Tag Archives: Iraq

Ron Paul: Neoconservatives backing Obama’s foreign policy

Ron Paul: “Some may notice that the neo-conservatives who masterminded the policy of global interventions are not complaining about the level of military and foreign spending. This is because rather than drawing down our costly interventions, Obama is largely staying the course on these issues. In fact, this week a group of leading neoconservatives met to discuss how best to support the President on foreign policy! I am disappointed and concerned that, in spite of a change in leadership, we will remain the policeman of the world, placing ourselves at grave danger in many ways.”

(Read more from campaignforliberty.com)

See Also: Caller to C-SPAN: Why Do You Keep Bringing These Neocons On?
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Israel gives US fresh intel on Iran Nukes

“American sources told the Saudi newspaper Al-Watan that Israel Defense Forces chief Gabi Ashkenazi provided fresh intelligence to the United States concerning Iran’s nuclear facility in Arak during his visit to Washington earlier this week, according to Israel Radio.

Ashkenazi on Monday said that while Israel was interested in exhausting diplomatic options against Iran’s nuclear program, the army must nevertheless prepare itself for a military attack. . . .

During a visit to Washington, D.C., Ashkenazi met with Dennis Ross, the designated U.S. envoy to the Persian Gulf, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to discuss the Iranian issue.

The IDF chief told Ross that Israel would not tolerate a nuclear Iran. He said that a diplomatic approach to Iran’s contentious nuclear program must be taken first, but said Israel must also prepare for other possibilities. ” (Read more from haaretz.com)

Have we already forgotten the bad intelligence about Iraqi WMDs provided by Israel, as reported here, here, here, and here?

Iraq Reconstruction: A Theft Bigger Than Madoff

By PATRICK COCKBURN:

“In what could turn out to be the greatest fraud in US history, American authorities have started to investigate the alleged role of senior military officers in the misuse of $125bn (£88bn) in a US -directed effort to reconstruct Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The exact sum missing may never be clear, but a report by the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) suggests it may exceed $50bn, making it an even bigger theft than Bernard Madoff’s notorious Ponzi scheme.

‘I believe the real looting of Iraq after the invasion was by US officials and contractors, and not by people from the slums of Baghdad,’ said one US businessman active in Iraq since 2003.

In one case, auditors working for SIGIR discovered that $57.8m was sent in ‘pallet upon pallet of hundred-dollar bills’ to the US comptroller for south-central Iraq, Robert J Stein Jr, who had himself photographed standing with the mound of money. He is among the few US officials who were in Iraq to be convicted of fraud and money-laundering.

Despite the vast sums expended on rebuilding by the US since 2003, there have been no cranes visible on the Baghdad skyline except those at work building a new US embassy and others rusting beside a half-built giant mosque that Saddam was constructing when he was overthrown. One of the few visible signs of government work on Baghdad’s infrastructure is a tireless attention to planting palm trees and flowers in the centre strip between main roads. Those are then dug up and replanted a few months later.

Iraqi leaders are convinced that the theft or waste of huge sums of US and Iraqi government money could have happened only if senior US officials were themselves involved in the corruption. In 2004-05, the entire Iraq military procurement budget of $1.3bn was siphoned off from the Iraqi Defense Ministry in return for 28-year-old Soviet helicopters too obsolete to fly and armored cars easily penetrated by rifle bullets. Iraqi officials were blamed for the theft, but US military officials were largely in control of the Defense Ministry at the time and must have been either highly negligent or participants in the fraud.

American federal investigators are now starting an inquiry into the actions of senior US officers involved in the program to rebuild Iraq, according to The New York Times, which cites interviews with senior government officials and court documents. Court records reveal that, in January, investigators subpoenaed the bank records of Colonel Anthony B Bell, now retired from the US Army, but who was previously responsible for contracting for the reconstruction effort in 2003 and 2004. Two federal officials are cited by the paper as saying that investigators are also looking at the activities of Lieutenant-Colonel Ronald W Hirtle of the US Air Force, who was senior contracting officer in Baghdad in 2004. It is not clear what specific evidence exists against the two men, who have both said they have nothing to hide.

The end of the Bush administration which launched the war may give fresh impetus to investigations into frauds in which tens of billions of dollars were spent on reconstruction with little being built that could be used. In the early days of the occupation, well-connected Republicans were awarded jobs in Iraq, regardless of experience. A 24-year-old from a Republican family was put in charge of the Baghdad stock exchange which had to close down because he allegedly forgot to renew the lease on its building.

In the expanded inquiry by federal agencies, the evidence of a small-time US businessman called Dale C. Stoffel who was murdered after leaving the US base at Taiji north of Baghdad in 2004 is being re-examined. Before he was killed, Mr Stoffel, an arms dealer and contractor, was granted limited immunity from prosecution after he had provided information that a network of bribery – linking companies and US officials awarding contracts – existed within the US-run Green Zone in Baghdad. He said bribes of tens of thousands of dollars were regularly delivered in pizza boxes sent to US contracting officers.

