April 13, 2008
Iraq: State Of Corruption
Steve Kroft Reports On Widespread Corruption In Iraq's Government
-
Photo
Judge Radhi al Radhi was once Iraq's top anti-corruption official. (CBS)
-
Interactive
Iraq: 5 Years At War
Five years after the U.S.-led invasion, the war wears on.
- Stories
- The Mother Of All Heists
General David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told Congress this past week that there has been substantial progress, but not enough to begin withdrawing American troops. There are questions about the readiness of the new Iraqi army and the competence of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's coalition government, which is fraught with ethnic and religious divisions.
Electricity is still in short supply, medicines are available mainly through the black market, and there are long lines for fuel in a country that has the third largest oil reserves in the world. One of the biggest problems is corruption, which is robust even by Middle Eastern standards. According to U.S. and Iraqi officials, bribery and outright theft are flourishing in virtually every Iraqi ministry, and some of those ill-gotten gains are being used to kill American troops.
This story begins 18 months ago, in the fall of 2006, when correspondent Steve Kroft first reported that more than a billion dollars from the previous Iraqi Defense Ministry had been wasted, stolen or misappropriated. The money was supposed to supply the new Iraqi army with desperately-needed equipment to fight the growing insurgency. But according to audits conducted by the Iraqi government, and to Judge Radhi al Radhi, Iraq's top anti-corruption official, millions were misspent on old and antiquated equipment and the rest simply disappeared.
Judge Radhi told Kroft that he estimated that "more than half" of the $1.3 billion had been stolen. "As we hear from some friends abroad, that they never heard of such corruption and embezzlement to such a degree," he said.
Radhi, who was imprisoned and tortured under Saddam Hussein, obtained arrest warrants for the former minister of defense and his top aides, who all fled the country. As Iraq's commissioner of public integrity, Radhi had one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. He launched investigations against 20 current and former ministers, alienating the political establishment to the point that parliament tried to fire him. He had 30 body guards and received constant death threats.
To the remark that lots of people would like to see him dead, Radhi told Kroft, "I don't care. That's their problem."
That was in 2006.
Today he's living with his extended family living in a small apartment with donated furniture in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. The most public figure in Iraq's battle against corruption had finally been driven out of his job and his country and is now a refugee seeking asylum in the United States.
He showed Kroft pictures of some of the 31 members of his staff who were murdered. One was killed with his pregnant wife; the father of his security chief was found hanging on a meat hook.
"When we first interviewed you, I said, 'Look. There are all sorts of people that want you dead.' And you answered, 'I don't care,'" Kroft remarked.
"But this threat is now against my family too," Radhi said, with the help of a translator.
Asked what made him believe that his family was in danger, Radhi said, "At the end of July, a missile was fired at my home. It fell about five meters away. It hit another house next to mine, and of course my family was terrified."
"And it got to the point where his adversaries were left with few other options. But to possibly remove him, period," explained James Mattil, who was the chief of staff of the State Department’s Office of Accountability and Transparency in Iraq.
It was his job to assist Judge Radhi to clean up corruption in Iraq. And Mattil believes Radhi did a good job given the resources at Radhi's disposal and the scope of the problem, which was outlined in a draft report prepared by the State Department.
Produced by Andy Court and Keith Sharman
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Recent Segments
Scroll Left
Scroll Right
- 1
- 2
- next
See all 89 CommentsOne Vote
"Well, this is a big deal. This is the prime minister of the country," Waxman said."I agree with you; it%u2019s a big deal," Secretary Rice replied.
"It%u2019s his government that we are propping up with the lives of our soldiers and the billions of dollars of our taxpayers'' money," Waxman said. "Prime Minister Maliki has issued an order saying that he may not be investigated, nor may his minister be investigated for corruption, which means they are immunized from the investigation. Are you aware of that order? And does it trouble you that such an order has been issued?"
"Well Mr. Chairman, I will have to get back to you. I don%u2019t know precisely what you are referring to," Rice said.Six months later, Waxman''s staff was still waiting for an answer. But a State Department official and a representative of the Iraqi government told 60 Minutes corruption is not condoned and fighting it remains a top priority.
______________________________________
Cairman Waxman should not hold his breath. Rice knows fully well what is going on but to acknowledge the problem would have to contradict just about everything the administration has said about Iraq.
No way she will do that.
How ironic is it that the possible Democratic nominee for President (Hillary Clinton) voted for the war and supported it for years until it became a political liability?
Is there any doubt that corruption is rampant on both sides of the aisle?
Iraqi crooks rich. It seems our governments actions are in tune with the Iraqis'' and in their arrogance, malfeasance are supporting the demise of the American dream and the killing of our young warriors. What in the hell are we doing there? Put an uniform and a gun on Bush, Cheney and the other guilty officials and put them on the front lines. Maybe the American people will get lucky!!!!
Vote Obama and terminate Bush''s missionless, endless war (read defense and oil contractor pig trough)!
Bennett Brachman
They know a thing or two about buying votes, giving no-bid contracts to your buddies.
And by the way, the "surge" is an exercise in corruption.
We pay the warlords and islamist hoodlums (with American taxpayers money) and they promise not to bomb us.
Corruption - That''s the Bush way!
Heckuva job, Liar-in-Chief!
at least it seems like some obivous hidden agendas going on here. To bad the best our administration had to say was I did not know! In military terms this (Iraq) would be termed a CF!
1. There is NO plan to end the war in Iraq.
2. There is NO plan to hand over peace keeping actions to NATO or UN joint forces.
3. There is NO plan to reduce or remove U.S. contractors (the catalyst for the money funneling).
4. There is NO plan to hold any of the U.S. contractors for any misdeeds they commit. Sure, our own soldiers will be tried and imprisoned if they slightly go beyond the "rules of engagement", but if a U.S. contractor "loses" millions of dollars or murders innocent Iraqi civilians... their actions are swept under the rug and the people responsible are given immunity by the Bush regime.
