Bush Admin. "Silent" On Iraq Corruption

Former State Dept. Officials Tell Senate Democrats U.S. Ignored Corruption To Protect Al-Maliki

(AP)  The Bush administration repeatedly ignored corruption at the highest levels within the Iraqi government and kept secret potentially embarrassing information so as not to undermine its relationship with Baghdad, according to two former State Department employees.

Arthur Brennan, who briefly served in Baghdad as head of the department's Office of Accountability and Transparency last year, and James Mattil, who worked as the chief of staff, told Senate Democrats on Monday that their office was understaffed and its warnings and recommendations ignored.

Brennan also alleges the State Department prevented a congressional aide visiting Baghdad from talking with staffers by insisting they were too busy. In reality, Brennan said, office members were watching movies at the embassy and on their computers. The staffers' workload had been cut dramatically because of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's "evisceration" of Iraq's top anti-corruption office, he said.

The State Department's policies "not only contradicted the anti-corruption mission but indirectly contributed to and has allowed corruption to fester at the highest levels of the Iraqi government," Brennan told the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.

The U.S. embassy "effort against corruption - including its new centerpiece, the now-defunct Office of Accountability and Transparency - was little more than 'window dressing,"' he added.

Deputy State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the administration takes the issue of corruption seriously and pointed to its recent appointment of Lawrence Benedict as coordinator for anti-corruption initiatives at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.

Benedict's appointment "is another demonstration that we are working at very senior levels to help the Iraqis deal with this issue," Casey said. "Any assertion that we have not taken this issue seriously or given it the attention it deserves is simply untrue."

The Office of Accountability and Transparency, or "OAT" team, was intended to provide assistance and training to Iraq's anti-corruption agencies. It was dismantled last December, after it alleged in a draft report leaked to the media that al-Maliki's office had derailed or prevented investigations into Shiite-controlled agencies.

The draft report sparked hearings in Congress and prompted a showdown between Democrats and senior State Department officials on whether the public has a right to know the extent to which al-Maliki was involved in corruption cases.

Brennan charges the State Department never responded to his team's report, which was retroactively classified because agency officials said it could hurt bilateral relations with Iraq. Other recommendations by the group also were kept secret, including a negative assessment of Iraq's Joint Anti-Corruption Committee, Brennan said.

In July 2007, the OAT team concluded that the committee's only purpose was to provide a forum for complaints against Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, a top anti-corruption official in Baghdad whom many U.S. officials have hailed as the most effective in exposing fraud and abuse.

But information later released by the embassy ignored the team's assessment and ultimately "failed to even mention what a disaster" the committee "really was," Brennan said.

Brennan said he approved the embassy report against his better judgment but later regretted it.

Mattil, who worked with Brennan, made similar allegations. Specifically, he said the U.S. "remained silent in the face of an unrelenting campaign" by senior Iraqi officials to subvert Baghdad's Commission on Public Integrity, which had been led by al-Radhi. Then, the U.S. turned its back on Iraqis who fled to the United States after being threatened for pursuing anti-corruption cases, he said.

"Since we have done so little (to undercut corruption), it's easy to see why the government of Iraq has not done more," said Mattil, who left the accountability office last October after having served for a year as its chief of staff. "We have demanded no better."

Brennan was appointed as OAT director last summer and arrived in Baghdad in July. He left only a few weeks later after his wife was diagnosed with cancer. He stepped down from his position in August.

Iraqi government officials could not be reached for comment.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, head of the Democratic Policy Committee, said the testimony was critical in light of upcoming legislation that would appropriate more than $170 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate Appropriations Committee, of which Dorgan is a member, is expected to approve the legislation Thursday.

"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.

[ontheleft]

"told Senate Democrats on Monday that their office (Office of Accountability and Transparency) was understaffed and its warnings and recommendations ignored"

Very damnning testimony. It''s hard to believe anyone still supports the Bush administration.

[ranger1948]

,aybe noiw impeachment and war crimes can be put back on the table.

[haoli25]

Hang ''em high!

[naucoming4u]

AYE AYE AYE!