So far, US officers who have been successfully prosecuted or unmasked have mostly been involved in small-scale corruption. Often sums paid out in cash were never recorded. In one case, an American soldier put in charge of reviving Iraqi boxing gambled away all the money but he could not be prosecuted because, although the money was certainly gone, nobody had recorded if it was $20,000 or $60,000. . . .

In many cases, contractors never started or finished facilities they were supposedly building. As security deteriorated in Iraq from the summer of 2003 it was difficult to check if a contract had been completed. But the failure to provide electricity, water and sewage disposal during the US occupation was crucial in alienating Iraqis from the post-Saddam regime. . . .” (Read more from counterpunch.org)

US army ‘wants more immigrants’

“The United States army is to accept immigrants with temporary US visas, for the first time since the Vietnam war, according to the New York Times. Until now immigrants have had to have permanent residency – a ‘green card’ – in order to qualify for the services. . . .

‘The American army finds itself in a lot of different countries where cultural awareness is critical,’ said Lt-Gen Benjamin C Freakley, the top recruitment officer for the army. ‘There will be some very talented folks in this group,’ he told the New York Times. ‘The army will gain in its strength in human capital, and the immigrants will gain their citizenship and get on a ramp to the American dream.’ . . .

The programme will be limited to 1,000 enlistees in its first year, but if successful could be spread to other services and expanded. It could eventually provide the army with one in six of its recruits, the Times said. . . .

The Times said there appeared to be some opposition from officers and veterans, who expressed concern that some foreigners might have divided loyalties or be terrorists seeking to infiltrate the US armed services.” (Read more from news.bbc.co.uk)

On the prosecution of the Bush Administration

I’m delighted this effort is still alive.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Blackwater ‘could lose Iraq role’

(Don’t bet on it. Private, unaccountable armies are too good for any tyrant to resist.)

“Blackwater could be denied a licence to operate in Iraq, rendering it unable to provide security for US diplomats, a US State Department internal report says.

Earlier, the Associated Press news agency reported that the report recommended against renewing Blackwater’s contract, citing an official linked to the report.

But that specific recommendation was not included in the report itself, AP said later. A recommendation would not be made until the investigation into the civilian shootings was complete, it quoted the same official as saying.” (Read more from news.bbc.co.uk)

The Real Victor in Iraq: Monsanto

Written by Jeanne Roberts
Tuesday, 28 October 2008

“Five years of occupation, more than $558 billion spent, 4,182 U.S. soldiers and 655,000 Iraqi civilians dead, and it now looks like Monsanto (NYSE.MON – $71.95) is going to be the real victor in Iraq thanks to a postwar document known as Order 81.

Part of the infamous 100 Orders, Order 81 mandates that Iraq’s commercial-scale farmers must now purchase “registered” seeds. These are available through agribusiness giants like Monsanto, Cargill Corporation (a private company) and the World Wide Wheat Company (also private), but Monsanto is far and away the most significant player in the registered seed market.

Monsanto’s seeds are “terminator” seeds. This means they are inherently sterile, and any seed they produce does not give birth to more plants.” (Read more from thepanelist.com)

See also: The Assault on Iraqi Agriculture — U.S. Agribusiness Targets the Fertile Crescent

Five Predictions for 2009

1) The price for an ounce of Gold will again surpass $1000. This time, it’ll stay over $1000.

2) More of the same under Obama:
     -More war. Our presence in Iraq will continue. At best, there’ll be a decrease in troop levels. Troop levels in Afghanistan will increase. We’ll continue to have a military presence in about 130 of the world’s 190 countries. Only national bankruptcy, or the destruction of the dollar will bring the troops home. We may see the beginnings of this, but I don’t predict it’ll happen in 2009.
     -More government. Size and spending will increase under Obama.
     -More invasiveness. Washington will continue domestic spying, harassment, and illegal detention. The patriot act will not be fully revoked. US troops will take on an increased domestic role.
     -More support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Despite lip-service, Obama’s administration will continue financing, supporting and excusing the longest military occupation in history.

3) States and municipalities will consider bankruptcy.

4) The retail industry will be ravaged. It’ll never again be as it was.

5) The fault line will deepen between power and liberty. Despite Big Media’s best effort, the left vs. right paradigm will become less relevant. Expect increased tension over taxes, right to protest, right to bear arms, freedom of speech.

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Last year’s predictions:

1) Corporate Media will believe their own propaganda and be astonished by Ron Paul’s success – starting tomorrow.

2) The push to attack Iran will resume once the presidential primaries are decided. If Israel bombs Iran, they’ll do so after the primaries, but before President Bush leaves office.

3) Our economic woes will be worse than predicted.
This is pretty evident.

4) The price of gold will reach $1000/ounce.
See here.

5) The threat of child predators will be leveraged as an excuse to regulate the internet, or internet access.
See here, and here.