Not only was the Iraq war illegal from the very start, but it has been an ongoing crime, committed for over five years with no end in sight.
Posted by NAUcoming4U at 10:23 PM : Apr 13, 2008
Corrupt lies started it,
Corrupt war profiteering continues it.
Corrupt puppet governments were installed by the corrupt invading country.
Corrupt media coverage attempts to justify it.
Why then, should any rational, sane person expect anything else?
Corrupt lies started it,
Corrupt war profiteering continues it.
Corrupt puppet governments were installed by the corrupt invading country.
Corrupt media coverage attempts to justify it.
Why then, should any rational, sane person expect anything else?
Posted by brianbwb at 11:23 PM : Apr 13, 2008
..........
Brian, your post and my previous one, goes hand-in-hand!
- Peace is not profitable.
- Humanity is not economically feasible.
Those above statements completely describes everything the Bush Regime has conceived, supported, and implemented over the past 7 years of its existence.
The two concepts you have pointed out have been the mainstay of "Republican" governments ever since Nixon. This sociopathic mindset goes back way before Bush, or even Bush''s daddy, even back to Prescott, Who was making money selling airplane fuel to the Nazis.
The neocon philosophy has used this rationale to cut the budgets of, or "privatize" education, health care, food safety, telecommunications, transportation, and assistance for the less economically fortunate, while wasting trillions of dollars on "false flag" wars in Vietnam and Grenada, billions of dollars in aid to Israel, playing both sides of the Iran-Iraq war, and now the invasions of two sovereign states that are no threat to the US.
...........
I couldn''t have said that better.
You certainly hit that nail on the head!
Bush/Cheney''s plan to grab the oil back in 2001.
All the oil services contracts that go with it.
Illegal war and current occupation of Iraq.
Lying to America about the reasons.
Big no-bid contracts to Bush/Cheney crony companies. Waste, fraud and abuse by the same companies. Widespread use of mercenaries (Blackwater, etc)
$500+ BILLION spent so far (more like $3 Trillion long term)
$12 BILLION per month.
Iraq has learned well from its teacher.
You are wrong about cheneys bank account, it all goes to bush first then he pays his regime members
The only thing bwb could hit on the head is his own d|ck.
Can somebody please tell me how someone in Rice''s position gets away with a non-answer like this ? Who is she trying to kid ? It''s an insult to one''s intelligence. But this is not the first time Rice has not answered such vital questions put to her by top congressional committees. If she and others are not made to answer then what''s the point ? 6 months and still no answer ?
She should be fired, charged with contempt & made to pay a fine to cover the costs of Waxman''s committee.
I''m so frustrated and fed up with this entire show of dishonest bumbling clowns. We need a change like never before in this country.
The reality is that one or two years on from Petraeus'' claims, and they still aren''t ready.
And they probably never will be - not while we''re doing their fighting for them.
"But there are indications that Alsammarae may have some problems here in the U.S.: his name has surfaced in connection with the corruption trial of his old friend, Chicago real estate developer Tony Rezko.
In a closed-door session, federal prosecutors reportedly accused Rezko of bribing Alsammarae in order to obtain an Iraqi electricity contract. Alsammarae denies the charges and says he''s doing everything possible to clear his name, short of going back to Baghdad where he says he will be killed, perhaps by Iraqis who are only getting a few hours of electricity every day, despite billions of dollars of investment from the U.S. and Iraqi governments.
"
Posted by tbweb at 01:32 AM : Apr 14, 2008"
You understand the problem with that, don''t you? I am not sure if it is doable under the Constitution, but if it were, only Congress would have any authority to take resources belonging to another country to spend in that country. I don''t think ''freezing assets'' falls under the same law.
Obama''s name has not come up at trial liar! If it had it would be covered 24/7 and you know it!
Nice try at diverting attention from the issue here. That is yhat the Iraqi government and the insurgency are one and the same. Maliki is putting on a show of independence belied by the lack of any reform coming out of the Parliament or serious offensives by the Iraqi Army. We all saw the truth when Iraqi forces defected rather than fight the insurgency.
The real story here is that war supporters in this country are funding and training the very people who are killing our troops!
We created Bin Laden in Afghanistan, we sold Sadaam his WMD and we are making the same mistakes once again!
I am not sure how well we are controlling the Iraqui oil, have you looked at gas prices lately ?
The only thing bwb could hit on the head is his own d|ck." Posted by speakinup
As I say frequently in these topics, rather than making yourself look rather mentally deficient by posting nothing but insult, you would appear to better address your disagreement if you can show how I am incorrect in my positions...
chrrrrp... chrrrrp...
Absolutely correct, Gateway, international law, traditional concepts of sovereignty, and common sense
make no provision for one country''s laws, statutes, and policies to be imposed upon another, and nothing in the US constitution gives anyone extraterritorial jurisdiction over another country, such a concept would be unthinkable, and would be rejected by the rest of the planet.
That would be the same as Iraq passing a law that Americans cannot appropriate funding for our own national budgets.
As long as Iraq s still recognized as a sovereign state, the US has no right to pass any laws that must be valid for Iraqis in their own country.
AMERICA STAND UP OR SHUT UP!
Posted by skyk
Neither are we, friend, neither are we.
Posted by LibH8er at 08:04 AM : Apr 14, 2008
Gee, I must have been sleepwalking the past 5 years. I thought we had a Conservative Republican administration that was veto proof running things? This obviously means that Democrats are the ones *** up everything GW does because he''s infallible. LOL. This deserves a WOW back at yourself.
- 1
- 2
- next
See all 89 Comments