Rice: No ‘American Money’ In Iraq Was Lost To Corruption
Rice: No ‘American Money’ In Iraq Was Lost To Corruption
In an AP interview yesterday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke highly of U.S. reconstruction efforts in Iraq, stating, “We’ve done a lot of work to get these [reconstruction] structures right, and I think they finally are” — a day after a scathing government report detailed massive waste and poor planning in U.S. reconstruction efforts. When asked about the abuse, Rice claimed that U.S. dollars have emerged unscathed:
Q: But the cost in terms of lives and in terms of the money and the abuse of money – (inaudible) was money wasted, there was money that was siphoned off, corruption and that kind of thing, you’re —
RICE: Not of American money. Not American money. I don’t think that you will find that anybody is arguing that there was corruption in the American programs.
Throughout the U.S. occupation of Iraq, billions in tax dollars have been lost due to corruption and incompetence. Some of the most egregious losses have been via “American programs”:
– The Coalition Provisional Authority delivered 363 tons of cash on an airplane, totaling $12 billion, to Iraq “without assurance the monies were properly used or accounted for.”
– The State Dept spent $36.4 million dollars on weapons and equipment that could not be accounted for because “invoices were vague and there was no backup documentation“.
– Top contractor KBR came under fire last year from government investigators for overpricing its contract by $2 billion, which, for example, included overstating labor costs by 51 percent.
– State Dept. employees testified in May 2008 that the U.S. “allowed corruption to fester at the highest levels of the Iraqi government,” resulting in the loss of billions in U.S. tax dollars.
The use of private contractors, a major source of the corruption, has skyrocketed under Bush. The government has spent $85 billion on contracts in Iraq and other countries in the first four years of the war. “Taxpayers have been bled dry with massive misuse of public dollars,” observed Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), who has spearheaded investigations into waste, fraud, and abuse in Iraq.
Thus far, some $50 billion in taxpayer dollars have been spent on the reconstruction of Iraq, which anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International listed as the third-most corrupt nation in the world.
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lying, second nature to politicians..
December 16th, 2008 at 7:36 pmHorse Hockey! Say that under oath, Ms. Rice…
December 16th, 2008 at 7:37 pmRice: No ‘American Money’ In Iraq Was Lost To Corruption»
– - Who was in charge of the financing, Bernie Madoff?
December 16th, 2008 at 7:38 pmAudacity……
December 16th, 2008 at 7:38 pmWhat does it take for these idiots to admit the truth. Rice is supposed to be some kind of an intellect I guess that gives her contempt for the ability of the rest of us to see through her crap
December 16th, 2008 at 7:39 pmLike everyone in the Bush administration Condalizzard Rice lies without shame
December 16th, 2008 at 7:39 pmWhy is blatant lying a constant amount Repukes?
Is it because -
Most of the American public are idiots who do not pay attention?
Most of the American public can’t remember what they had for breakfast, much less this stuff?
or, if you repeat a lie enough it becomes truth.
December 16th, 2008 at 7:41 pmIs it corruption when the lost/disappearing cash goes DIRECTLY into her bank account or to her favorite show store in Madrid ??
This one will go down in history as one of the biggest losers around..
December 16th, 2008 at 7:42 pmOh yeah, the money came from the ‘other’ members of the coalition. Right. Got it.
December 16th, 2008 at 7:43 pmAre they all insane?
Have they cloistered themselves for eight years and now they can only think in group-delusions?
Why else would they think they can blatantly lie like this when there have been many stories of facts that contradict her statement.
December 16th, 2008 at 7:43 pmcorrection – constant among Repukes….
Sorry, bad flu, kicking my booty.
December 16th, 2008 at 7:48 pmREALLY?
In my opinion, every person in Government or on the outside, who received or took money or goods that he/she was not entitle to will receive 11 days after Mr. Obama is sworn into the office of the PRESIDENT of the USA (February 1st. 2009) to return the loot and will get an immunity from persecution…All others will be send to Gitmo to wait for their trial.
December 16th, 2008 at 7:52 pmNow I am talking about $250-$500 billions and this is a conservative numbers.
I wish our next President, Mr. Obama, all the successes to get this country back to prosperity.
