-agents in Basra yesterday - here is just another aspect that will show you the "bigger picture" of how the US military in Iraq is driven onto thin ice:
Billion dollars plundered from Iraq's defence ministry
Mon Sep 19, 2:09 AM ET
LONDON (AFP) - A billion dollars has been plundered from the coffers of
Iraq's defence ministry, seriously affecting the government's ability to combat the insurgency, the Independent newspaper here reported, citing the Iraqi finance minister.
"It is possibly one of the largest thefts in history," the centre-left paper quoted finance minister Ali Allawi as saying.
Most of the money was "siphoned abroad in cash and has disappeared" to finance the purchase of arms in Poland and Pakistan, according to the report. But rather than purchasing state-of-the-art weaponry Iraq had procured "museum-piece weapons," the Independent charged.
The paper listed a series of problems with the arms purchased including armoured cars which "turned out to be so poorly made that even a bullet from an elderly AK-47 machine-gun could penetrate their armour." Other armoured cars reportedly leaked so much oil that they had to be abandoned.
A shipment of the latest MP5 American machine-guns turned out to be Egyptian copies worth a fraction of the price, according to the report.
"Many Iraqi soldiers and police have died because they were not properly equipped," the daily added.
The rip-offs were so huge, said the paper, that Baghdad officials estimate that the Iraqis involved "were only front men and 'rogue elements' within the US military and intelligence services may have played a decisive role behind the scenes".
Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari has been informed of the problem "but the extent of the losses has become apparent only gradually. The sum missing was first reported as 300 million dollars and then 500 million dollars, but in fact it is at least twice as large," the paper said.
"It is nearly 100 percent of the ministry's (procurement) budget that has gone AWOL (absent without leave)," Allawi was quoted as saying....
One billion dollars has been plundered from Iraq's defence ministry in one of the largest thefts in history, The Independent has revealed, leaving the country's army to fight a savage insurgency with museum-piece weapons.
The money, intended to train and equip an Iraqi army capable of bringing security to a country shattered by the US-led invasion and prolonged rebellion, was instead siphoned abroad in cash and has disappeared.
(snip)
"Huge amounts of money have disappeared. In return we got nothing but scraps of metal."
The carefully planned theft has so weakened the army that it cannot hold Baghdad against insurgent attack without American military support, Iraqi officials say, making it difficult for the US to withdraw its 135,000- strong army from Iraq, as Washington says it wishes to do.
Most of the money was supposedly spent buying arms from Poland and Pakistan. The contracts were peculiar in four ways. According to Mr Allawi, they were awarded without bidding, and were signed with a Baghdad-based company, and not directly with the foreign supplier. The money was paid up front, and, surprisingly for Iraq, it was paid at great speed out of the ministry's account with the Central Bank. Military equipment purchased in Poland included 28-year-old Soviet-made helicopters. The manufacturers said they should have been scrapped after 25 years of service. Armoured cars purchased by Iraq turned out to be so poorly made that even a bullet from an elderly AK-47 machine-gun could penetrate their armour. A shipment of the latest MP5 American machine-guns, at a cost of $3,500 (£1,900) each, consisted in reality of Egyptian copies worth only $200 a gun. Other armoured cars leaked so much oil that they had to be abandoned. A deal was struck to buy 7.62mm machine-gun bullets for 16 cents each, although they should have cost between 4 and 6 cents...
The picture - as we stated in our previos posts - is becoming clearer day by day. The real "insurgents" are ALWAYS inside the own administration...
That's the old "British" game of "Equilibrance of Power": If the "others" get too strong, strip them - if they are too weak - support them. See as well the related postings of IZAKOVIC and Useless_Eater
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