Billions Missing

"For the entire year that the CPA [Coalition Provisional Authority] has been in power in Iraq, it has been impossible to tell with any accuracy what the CPA has been doing with Iraq's money. - Helen Collison, Christian Aid.

Is it my imagination, or is theft becoming downright predictable with this crew?

"Billions of dollars belonging to Iraq is not accounted for by the Coalition Provisional Authority, which was given responsibility by the United Nations for the country's finances, British lawmakers and aid activists said Monday.

There are glaring gaps in the handling of $20 billion generated by Iraq's oil and other sources since the U.S.-led war to oust Saddam Hussein ended last year, according to reports from the Liberal Democrats, Britain's third-largest political party, and Christian Aid.

The Christian Aid report also said the majority of Iraq's reconstruction projects have been awarded to U.S. companies, which charge up to 10 times more than Iraqi firms.

There was no immediate reaction from coalition officials to the reports."

Why am I not surprised? This is, after all, Standard Operating Procedure for the Bush Barons. First, they awarded Cheney’s old company a no-bid contract, and guaranteed them a profit percentage, thus making it lucrative for the robber barons to waste as many tax dollars as possible.

And NOW, there’s 20 billion dollars missing, and the reconstruction projects are being award to American firms instead of to those Iraqis who we claim to want to help so badly. Even though the American firms cost an arm and a leg.

What actually appalls me isn’t the theft; it’s the cynicism. Obviously, the Cheney Cartel believes that they can get away with anything, no matter how blatant and obvious, and they don’t IMAGINE that they will ever be made accountable for their actions.

Sweet, isn’t it? First they make billions by bombing a country and then they make billions rebuilding it. I wonder if they'll repeat the cycle again and again so they keep making more and more money?

No wonder they were willing to stop at nothing to gain power.