Most people believe now that the ENTIRE REASON to go to war/invade Iraq and to stay there indefinitely was for the sake of the Bush/Cheney SPECIAL INTERESTS AND THEIR NEVER ENDING PROFITS FROM THE BLOOD OF AMERICANS AND IRAQIS ALIKE!!!

Most people do believe this...

... except for those who find rednecks driving in circles really complex and entertaining.

[deacon20081]

Corruption is obviously ignored..or is it? All Bush and Cheney have to do is look in a mirror. They can and should have been impeached years ago. This is just more proof of how disgusting and arrogant this administration is. Bring on the Tribunals

[arrestbush1]

I don''t think anybody supports the Bush administration. The ones that claim they do always say the same one track thing which is "Oh I love our president, I think he is doing a great job." For all we know that could be Bush himself posting those comments. The media is helping the corruption of our government. They are helping by not reporting what is really going on. I learned more in one day searching alternate media on the internet than our mainstream media feeds us in a whole year.

[truthyness]

I also come from a long line of Democrats but I have to face the fact that the Democratic Party isn''t what it used to be.

Two things have become evident to me even though they don''t
make any sense at all.

The first one is that the Democratic Party Leadership
knows damm well that if Obama where to actually make
it past the Republicans and get in the White House, the results will be disastrous.

The second one is that the Democratic leadership
is throwing this election.

I know it''s hard to believe. I know it doesnt make any sense. But it''s happening everyday right in front of us, and I can''t go on telling myself that it isn''t.

[bgwinnett]

The second one is that the Democratic leadership
is throwing this election.
know it''''s hard to believe. I know it doesnt make any sense. But it''''s happening everyday right in front of us, and I can''''t go on telling myself that it isn''''t.

Posted by truthyness at 04:47 AM : May 13, 2008

Strange but true, I have to concur with you there.
I''ve had the feeling, for a while -- that when November comes, the country could be in such terrible shambles, that winning the Presidency -- for any candidate -- could turn out be nothing more than inheriting a "poisoned chalice". I for one would not want to risk being the next Hoover.

[ranger1948]

naucoming4u
I take exception to your statement of rednecks. I was brought up to believe redneck meant someone brought up with morals, respect, and love of country.I had a classmate in college a black girl who said she didn''t like rednecks. I asked her why and she said because they were prejudice. I told her i considered myself a redneck and explained my definition. We both came away with a different point of view that day.

[r9119111]

I just threw up again.

[brianbwb-2009]

"The Bush administration repeatedly ignored corruption at the highest levels within the Iraqi government and kept secret potentially embarrassing information so as not to undermine its relationship with Baghdad, according to two former State Department employees."

Not to mention that Bush and his cronies were the principal beneficiaries of the corruption.

[brianbwb-2009]

"Maybe now impeachment and war crimes can be put back on the table." Posted by ranger1948

I wish with my whole heart that this would be the case Ranger, but I fear that Pelosi has been bought off.

There is enough corruption money floating around to buy off everyone in the upper echelons of the US government, and also enough to kill off anyone who doesn''t "take".

[ranger1948]

I hate to admit i voted for bush both times and now i also feel responsible for what he has done. I am against the bush war in Iraq, i listened to a tape he made in a radio interview today and the only thing i got from it was the usual double talk and how he thinks everything is fine. He thinks the American people should control how much they drive, not that we should get prices back to a reasonable level. I guess if your filthy rich from blood money you don''t mind paying $4 a gallon for gas. I honestly think he is living in a fantasyland and thinks he can leave office and live a normal life. I think that will be what gets him killed.

[ranger1948]

brianbwb
I am afraid you are right but i also think the American people have just about reached their breaking point. If that happens i think we will have a civil war. Bush says wqe have enough oil we shouldn''t be dependent on foreign oil and that we get most of our oil from canada and mexico. If that is the case then lets match our export prices to their oil prices, shut down the borders and see what happens. That is we should shut down the borders right aftr we put bush and his regime across it.

