Shocking Corruption Is Given A Blind Eye by Our Government
The Senate Democratic Policy Committee, which I chair, heard new and disturbing testimony on Monday about corruption in Iraq and its consequences for U.S. troops, taxpayers and the U.S. mission in Iraq. Two former high-level Bush administration officials who served in Iraq told our committee that the State Department routinely turns a blind eye toward Iraqi government corruption.
The result: billions of U.S. tax dollars, as well as guns, ammunition, medical supplies and other equipment are siphoned off and diverted to the insurgents and militias who are killing American soldiers. According to the witnesses, unchecked corruption means U.S. taxpayers are funding, arming and equipping both sides in the Iraq war.
Witness statements and additional information can be accessed by clicking here. Video clips regarding the hearing appear below.
The State Department Turned a Blind Eye to Corruption: Below, I discuss witness testimony that revealed that the actions of the State Department in Iraq have harmed American soldiers and resulted in the theft of American taxpayer dollars.
The Corruption in Iraq is Astonishing: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse describes the facts uncovered about wide-spread corruption in Iraq and the State Department's anti-corruption failures in the country.
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Senator Dorgan-
Not only is the fox in the henhouse, sir, but the Dems have been feeding him extra chickens! You have aided and abetted these thieves and criminals by your INaction, by your apathy, and by doing only what is politically expedient, rather than doing the right thing. Your only acceptable excuse would be if you or your loved one was being tortured to assure your complicity with the neocon agenda.
This anger is directed at ALL in Congress, who have done ZERO to inform the public of the malfeasance of this Administration. Where the hell has Congress been for the last 14 years?
THIS is your job: to look to the welfare of the People, by being a mirror image of the People, and if it takes fighting a battle you will surely lose in order to win the war, then, for God's sake, do it! Or, get out of the way of those who WILL.
Investigate. Indict. Prosecute. Convict. AND PUNISH these evil-doers.
Senator Dorgan -
Thanks to your off-the-cuff statement on the Senate floor Monday, I was alerted to read the opening statements by the two former State Department employees at your informal hearing, which are indeed eye-opening: about the written Plan A and the UNwritten Plan B for our actions in Iraq.
More than the mindboggling corruption, I'm concerned about the MISSION DECEPTION surrounding our entire presence in Iraq. PLEASE make a point to watch the C-SPAN rerun of this morning's "Winter Soldier" testimony to the House Progressive Caucus. Those guys are the "heroes" everyone's always talking about - guys who tried to commit SUICIDE after serving in Iraq, but are now on Capitol Hill trying to be heard by their representatives (SIX of whom had the decency to hear them today) to tell us the truth our Congress and media have kept from us.
Their testimony seems to point to a need for a massive overhaul of the chain of command in our military. The shifting or non-existent rules of engagement in Iraq alone seem to qualify as de facto war crimes. Our chain of command has ALLOWED the citizens of Iraq to be treated the way slaves were treated by whites in the South before the Civil War, from all appearances.
Where are the hearings in front of Armed Services or Foreign Relations with these veterans?? Who or what are those committees protecting?
"War" is DESTRUCTION. Reconstruction can only follow a cessation of hostilities.
Thanks Senator Dorgan, we owe our brave Women and Men that are and have served with distiction no less than to do the correct thing and hold those grifter's to account.
...why does this shock anyone? You couldn't possibly believe that this war was started for "honorable" reasons now do you!
Um, they've also turned a blind eye to treason (outing Valerie Plame), voter fraud (Florida, Ohio), political persecution (Don Siegelman), bank fraud (sub-prime mortgage scams), infrastructure (New Orleans, bridges), and war crimes (torture, Gitmo) and the constitution (don't even get me started). And we're surprised that they don't care about IRAQ's corruption?
How about the strong-arm tactics they used on U.S. attorney's of several States and removing them from their offices for have the integrity not to bring political prosecutions?
Good piece.
