Inquiry Into Iraqi Graft Expands to Top US Officers

By John Johnson, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 15, 2009 12:30 AM CST

(Newser) – The United States' poor track record on rebuilding Iraq has long been chalked up to lousy planning by Pentagon brass. But an expanding investigation by federal authorities adds another element to the mix: possible corruption by the military commanders who oversaw reconstruction in the Wild West days after the invasion, the New York Times reports. Investigators have subpoenaed the bank records of an Army colonel and an Air Force lieutenant colonel, both of whom deny wrongdoing.

The investigation began with independent contractors and mid-level officials but has now expanded to focus on high-ranking officers. It reads like a spy thriller, the Times notes: wads of cash stuffed into pizza boxes, an unlimited supply of money, clandestine drops, and nearly no oversight of how the military doled out contracts. One of the main whistleblowers, an American contractor and arms dealer, was shot dead in Baghdad, though investigators haven't linked his death to the corruption allegations.

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (1)]

Workers operate machines at a construction site on the dam in Mosul, Iraq, in 2007. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)

In this Aug. 25, 2008 file photo, an American Humvee vehicle patrols inside the new airport, currently under construction, in Najaf, Iraq. (AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani, file)

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You had no oversight, chaos and breathtaking sums of money. And over all of that was the notion that failure was O.K. It doesn’t get any better for criminals than that set of circumstances. - Sen. Claire McCaskill,
who helped created an oversight board

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 3 comments

Guest

Feb 15, 2009 12:36 AM CST

What is it about the desert air that turns otherwise good folks like the US Military and Saddam Hussein into corrupt despots?

Observer

Feb 14, 2009 9:53 PM CST

It is long-overdue. Remember when the DOD was flying in cash by the ton? I do. I knew then that the Colonels and Generals were skimming millions. This is just one more legacy of the Bush/Cheney allowed plunder. There needs to be a few beheadings (like the Saudi's do) to put fear and respect back into the criminal military. This is completely predictable from a military that has been completely out of control for 50 years. Put these dicks in jail, confiscate their houses and cancel their lifetime pensions. It is time to completely gut the WW2 designed DOD. They are destructive, dangerous leeches.

Guest

Feb 14, 2009 8:11 PM CST

Cool. Gotta love when humans are being especially human.

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New York Times (Source Grid »)

Here's the Cockerham case, one of the first big Iraqi graft scandals
USA Today

Report details waste in reconstruction effort
CNN

Iraq • contractors • bribery • US military • Iraq contractors • Iraq reconstruction • graft • post-war reconstruction

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