[ranger1948]

I agree pelosi and a whole lot of others have been bought off. It is time for a drastic change in govt. But i think obama is not the change we need. We cannot afford to take the chance that the stories about him are true.

[brianbwb-2009]

"I think that will be what gets him killed." Posted by ranger1948

I would hope that the reinstatement of constitutional law, and the results of impeachment, and trials for treason and war crimes is what does it.

It is necessary to prevent the total collapse of law, and as an example for future wanna-be despots, who might be tempted to usurp the constitution.

[bgwinnett]

It is necessary to prevent the total collapse of law, and as an example for future wanna-be despots, who might be tempted to usurp the constitution.

Posted by brianbwb at 05:25 AM : May 13, 2008

Yeah, a conspiracy to detonate a small nuke in say LA -- I wouldn''t rule it out -- would give them any license they need.

[brianbwb-2009]

"Bush says wqe have enough oil we shouldn''''t be dependent on foreign oil and that we get most of our oil from canada and mexico." Posted by ranger1948

And so we see the ineptness of Bush, He doesn''t understand that Canada and Mexico are foreign countries, so we still depend on foreign oil.

If it wasn''t such a serious problem, the man''s stupidity would be insanely hilarious.

As far as the borders, I''ll go you one more drastic. I am of the opinion that we should close the borders, and reverse the effects of "globalization" until we are ready for it. We need to rebuild America''s cities, roads, hospitals, and schools, and we need to do it with our own laborers, at our own living wage standard.

Without a healthy and vibrant middle class, America is doomed to become a hodgepodge of city-states, like feodal Europe during the Dark Ages, and McCain''s advocacy of extending an already unaffordable and illegal military foreign policy will be the straw that breaks America''s back.

[irliberal]

I take exception to your statement of rednecks. I was brought up to believe redneck meant someone brought up with morals, respect, and love of country.

Posted by ranger1948 at 05:14 AM

Actually being a redneck just means you troll the candy section at walmart, hate blacks and ***, and are more than 99% likely to own a pick-up truck with a gun mounted on the back window. Also known as l o s e r.

[bgwinnett]

We need to rebuild America''''s cities, roads, hospitals, and schools, and we need to do it with our own laborers, at our own living wage standard.

____________________________________

It''s too late to do that I''m afraid, because the BRIC
countries need the very same raw materials we need to to rebuild, for putting in place their initial infrastructures. Therefore the cost''s will be unaffordable.

[brianbwb-2009]

"But i think obama is not the change we need. We cannot afford to take the chance that the stories about him are true." Posted by ranger1948

I also understand your concern, many of the "stories" are indeed worrying, but the probity of those who spread them is also questionable, as are their motives.

One thing that we both do agree on i think, is that the continuance of the path we are currently on will end in the demise of the country, sooner than later.

Bottom line though, if it comes down to Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain, we have on one hand assurance of a continuance and even escalation of the status quo, versus an unknown quantity. For me, since the continuance of the status quo is not at all a wise option, I prefer to go with the unknown quantity, in this case, I go with "the devil I don''t know," as opposed to "the devil I do know".

[ranger1948]

brianbwb
That is why i was glad to see Barr would run as an independent. I hope he chooses Ron Paul as VP. They would have my vote.

[brianbwb-2009]

"BRIC countries need the very same raw materials we need to to rebuild, for putting in place their initial infrastructures. Therefore the cost''''s will be unaffordable." Posted by bgwinnett

Saving one''s own country cannot be unaffordable, no matter what the cost. We have the materials and the tech to do it within our own country, and closing the borders also applies to raw materials.

If we can spend whatever the cost to defend the country, we should also be willing to spend whatever the cost to maintain the country we are defending.

[pensacola88]

Corruption is expected to occur in any nation-building mission. That is part of the process and requires patience and dilligence to defeat, but no one can defeat it altogether. The best we can hope for, is that no deaths or injuries are caused to our military or civilian contractors from the corruption.

