THE NEWS
November 15, 2006 -- With the evacuation of U.S. and other nationals from forward operating locations in Iraq comes the inevitable stories from individuals who have been in Iraq for three and a half years. These are the stories that the mainstream media, embedded with U.S. military forces, dared not report. WMR has spoken to recent returnees from Iraq who have shared their insights on the disastrous occupation. The one common denominator in the criticism of the U.S. occupation is the damage wrought by the civilians placed in charge of the Coalition Provisional Authority of Paul "Jerry" Bremer. These individuals -- particularly Dan Senor and Michael Rubin -- are blamed for much of the harm inflicted on the Iraqi people and the current state of chaos in the country.
***
According to a U.S. source who was stationed in Anbar province, which has been abandoned by the US to Sunni insurgents, the U.S. Army's First Cavalry Division was supplied with substandard body armor supplied under a sole source contract by an Israeli manufacturer. The sole source contract was let by the U.S. Baghdad Embassy's Iraq Project and Contracting Office (PCO) and its predecessor, the Program Management Office.
The Coalition Provisional Authority misappropriated $9 billion of the $18.4 billion appropriated in 2003 by Congress for Iraq reconstruction. The Iraq reconstruction fund grew to $22 billion in the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund. The loss of $9 billion was discovered by U.S. government auditors in late 2004, but the news of the fraud was purposely not made public until 2005. The Bush administration wanted to hide the loss of $9 billion by the CPA so it could not be used as a campaign issue by the Democrats in the 2004 presidential election. The Coalition Provisional Authority-Inspector General (CPA-IG) was established on October 29, 2004 (days before the election) and longtime George W. Bush Texas pal Stuart Bowen, Jr. was appointed to head the new agency. The Bush administration recently attempted to disestablish the office but the Senate has amended a veterans and military construction bill for 2007 to keep the office intact.
What did Stuart Bowen know about missing $9 billion before the November 2004 election and when did he know it?
Bowen is married to Laura Bush's best friend and served on the staff of then-Governor Bush, as Counsel to the 2000 Bush-Cheney transition team, and as Deputy Assistant to the President. He has also been a partner in the Washington office of Patton Boggs. He received his law degree from the St. Mary's School of Law in San Antonio, an institution that has pumped out a number of right-wing GOP political operatives, including Texas Senator John Cornyn.
Although Bowen has been cited by Democratic Senate and House members as a supporter-turned-critic of Bush administration waste in Iraq, Congress has a duty to ask him the age old Washington question. After Bowen took over as Inspector General on October 29, 2004, what did he know about the missing $9 billion and when did he know it. If Bowen knew about the missing $9 billion before Election Day -- November 2, 2004 -- why did he not make the information known then? Or was he named by his friend Bush to ensure that no one in the CPA spoke about the stolen billions -- serving as a last minute "October Surprise" that could have benefited the Kerry campaign?
***
The Coalition Provisional Authority's and Iraq PCO's only non-governmental organization (NGO) recipient of funds in Anbar province was the Iraqi Red Crescent. However, U.S. sources on the ground report that the Red Crescent in Anbar primarily used its U.S. funds to purchase weapons for the Sunni insurgents and move them around in ambulances, also bought with Coalition Provisional Authority and PCO funds.
U.S. CPA supplied funding for Anbar Red Crescent so it could purchase and transport arms for insurgents killing U.S. troops.
***
In the initial days of the U.S. attack on Iraq, one of Saddam Hussein's Baghdad palaces was targeted as a strategic target. However, the palace, built by Saddam for his grandchildren as a "theme palace," was anything but a repository for weapons of mass destruction. In fact, Saddam, who used to watch Flintstone cartoons with his grand kids, decided to build a palace in Baghdad that was a replica of Bedrock, the fictional town where Fred, Wilma, Barney, Betty, and Dino lived. The palace was a huge playground for Saddam's grandchildren. However, Pentagon planners decided that Bedrock Palace was a threat to the West and it was demolished within the first few hours of the war.
