Originally Posted By ElKay This one goes out to Beau: <a href="http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10074995/" target="_blank">http://msnbc.msn.com/id/100749 95/</a> >>WASHINGTON - A criminal complaint unsealed in federal court in Washington on Wednesday alleges a web of corruption and bid rigging in Iraq by officials who worked with the now-defunct Coalition Provisional Authority, the U.S.-led agency that ran Iraq for more than a year after the 2003 invasion. The complaint accuses an American-Romanian businessman, Philip H. Bloom, of paying officials from the coalition’s south-central region "bribes, kickbacks and gratuities, amounting to at least $200,000 per month," in order to obtain reconstruction contracts through a bid-rigging scam. According to the complaint, Bloom "conspired with United States government contract employees and military officials to obtain fraudulently government contracts." A government affidavit alleges that in one instance, the officials rigged bids for contracts in Hillah and Karbala, two cities 50 to 60 miles south of Baghdad. In some cases, Bloom’s companies performed no work, Patrick McKenna Jr., an investigator for the U.S. special inspector general for Iraq, said in the affidavit. Efforts to reach representatives for Bloom were unsuccessful. Bloom or companies he controls made bank deposits of $353,000 on behalf of at least two CPA officials and bought them real estate in North Carolina as well as vehicles and jewelry worth more than $280,000 in 2004 and 2005, McKenna said. The complaint says one of the U.S. officials was the comptroller for the region in Iraq based in Hillah and controlled $82 million in cash.<< More on the CPA government official accepting bribes: >>WASHINGTON - A second man has been charged in a scheme that saw a U.S. businessman pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to U.S. occupation authorities in Iraq to get reconstruction contracts worth more than $13 million, federal authorities said Thursday. Robert J. Stein Jr., who worked for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, and his wife paid for real estate, cars, jewelry and home improvements with money he received from Philip H. Bloom, a U.S. citizen who has lived in Romania for many years, according to federal affidavits made public Wednesday and Thursday. Stein, 50, of Fayetteville, N.C., appeared in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville, N.C., on Tuesday and his case has been transferred to Washington, according to court records. Bloom, 65, paid at least $630,000 in kickbacks to Stein, other occupation officials and their spouses, according to the affidavit supporting the criminal complaint against him. One person who received payments is a Defense Department employee, according to a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Both men face conspiracy and money laundering charges. Stein, who was convicted on a federal fraud charge in 1996, also is charged with wire fraud and interstate transportation of stolen property, according to court records and the affidavits. Justice Department officials said more charges are expected from an investigation that was spurred by an inspector general’s audits of Iraqi reconstruction projects. 'There will be more' “This is the first case and there will be more,†said Jim Mitchell, spokesman for the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, adding that this is the result of a nearly yearlong investigation involving millions of dollars. He could not estimate how much money is involved overall.<< Wasn't one of the aims of Bush was to restore dignity and honor to the Executive Branch after the wallow of dishonor brought about by the Clintons? Where's the outrage by UN haters who crow about the corruption in the Oil for Food Program. Let me remind you that most of the wrong doings were conducted between Saddam and the "saintly" oil men who willing fought for the opportunity to kickback $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to Saddam for the right to sell Iraq oil at a discount, pocketing extra profits themselves. I maintain that while this sort of corruption is skanky, it had little effect on any intentions by Saddam to rebuild his WMD programs. However, this new corruption scheme between a Bush Admin. appointed CPA contracting official and a American (GOP supporter???) is much worse in the fact that not only are American taxpayers being bilked to the tune of millions and millions of money DIVERTED toward Bush's personal vendetta against Saddam, but by preventing actual reconstruction work from being done, is resulting in the recruitment of more anti-American insergents that are killing American military personel and threatening the lives of other servicemen and women, like two of my own cousins in Iraq right now. I have very low opinion of the conduct of the UN officials who oversaw the "OFF" program, but on the other hand, I expect much, much more from my own government to set an effective foreign policy and to insure that my taxes are being used efficiently toward those goals. Bush and his neocon appointees are screwing up time and time again. Everywhere one turns there are numerious examples of deceptions, lies, and incompetence all over his Iraqi policies.
Originally Posted By Beaumandy Elkay, I don't know if this is going to get Saddam back in power, but you can hope! Must be great to hate your country so much that you ignore every great thing it does only to focus on crazy conspiracies. You might want to check up on the status of Michael Moore these days... it's not pretty.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer Beau, you could save yourself a lot of time today and just copy and paste your post #2. It's generic enough that it says nothing about the topic but it still hits your main points. Just add in the part about liberals having no ideas and the one about asking for a liberal president the military would support and you can just ctrl-V your way through the day.
Originally Posted By DouglasDubh Yeah, Tom, it's not like posting facts and logical arguments do anything to change some posters minds.