We have to remember that whether liberating a population from a social or political problem, there will be people serving two different ideals and some will serve both, implying that double standards is part of the liberating mission until all choose to serve one ideal. Opposing idealogies is the breeding ground for corruption. From any Iraqi''s point of view, every change they make places them in a conflict with their old idealogy and invites corruption charges by someone on either side. No one can change a political machine overnight, or be free of corruption in someone''s mind until the process is finished.

[ranger1948]

IRLIBERAL
Thar is your opinion. I do not troll the candy aile at walmart. I leave that to pedophiles like you. I do not have a rifle in the back window of my pickup truck. I have a college education, raised four successful children and am comfortably retired. I guess that leaves you in the loser class.

[lastdance122]

The Bush NAZI Regine

Fabricated Reports - Intentionally Delivered to the American people
In order to- Falsely and Fraudulently - Advocate a War !
The Federal Drug Smuggling - Drug Manufacturing Operations
Ordered Criminal Wiretaps - Criminal Surveillance Techniques
Imported Lead Tainted Toys and Poisoned Food
Granting Immunity to Blackwater - Kellogg, Brown & Root ( Murder - Rape)
The New Caspin Sea and Asian Pipelines
Awarded all the ..Katrina Contracts ..to his Former Campaign Manager
The Complete and Total - Disregard and the Destruction of the Constitution
Allowing Millions of People into Home Foreclosure - Intentional Bank Fraud
The FBI who Hires People who have been drug abusers
NO BID Contracts to : Halliburton - Kellogg, Brown & Root
Attorney General who Fires State Attorneys in leu of Political Nepotism
The Degradation and Deterioration of Combat Veterans Health Care
Ordering and Approving of Torture and Murder of people within Detention Centers
No Direct Connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda
Iraq - FORCED EXTENDED ENLISTMENTS - FORCED EXTENDED TOURS
The Suicide Rate of : The Iraqi Military Combat Veterans
Bail Out - for Criminal Bankers
OUTSOURCING AMERICAN JOBS for : Slave Labor and Child Forced Labor
Purposely and Intentionally Destroyed - The Infrastructure of The U.S.

The PATRIOTIC Gift The NAZI Bush Regime - To The AMERICAN PEOPLE
ONE WORLD - NAZI FASCIST - (Criminal - Corporate) RULER

There was a time when Treason was a Criminal Act

[ranger1948]

brianbwb
I know we disagree about candidates for this election, but reading your comment i think has a great deal of merit to it. I would go along with it. We have shipped too many jobs out of country already. Hopw many times have you called a company for help about something and get a person who''s english is sop bad you cannot understand what they are saying ? I think it is time we took care of our own and i mean everyone in America regardless of race.

[tulcak]

ha ha ha....
it never ends does it? how can anyone still complain about Pres. Clinton. bush is so awful, he''s off the scale. how can anyone trust this "decider" on any issue... especially on the Iraq war. he is such a bumbler and involved in so many evil and corrupt things, how can anyone trust his decision on the war? or on anything...
you republicans are really, really pathetic.

[ranger1948]

lastdance122
Isn''t it ironic that in destroying the constitution, bush may have sealed his own fate because of it.

[brianbwb-2009]

"That is why i was glad to see Barr would run as an independent. I hope he chooses Ron Paul as VP. They would have my vote." Posted by ranger1948

I do have my problems with Paul, as he counts among his supporters the kkk, and such virulent hate groups, who definitely don''t have my interests at heart.

Barr however, is another unknown quantity, let us see what dirt the Republican machine will dig up to protect the few supporters they still have, who knows, we might find out even worse than the worst of the candidates as time goes on, but at least I am open minded about it, lets see what comes out in the next few months.

[ranger1948]

tulcak
My apologies to all of you, i did vote for bush and it was a great mistake, but who could have forseen the damage he has done to our great nation. I do not belong to any party. I always want to look at the issues and see what the candidates are offering and decide that way non who to vote for. I think voting blindly for a party is idiotic to say the least.

[ranger1948]

brianbwb
I hadn''t heard that the KKK was backing Paul. Can this be confirmed. I would find it disturbing, but i liked his politiocal platform.