November 15, 2006 -- With the evacuation of U.S. and other nationals from forward operating locations in Iraq comes the inevitable stories from individuals who have been in Iraq for three and a half years. These are the stories that the mainstream media, embedded with U.S. military forces, dared not report. WMR has spoken to recent returnees from Iraq who have shared their insights on the disastrous occupation. The one common denominator in the criticism of the U.S. occupation is the damage wrought by the civilians placed in charge of the Coalition Provisional Authority of Paul "Jerry" Bremer. These individuals -- particularly Dan Senor and Michael Rubin -- are blamed for much of the harm inflicted on the Iraqi people and the current state of chaos in the country.
***
According to a U.S. source who was stationed in Anbar province, which has been abandoned by the US to Sunni insurgents, the U.S. Army's First Cavalry Division was supplied with substandard body armor supplied under a sole source contract by an Israeli manufacturer. The sole source contract was let by the U.S. Baghdad Embassy's Iraq Project and Contracting Office (PCO) and its predecessor, the Program Management Office.
The Coalition Provisional Authority misappropriated $9 billion of the $18.4 billion appropriated in 2003 by Congress for Iraq reconstruction. The Iraq reconstruction fund grew to $22 billion in the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund. The loss of $9 billion was discovered by U.S. government auditors in late 2004, but the news of the fraud was purposely not made public until 2005. The Bush administration wanted to hide the loss of $9 billion by the CPA so it could not be used as a campaign issue by the Democrats in the 2004 presidential election. The Coalition Provisional Authority-Inspector General (CPA-IG) was established on October 29, 2004 (days before the election) and longtime George W. Bush Texas pal Stuart Bowen, Jr. was appointed to head the new agency. The Bush administration recently attempted to disestablish the office but the Senate has amended a veterans and military construction bill for 2007 to keep the office intact.
What did Stuart Bowen know about missing $9 billion before the November 2004 election and when did he know it?
Bowen is married to Laura Bush's best friend and served on the staff of then-Governor Bush, as Counsel to the 2000 Bush-Cheney transition team, and as Deputy Assistant to the President. He has also been a partner in the Washington office of Patton Boggs. He received his law degree from the St. Mary's School of Law in San Antonio, an institution that has pumped out a number of right-wing GOP political operatives, including Texas Senator John Cornyn.
Although Bowen has been cited by Democratic Senate and House members as a supporter-turned-critic of Bush administration waste in Iraq, Congress has a duty to ask him the age old Washington question. After Bowen took over as Inspector General on October 29, 2004, what did he know about the missing $9 billion and when did he know it. If Bowen knew about the missing $9 billion before Election Day -- November 2, 2004 -- why did he not make the information known then? Or was he named by his friend Bush to ensure that no one in the CPA spoke about the stolen billions -- serving as a last minute "October Surprise" that could have benefited the Kerry campaign?
***
The Coalition Provisional Authority's and Iraq PCO's only non-governmental organization (NGO) recipient of funds in Anbar province was the Iraqi Red Crescent. However, U.S. sources on the ground report that the Red Crescent in Anbar primarily used its U.S. funds to purchase weapons for the Sunni insurgents and move them around in ambulances, also bought with Coalition Provisional Authority and PCO funds.
U.S. CPA supplied funding for Anbar Red Crescent so it could purchase and transport arms for insurgents killing U.S. troops.
***
In the initial days of the U.S. attack on Iraq, one of Saddam Hussein's Baghdad palaces was targeted as a strategic target. However, the palace, built by Saddam for his grandchildren as a "theme palace," was anything but a repository for weapons of mass destruction. In fact, Saddam, who used to watch Flintstone cartoons with his grand kids, decided to build a palace in Baghdad that was a replica of Bedrock, the fictional town where Fred, Wilma, Barney, Betty, and Dino lived. The palace was a huge playground for Saddam's grandchildren. However, Pentagon planners decided that Bedrock Palace was a threat to the West and it was demolished within the first few hours of the war.
posted by Tapir's Rants at 4:38 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home