May I suggest, Sen. D., that you and the Democratic Party be a little more clever than you have been in the past, in relaying this info to the American public?
The Neocon agenda is clearly at play here, and yet, most Americans don't realize that the company store is being stolen right from under their very noses.
Those of us who are more politically savvy, have been keeping up with the gross war-profiteering that's been going on, shamelessly and obscenely. But a more aggressive public education campaign needs to be launched by SOMEBODY -- anybody, for chrissakes! -- to let people know what's going on.
And please, no more of those suckee TV ads that liberals are always trying to put up, that are so obtuse and layered with meaning that no one without a political science degree can figure out what the hell the message is!
Get some young people to work on this -- then you'll get the level of public engagement you need to solve the problem. Oh yeah, and get Pres. Obama in office ASAP, too!
likeicare - I suspect this isn't covered by the MSM because 1) they are corporately controlled and don't want to talk about it and 2) it takes some serious journalism and none of the vanity tv hosts want to truly investigate - it is far more fun for them to talk of 'pantsuits' and 'bowling scores'
The Bush Administration praises out Armed forces. The rest of us feel damned sorry for them!! Bush says we are "fixing" the corruption in Iraq, but we can't find the weapons we ship to our soldiers!! This blatant stealing should be a cornerstone of the Democratic Presidential campaign.
WHO else in Congress is investigating this besides Senator Byron Dorgan? Are Democrats involved in the thievery? Are Gates and the Pentagon attacking this horrible disgrace? TIME or NEWSWEEK or US WORLD REPORT or THE WALL STREET JOURNAL??
Some of our terrorists are Americans traitors!! Some of our home-grown officials just can't get enough money. What generals are turning a blind eye on this horrible problem? The same ones who do not prosecute rap; the ones who do not report suicide; the bastards who don't want to make waves so close to retirement??
Somebody tell me.
Who wants to bet whether or not we will hear another word about this?? Just one more disgrace in the many that have gone down in the last 8 years.
del8300
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billions of U.S. tax dollars, as well as guns, ammunition, medical supplies and other equipment are siphoned off and diverted to the insurgents and militias who are killing American soldiers??
THAT'S THE REPUBLICAN WAY!
That's "supporting the troops", don't you agree?
That's Republican "patriotism"!
What's the matter, that you don't wanna pay for this?
Geez, you're so unpatriotic.
It's unpatriotic to question anything Republican, you know.
This "war on terror" has been an even bigger boondoggle than the "war on drugs". Somehow, these Republican "wars" always end up with huge staffs passing out huge amounts of money to sleazy government contractors who never seem to get much done other than looting the public treasury. The rampant corruption in the ranks of Iraqi politicians is matched or over-shadowed by the American contractors who fail to complete many projects , use shoddy materials in the ones they do complete, causing buildings to be unusable, but are loyal Bush supporters so they get more contracts with more tax money going for naught. War profiteers should be investigated, tried and jailed. Bush and Cheney should be impeached and Ms. Rice should be fired immediately. She's probably the worst Secretary of State ever, to match the worst President ever.
Sen. Dorgan I applaud you for putting this information in the face of your fellow peers in congress. We as citizens are watching to see what will be done. Talk/blogging is cheap without actions. Americans are outraged because of the "blind eyes" that have existed within our government for years. We are amazed that those we elected as leaders continually fail us or simply ignore us and justify it non-action as just a rant of a few who want to disrupt the process. Get a clue we are on the outside looking in.
Our government has not only trained our enemies but, continually supply them. And you wonder how can this be? Where is the check and balance? Do your job!!! Remember the words of Lord Acton, "Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely
Why does Obama want to wait until he is prez to investigate all of this? Because he knows that unless he is in office, the investigation will not be a legitimate one!
Gee, I guess that maybe we should attack ourselves instead of Iran then
Oh, wait a minute... we ARE attacking ourselves already.
Disturbing story. And we are going to authorize another $170 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan when this is going on?