[brianbwb-2009]

Posted by Pensacola88

You still think that we were "liberating a population from a social or political problem,..?"

You are one of the last few who does think so, the rest of the world knows that Bush went to Iraq to take control of the oil fields, and soak up the US treasury, and even the future assets while he is at it.

A person who has clearly and repeatedly demonstrated no regard for humanity during his term, Ignoring victims of natural disasters, authorizing torture at secret concentration camps, and allowing trillions of dollars to be embezzled from the economy to the pockets of his friends, cannot be logically assumed by any sane person, to be acting in the interests of humanity.

[crater7]

BUSH''S WORLDS GREATEST MILITARY BLUNDER OF ALL TIME CONTINUES. IT''S TIME TO BRING OUR TROOPS HOME FROM THIS BUSH CREATED, HELL HOLE, AND MONEY PIT. BUSH AND HIS ADMINISTRATION SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE, FOR THE DEATHS OF OVER 4000 AMERICAN TROOPS, AND THE LIVES OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT IRAQ''S AS A DIRECT RESLUT OF THIS TOTALLY UNNECESSARY, PREFABRICATED AND AVOIDABLE WAR.

"GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS"

[ranger1948]

brianbwb
See i have a problem with obama because of his associatoion with wright, farakhan, jackson and the black panthers. Also his wife michelle makes it quite clear she hates whites. So i have the same problem with your candidate that you have with mine. If we are both right i guess we both need new candidates.

[tulcak]

tulcak
My apologies to all of you, i did vote for bush and it was a great mistake, but who could have forseen the damage he has done to our great nation. I do not belong to any party. I always want to look at the issues and see what the candidates are offering and decide that way non who to vote for. I think voting blindly for a party is idiotic to say the least.
Posted by ranger1948
---------------------------
is this how it works? first, we must learn the hard way after so much death and pain and suffering and shame? is this also the case with global warming? will we learn only after the damage is done and its too late?
this is what happens when people let their consevative political beliefs blind them to listening to reason. for many, if the republican party tells them something, that''s what they believe even if it flies in the face of reason and science.
evangelical christians use this type of thought process. the bible "says" the earth was created in 7 days, so evolution must be BS even though the scientific body of facts to support it is unimaginably large (also, look around, pick up a fossil and look at it).
I''m sorry, but, the only apology that could possibly be good enough is to vote for Sen. Obama.

[whatithink-2009]

What a shocker!

[ranger1948]

crater7
I agree with you but i think we should also seize bush''s assets and give them back to the national; treasury where it belongs. Check into corruption and make the American companies involved responsible and have them pay back the illegal funds they also stole. This story about corruption in Iraq should open a whole new can of worms our govt should get involved in and take action about.

[whatithink-2009]

ranger1948,

Your problems with Obama are self-imposed and totally in your head. If you got over them, you''d see how ridiculous your thinking was. Tell the truth - it would not be the first time you were wrong about something.

It''s not Obama. It''s you.

[tulcak]

the republican party says that Sen. Obama is muslim, so conservatives believe it, the republican party says that Sen. Obama has ties with hamas, so conservatives believe it, the republican party says that Sen. Obama belongs to the black panthers, so the conservatives believe it... on and on and on...
try this: turn off limpballs and faux news, tear up the talking points, mark emails from conservative groups as spam AND THEN start using your brain.

[ranger1948]

tulcak
If obama gets elected and does the job you think he will then i will apologize, but i still belieeve i am right about him and i will not vote for him.

[lastdance122]

lastdance122
Isn''''t it ironic that in destroying the constitution,
bush may have sealed his own fate because of it.
Posted by ranger1948
____

RE : ranger1948

I do think so ......

Treason : Does not Merit - Impeachment

Treason : Demands the : Gallows

[whatithink-2009]

Posted by tulcak at 06:07 AM : May 13, 2008

Exactly.

If someone knows what you fear, they know how to control you. Beware the one who controls the media. They control the mind.

[whatithink-2009]

Posted by tulcak at 06:07 AM : May 13, 2008

Exactly.

