Christian Aid: US stealing billions from Iraqis

[DavidByron]

Christian Aid says the US is stealing billions of dollars from Iraqi oil --- 80% of the money from the oil that the US has taken is unaccounted for.   Says many of Iraq's poor are worse off than they were under Saddam.

http://www.news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1168382003

[URnotmeRU]

LMAO!!!!!

[SacredNaCl]

They probably based their figures on pre-existing Iraqi oil capacity figure 0% downtime of piping and drilling.

Okay, meet reality:

The only official pipeline that was able to get anything out to ship was shut down (that being the illegal one into Syria).  A small transport pipeline to get oil from the north to a gasoline processing facility in the south exist -- but this is being used almost entirely for Iraq's internal gasoline needs (remember when they couldn't buy gas at the pumps? That was before they repaired the line to the refinery.)   As far as exports, what exports? We got more oil out of Iraq during the sanction period than we do now. All other pipelines are non-operational due to sabotage.  I read a report not too long ago that they estimated it would be *2 years* before they were able to get production levels past the 91' period at a most generous estimate without any further sabotage problems.  That's the most optimistic appraisal from our own GAO. The same report said it would probably be 12-13 months away before we even got to the sanctions level of exports.


The US spends 2-3 times that amount every single month there just to keep the peace and try to keep some things running.  I grant you, they are doing a suck job of it. They fired everyone who knew how to run it (for political reasons), and made some huge mistakes in public relations.

[CaptDMO]

Um....... Iraq is in debt to the world for HOW MUCH?
           Iraq has precious little in the way of GNP to offer. Let's say for example-crude oil. How much of the profits from that went to the PEOPLE of Iraq?
 55 Billion to rebuild Iraq? FOR WHAT? I guess mercs dont come cheep. That, of course, is an old number.
And, In My Humble Opinion-
 Neither the U.N., nor Christian Aid, ought to be throwing stones from the parapets of their crystal castles.

[Asian Lover]

Remember all those "starving children in Iraq" that the evil US/UN sanctions were supposed to be responsible for?

Then, remember the boxes of $100 bills, something like $600 million found by invading US troops?  

Cash stolen from the "Oil for Food Program."  In other words,  Saddam starved his own kids for photo ops so that fools like David Byron would knash their teeth and curse their own governments.

We got a seat open at our poker game for you, chump.