Y. Manor
Sorry Connie Waxman already gave some of the corruption and money given away that was suppose to be for Iraq. Don’t forget that flat truck full with US money that was lost and the 200 billion dollars robbed from US bank in the safe Green Zone of Bagdad. Now funny how the White House said no investigation was necessary. Now about the aircraft that brought Speaker Dennis Hastert his truck full of money from Iraq as it was delived to his second home in Illinois. Or the young jewish kid who got a 30 billion dollars US contract and closed his business in 3 days after receiving the money. Connie time to lawyer up and right a book for the legal fees. They don’t have piano’s in woman’s prisons.
December 16th, 2008 at 7:54 pmI’m not sure how much Rice has been paid, but wouldn’t it be cheaper to privatize our stupidity?
December 16th, 2008 at 7:57 pmThis is why I won’t be feeling sorry for her when she is finally presented to The Hague. These traitors fail to realize that when they speak they are speaking to the world, not just the 23%ers. She makes us all look like blithering idiots.
December 16th, 2008 at 8:05 pmWhen she says “I don’t think that you will find that anybody is arguing that there was corruption in the American programs,” what she means is that you won’t find any neocon pnac repukes or joLIE arguing that there was corruption involved. If you don’t fit in those two categories, then you aren’t anybody.
December 16th, 2008 at 8:07 pm“Rice: No ‘American Money’ In Iraq Was Lost To Corruption”
Yeah right, Girlfriday. You tell that to Henry Waxman. I will be glad when shoe shopping Girlfriday is gone come January. Her comments are a waste of airtime.
December 16th, 2008 at 8:11 pmThus illustrating the usefulness of the Bush administration Incompetence Strategy.
If they fu(k things up bad enough, they and their cronies can steal all they want to, and peope will just chalk it up to incompetence.
December 16th, 2008 at 8:12 pmHow arrogant to think that her party and administration are perfect and no one, NOT ONE, person, in which her administration is responsible for, is corrupt.
This arrogance comes from the top and goes right down to the trolls that can’t think for themselves.
Disgusting.
December 16th, 2008 at 8:15 pmCorrupt Rice: “There was no corruption.”
What’s wrong with this picture?
December 16th, 2008 at 8:15 pmRight. And the high treason of 9-11 demolition
December 16th, 2008 at 8:18 pmand murder was carried out by people that lived in Afghanistand caves with the assist of Iraq speaking lizards or or something like that.
Well, she sorta is right on the money part. It is China’s money that was wasted there, but we still owe China for borrowing it.
If I was Stanford University, I would be thinking twice about having Condi back. Why do they want someone on their faculty who lies and lives in a fantasy world?
December 16th, 2008 at 8:22 pmCondi should either check to see whether her nose is growing, or else check into a mental ward.
December 16th, 2008 at 8:25 pmSillyfandango Says:
Look this is over. Obama will be president in a few weeks. Why is TP still focused on Bush? When he’s gone will TP still focus on him?
I certainly hope so. I want to be able to know all about the crimes he committed and I do believe that Obama will investigate them and eventually even prosecute him. He just can’t do it right out of the gate if he expects any cooperation from the Republicans to get his stimulus package passed and can begin the process of reclaiming our country. If he goes after Bush right out of the gate the Lemming Republicans will close ranks and oppose anything Obama tries to do, and in the process takes this country down.
I don’t know you as a poster, but I suspect you are one of our new “concerned trolls”.
December 16th, 2008 at 8:27 pmOops… I mean I certainly hope that TP continues to cover Bush. The way I wrote that it sounds like I was talking about Obama.
December 16th, 2008 at 8:28 pmymax Says:
In my opinion, every person in Government or on the outside, who received or took money or goods that he/she was not entitle to will receive 11 days after Mr. Obama is sworn into the office of the PRESIDENT of the USA (February 1st. 2009) to return the loot and will get an immunity from persecution…All others will be send to Gitmo to wait for their trial.
I like the idea of sorting out all the detainees held at Guantanamo and then sending the Bush Crime Family there to await trial. Then Obama can declare them Traitor Combatants and say that they are not entitled to diddly squat. Boy would that be fitting justice for the Bush Crime Family to live out their remaining days sitting in Guantanamo with no charges.
December 16th, 2008 at 8:32 pmRice: No ‘American Money’ In Iraq Was Lost To Corruption. See, it say so right here in this memo with the Haliburton letterhead.
December 16th, 2008 at 8:35 pm“No American money was lost to corruption in Iraq” means “We really don’t know where any of the money really went for certain so, therefore, we can’t state that it was due to anything in particular” or “We had our heads so far up our fantasy loving tushes that we have absolutely no idea what is going on in the real world”
December 16th, 2008 at 8:36 pmDon’t worry, the country is filthy with lying corrupt incompetent Republicans. Most of them will be working feverishly to stop President Obama from saving the country.