If someone knows what you fear, they know how to control you. Beware the one who controls the media. They control the mind.

[ranger1948]

whatithink
It has been proven obama has been associated with a racist church for 20 years, his wife has made it clear she doesn''t like whites or this country, the church has ties to wright, farakaan, jackson and the black panthers. Their doctrine says they are loyal to the motherland of Africa. Thsi doesn''t sound like they nare patriotic to America. So i think the problem is in your head not mine.

[brianbwb-2009]

To Ranger1948

This from the "American Thinker";

On the white-supremacist Vanguard News Network, Williams links to Paul''s "grassroots" fundraising site and organizes other racists to "game You Tube" to advance a specific Ron Paul video to the top of You Tube''s rankings. Writes Williams, "Everybody here can do this, except bjb w/his ***********." Holland points out, "BJB" stands for "burn Jew burn". BJB''s internet signature is, "Nothing says lovin'' like a Jew in the oven."

Williams is not Paul''s only supremacist supporter. "Former" KKK leader (and convicted fraudster) David Duke''s website http://www.whitecivilrights.com/, calls Ron Paul "our king" and cheers while "Ron Paul Hits a Home Run on Jay Leno Show." Duke also includes a "Ron Paul campaign update" and plugs Ron Paul fundraising efforts. These articles are posted right next to articles such as "Ten reasons why the Holocaust is a fraud" and "Germans Still Remember their Historical Greatness"-featuring a map of Hitler''s Third Reich at its 1942 military height, just in case anybody doesn''t get the point. Apparently "Dr. Paul''s positive agenda for freedom" is attractive to those who ape the world''s worst tyrants and genocidaires.

Ron Paul is supported by Patrick Buchanan, whose website carries videos and articles such as: "Ron Paul epiphany" and "Ron Paul a new hope." Buchanan has a long history of remarks some call anti-Semitic

There is lots more.

[whatithink-2009]

ranger1948,

I will not vote for him means you have closed the door to any possibility of proving yourself wrong. You should at least give yourself the possibility to adjust your opinion. That''s for your own growth.

[demslie]

BUSH''''S WORLDS GREATEST MILITARY BLUNDER OF ALL TIME CONTINUES. IT''''S TIME TO BRING OUR TROOPS HOME FROM THIS BUSH CREATED, HELL HOLE, AND MONEY PIT. BUSH AND HIS ADMINISTRATION SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE, FOR THE DEATHS OF OVER 4000 AMERICAN TROOPS, AND THE LIVES OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT IRAQ''''S AS A DIRECT RESLUT OF THIS TOTALLY UNNECESSARY, PREFABRICATED AND AVOIDABLE WAR.

"GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS"

Posted by crater7

Of course this story is about so low level nobody who knows everything and gets and audience with Congress because this Do Noting Democrat Congress Hates Bush and has nothing better to do. Like all Democrats, crater7 could not give a DAMNN about our troops and the stupid addition of saying "GOD BLESS" when we know that all Democrats join IRAN and AL Qaeda in the HATE fro Christians as much as they hate the US Military. These Democrat Liars are going to get my vote.

[ranger1948]

When obama first came out, i wasn''t against him, i listened but something told me to wait, then everything started coming up about him. That is what convinced me. I have enough doubt about obama not to trust him. If he gets elected i hope i am wrong about him.

[tulcak]

tulcak
If obama gets elected and does the job you think he will then i will apologize, but i still belieeve i am right about him and i will not vote for him.
Posted by ranger1948
------------------------
ranger, where are you getting your "facts" from on Sen. Obama? if you had already made up your mind before checking the facts, then don''t bother researching. if you really are serious about it, go to other sources for your information - start with Sen. Obama''s site, and then, look at the people who have endorsed him.
do we really want to make another horrible mistake like bush again? can we afford it?
we are in such bad shape, a "risk" might be worth it because its going to take drastic action to get us out of the hole we are in.
also, one other consideration: mcSame and mcClinton have all taken money from rich donors and lobbyists.
Sen. Obama has raised ALL of his money of his web site and is beholden to NO ONE.