After reading this article and related links, I was just recalling how loud and obnoxious the “support the troops” drum beat was from the Republicans while all of this was going on behind the taxpayer’s and soldier’s collective back.
"It is a cruel irony if we are appropriating money next Thursday or did appropriate money last month or last year and that money ends up actually providing the resources for an insurgency in Iraq which ends up killing Americans," said Dorgan, D-N.D.
It seems clear from all of the material related to this article that al-Maliki is deeply involved and as such this is an embarrassment to the Bush Admin. Secretary Rice’s competence is once again an issue.
It is one thing for soldiers to fight, and to be willing to die for, an ideological premise. It is quit another thing to die at the hands of mercenaries paid for by your own government. It makes my head spin to recall the comments from officials about the insurgency, Iranian involvement and all manner of excuses used as justification for the need to mount a surge. It appears that, in essence, we were fighting ourselves.
Not only $170 Billion. We're going to authorize an off-the-budget GI Bill and add in tons of other pork that the Dems want.
Yet, as a presumptive presidential nominee, Obama has been silent on the issue... Not so long ago, we were all hearing about he was right about the war in 2002... Why can't he be right about the war now?
And right about the war now would constitute what?
I am interested in seeing my government and my tax dollars working efficiently. To be sure, a rat hole is a rat hole. I'm not in favor of pork that has no purpose or a return on investment. I would hope Obama has the good sense to vote against any wasteful spending.
Now back to the issue at hand. If our tax dollars are being used to kill our own troops we have a significant problem. This negates any serious discussion of what would happen if there was a precipitous withdrawal. If we quit funding our enemy there will cease to be an enemy.
"Secretary Rice's competence is once again an issue"????
The words "Rice" and "competence" should never be used in one sentence.
Very true. My mistake.
So what are we seeing, something unexpected? Wars bring together the opportunists, the corrupt and the desperate in a dependency of common interests. Financial transactions in a war zone are like rain in a scorching desert, most of it evaporates before it hits the ground. Taxpayers shouldn’t be surprised at the turpitude of those in Iraq and Afghanistan who rushed forward to help like the first lawyer at an accident scene. Watch, Sadaam’s old palaces are going to tarted-up for a new set of tenants, the new friends of America.
It's expensive to keep a war going...
john prine's great compromise:
(part 1)
I knew a girl who was almost a lady
She had a way with all the men in her life
Every inch of her blossomed in beauty
And she was born on the fourth of July
Well she lived in an aluminum house trailer
And she worked in a juke box saloon
And she spent all the money I give her
Just to see the old man in the moon
Chorus:
I used to sleep at the foot of Old Glory
And awake in the dawn's early light
But much to my surprise
When I opened my eyes
I was a victim of the great compromise
Well we'd go out on Saturday evenings
To the drive-in on Route 41
And it was there that I first suspected
That she was doin' what she'd already done
She said "Johnny won't you get me some popcorn"
And she knew I had to walk pretty far
And as soon as I passed through the moonlight
She hopped into a foreign sports car
(Repeat chorus)
(part 2)
Well you know I could have beat up that fellow
But it was her that had hopped into his car
Many times I'd fought to protect her
But this time she was goin' too far
Now some folks they call me a coward
'Cause I left her at the drive-in that night
But I'd druther have names thrown at me
Than to fight for a thing that ain't right
(Repeat chorus)
Now she writes all the fellows love letters
Saying "Greetings, come and see me real soon"
And they go and line up in the barroom
And spend the night in that sick woman's room
But sometimes I get awful lonesome
And I wish she was my girl instead
But she won't let me live with her
And she makes me live in my head
(Repeat chorus)
Thamks. I was and am a big John Prine fan. I have also been reminded recently of his anti-war song about "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore".
Those lyrics are incredible. I've only had the briefest acquaintance with John Prine's music, so I'm taking this as an invitation to get with it. Thank you so much for this and other posts.
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