Plenty of material.
December 16th, 2008 at 8:38 pmThe Bushie’s are in such a state of denial that I don’t think any of them believe it’s even possible that they could have done so much damage to America. Their ego’s won’t let them see the truth….yet.
December 16th, 2008 at 8:44 pmIt is outrageous she and the and the rest of them blatantly lie. It is worse that no one in the capitalist, corporate media calls them on it.
December 16th, 2008 at 8:46 pmCondi Rice was Bush’s national security adviser before the 9/11 attacks.
Based on her delusional statements about Iraq and wasted/stolen/lost U.S. taxpayer money in the aftermath of Bush invading Iraq in March 2003, I’d have to say that we now know why Condi Rice and her “crack” Republican national security team failed to protect U.S. citizens, even after all the warning signs in the summer of 2001 and after one of the al Qaeda-planned hijackers was arrested in August 2001 in the U.S. Midwest at a flight school after raising suspicions of some of the flight instructors because this guy didn’t want to learn how to take off or fly 747s, only how to fly them while they were airborne. Almost 75 urgent requests by Midwest FBI field agents for a warrant to search this guy’s personal effects in the weeks before 9/11 were ignored by Bush/Cheney/Ashcroft’s Justice Department.
Condi Rice only held ONE cabinet-level counter-terrorism meeting ONE WEEK before the 9/11 attacks, even as this foreign national/terrorist was in FBI custody in the Midwest. At this meeting, per Rice, only Bush’s overall “Middle East strategy” was discussed, nothing about protecting U.S. citizens at home from right-wing religious fundamentalist terrorist, a meeting that was almost one month to the day after the infamous Aug. 6th, 2001 Presidential Daily Briefing, briefed to Bush by a CIA officer and no doubt also read by Rice, entitled: “Bin Laden Determined to Strike In U.S.”.
So, Condi Rice’s performance as a public servant has not been too stellar. In fact, based on her obviously delusional statements about Iraq, plus her sub-standard performance as Bush’s national security adviser before the 9/11 attacks, I don’t think American history books will view her too kindly. She will be treated with the same contempt that all officials in the Bush/Cheney years have earned and deserve.
December 16th, 2008 at 9:19 pmWhoop! Whoop! Whoop!
December 16th, 2008 at 9:24 pmRevisionist History Alert!
Bush Legacy Team at Work!
Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!
ALL repugs are dirty rotton liars.
ricey what about the truckloads of money brennen(sp) brought to Iraq just before chimpy’s war?
What about hilaburton’s overprice common items?
repugs–don’t you know the world is laughing at y’all dumbasses? Get a fn clue!
December 16th, 2008 at 9:24 pmBuckie Boy Says:
Why is blatant lying a constant amount Repukes?
Is it because -
Most of the American public are idiots who do not pay attention?
If that is true then mccain would have won the election.
December 16th, 2008 at 9:27 pmSomebody needs to smack a size 8 pump upside this crazy woman’s head and knock some sense into her.
December 16th, 2008 at 9:33 pmI got the Jimmy Choos and I’m ready to do some smacking!
stewarjt Says:
It is outrageous she and the and the rest of them blatantly lie. It is worse that no one in the capitalist, corporate media calls them on it.
Progressive/liberals will alway question authority.
When repugs get ambushed with tough questions, such as, “What do you read?” they cry like little punks and call foul.
Thank God for www
December 16th, 2008 at 9:38 pmSillyfandango Says:
Look this is over. Obama will be president in a few weeks. Why is TP still focused on Bush? When he’s gone will TP still focus on him?
This is more confirmation that we know what these repugs are up to; they are holding progressives/liberals to a different standard while their standard is lying.
We have to confront them with the truth, decency and commonsense or they will get loose again.
repugs are looking for the golden sperm within President-ELECT Obama’s cabinet.
December 16th, 2008 at 9:52 pmThe lies just never stop do they?
December 16th, 2008 at 10:09 pmShe is flat out lying. I’ve been to Iraq. I have witnessed the waste and corruption for myself.
December 16th, 2008 at 10:35 pmOf course they’re all going to lie. Blatant lies are all they have left. They’ll keep lying for the rest of their lives. They’ll lie on the stand. They’ll lie in their prison cells. I hope they tell the truth on the scaffold, but I doubt it.
