Millions Pocketed in Iraq Reconstruction - By Our Own Military Leaders?

We read today that investigations may show that much of the wasted money that was poured into Iraq early in the war was stolen and pocketed. Not by war lords or local thieves but by the very men who were to keep track of the reconstruction efforts. A pair of U.S. Army and Air Force colonels (and maybe more) are being investigated for the theft of millions in U.S. cash.

Of course, the first problem was that some bright mind in our government, in their judicious wisdom, thought it best to send actual dollars, greenbacks, Benjamins, to pay off the contractors as work was done. Apparently a check from the U.S. Treasury would not have been enough. Shrink-wrapped packages of U.S. currency was sent in bulk to Iraq to be stashed in one of Saddam's palace basements, to be doled out as needed.

And doled out it was, apparently delivered to some of our own military leaders in pizza boxes. Talk about free delivery, hot and fresh.

Someone needs to clean up this mess and see that our hard-earned tax dollars are not being wasted, but if these allegations turn out to be true, then some of our U.S. military colonels and others deserve to be treated as the traitors they really are. This is conduct "unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen" to say the least. Gentlemen they are not; war profiteers would be more apt.

Am I in Wonderland? Yes is No, Stay is Go?

There seems to be enough hubris these days in the political world to go around, but I am in shock and awe over the disagreement over the agreement that will lead to U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. Let's see - we have lost over 4000 of our military who were fighting to protect the people of Iraq from killing each other. We are spending $10 billion a MONTH (of which we do not really have these days) to support those troops, support the Iraqi troops, and rebuild their schools and other infrastructure. I wouldn't be surprised if the American taxpayer was funding a spa retreat for the Iraqi negotiating team.

So now I read that the agreement is failing because the U.S. isn't leaving fast enough for them. Well....we hold up our righteous heads proclaiming that we have saved the country for democracy, the people from a brutal dictator (and he was), and now they want to say "Good bye, and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out".

I wonder(land) if I am the only one who thinks this is all upside down? We SHOULD be trying to leave. We SHOULD be telling them to pick up the costs of their police, military, and reconstruction. But somehow we are begging to stay on a little longer? Somehow we are sweetening the deal by giving the Iraqis the ability to prosecute our soldiers in their courts should they violate some law? Oh I forgot, we did manage to keep jurisdiction over our own troops who might commit crimes within our own bases. What is heaven's name is going on?

I understand that we cannot leave precipitously, but really folks, if they don't want our help, then let's pack up our little tanks, our uparmored Hummers, and our brave troops and bring 'em home where they will be appreciated far more. Let's burn all the desert sand colored khakis and return to the good old green ones.

Funding Iraq - The Spigot is Wide Open

Listening to some of General Petraeus' testimony to Congress this week, one could hear between the sentences that all was not well with the war. The seeming success of the "surge" over the past months has now been tempered by the flareups lately. One word from al-Sadr and the whole region could return to pre-surge warfare with daily IED (roadside bombs) slaughters returning. That is indeed troubling and disheartening.

Another discouraging and irritating piece of news is that, contrary to original intentions, the U.S. taxpayer is still paying for the reconstruction of Iraq. This comes as no surprise until we hear that Iraq has over 30 billion dollars sitting in U.S. banks. Thirty billion dollars from their oil revenue now greatly enhanced by the windfall soaring oil prices.

And then to hear our own Ambassador to Iraq tell the panel that the reason for this is complicated. And to hear him lie and say that the U.S. is no longer paying for reconstruction. Are we not yet paying the salaries of 80,000 Iraqis holding government jobs?

They have to be nuts and deluded to think that our taxpayers will stand for that. We have so many needs in this country for those billions flowing so easily from our treasury. The Ambassador seems to be an apologist for the disorganized Iraqi government. They still have not made the benchmarks set for them. Their success at achieving those benchmarks was then to drive our commitment to troops and money and other support. They have failed miserably yet we continue to coddle them, send our overtaxed troops into battle zones, endure the mass desertion of U.S. trained Iraqis, and write the checks for the bills as they come due.

When will we stop this insanity? When we will begin to pay to rebuild our own eroding infrastructure like roads, bridges, schools, power grids, and so much more?

Wars are expensive and maybe we have to finish what we start, but do we have to be hoodwinked into paying for rebuilding Iraq's roads, bridges, schools, and power grids while they invest their $30,000,000,000 and make even more money?