December 16th, 2008 at 10:36 pmWow, her thorough review of all no-bid contracts found exactly $0 misspent? Amazing!
December 16th, 2008 at 11:22 pmI don’t know why these (bleep)s insist on lying as their first, last, and only recourse. They suck at it.
December 16th, 2008 at 11:44 pmDumb Question: As I remember the news reports, rather large sums of money were simply not accounted for.
If we can’t account for the funds, how do we know whether it was lost or given to corruption or not ?
OTOH, we do know that even our own US Sanctioned contractors built buildings that couldn’t be inhabited and connected electric wires to shower drains. So even without deliberate corruption, the quality was rather low.
December 17th, 2008 at 12:20 amRice not only is a WAR CRIMINAL, but she is also a pathological lier! I haven’t seen this ‘thing’ saying one single truth about 9/11, pre-war inteligence, Saddam Hussein, the Palestinian apartheid, torture, rendition flights, secret prisons, the war, the afeghanistan invasion, war crimes… The other day the scum was playing piano to the reptile queen of england. HAGUE 2009 FOR RICE!
December 17th, 2008 at 12:22 amOf course none of it was ‘lost’ to corruption. They know exactly where it went. Right into their war mongering pockets. That is not corruption to them, it is ‘opportunity’. Just like blaming the poor for the economic meltdown. They also mistimed that one. It was supposed to happen on Obama’s watch so they could also blame him. And by the way, where did the $330 billion of the bail out money go so far? Hmmm.
December 17th, 2008 at 12:24 am.
Rice is corrupted…
.
December 17th, 2008 at 1:52 amI won’t call Rice a liar.
Let me just say she is fabricating a falsehood………….
December 17th, 2008 at 3:11 am“I don’t think that you will find that anybody is arguing that there was corruption in the American programs.”
What planet is you living on?
Nobody at the country club, Condi, but the American public feels it has been taken to the cleaners by your monumental scam of a war in Iraq.
Admit it, Ms. Rice. You, Dick Cheney, George Bush and most of his friends are leaving office in disgrace. No “legacy tours” can cover up your crimes and incompetence.
December 17th, 2008 at 5:59 amA third of Iraq’s reconstruction budget, at one point, was used strictly for State Dept. Security. That would be Blackwater.
December 17th, 2008 at 7:47 amOn January 20, 2009, at the moment Obama says “I do”, the 5 million or so citizens gathered throughout Washington DC, should surround the place of swearing in, and sequester booosh and Deadeye dick until the Capital police arrest them. Do not listen to the phoney secret service dickhead gestapo, in fact arrest them too, and just overwhelm the fuking tratiors on the stage and do not let them off.
ARREST, TRY AND HANG Bush et al.
December 17th, 2008 at 8:48 amInvade Sqitzerland, Dubai and The Cayman Islands to find our Trillions stolen by the Evildoers in the Bush cabal.
December 17th, 2008 at 8:49 amLIAR !
I don’t relish the idea of calling someone out for what they are however, even as a registered-repubican I can’t take anymore of Bush, Rice and the rest of the minions that continue to rewrite history. It is well documented that American treasure and the spilled-blood from our brave troops are a direct result of the incompetence of the neocons.
I stand corrected, Condi is not only a liar she is incompetent!! Burn in hell Condi!
December 17th, 2008 at 9:07 amNo American money in Iraq was lost to corruption
Yeah, right, and I’m a cumquat from Queens.
December 17th, 2008 at 10:32 amThere aren’t enough shoes in the world to throw at these people.
December 17th, 2008 at 11:34 amStupid, lying slag.
December 17th, 2008 at 12:20 pmAt least Rice gave me a good hearty belly laugh when I read her comment today. Has she lost any footing with reality, or does she just cross her fingers when she says this nonsense?
December 17th, 2008 at 12:52 pmI would bet the neocon definition of “corruption” wouldn’t match any dictionary’s.
December 17th, 2008 at 2:43 pmIt’s not too late. 9112010.com
December 17th, 2008 at 7:51 pmNo money was lost…
December 17th, 2008 at 11:04 pmThey know where every dollar for corruption ended up.
So, no. It’s not lost.
Well folks…I was going to just post: “What an Idiot”…
However….we all know mis Cuni-lezza Rice is just trying to make sure she gets a good write-up for her resume’
December 18th, 2008 at 7:46 am