Showing posts with label Iraq. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iraq. Show all posts
Monday, January 9, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
The Shape in Which the U.S. Has Left Iraq
Council on Foreign Relations adjunct fellow Meghan L. O'Sullivan fills us in:
While Americans have been welcoming the "end" of the war in Iraq over the past few days, a political crisis of serious proportions has been unfolding in Baghdad.The war the U.S. started was a mess, as is the peace, if you want to call it that.
The fragile governing coalition that has teetered between dysfunction and collapse for the past year appears to be splintering, strained by personality clashes, governance disagreements and sectarian rivalries coming to a head.
Only a matter of hours after the last convoy of U.S. troops exited, the Iraqi government issued an arrest warrant for one of the nation's vice presidents on terrorism charges; the prime minister urged Parliament to eject one of his deputies for calling him a dictator in the news media; unruly protests followed a vote in favor of greater provincial autonomy; and Iraqiya -- the Sunni-dominated political coalition in an uneasy alliance with the party of Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, a Shiite -- walked out of Parliament. Meanwhile, Iraqi parliamentary leaders of various stripes are gathering in the northern Kurdish region, likely to debate their options for opposing Maliki's "centralizing tendencies" and increasingly strong grip on power.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Pools of Oil and Money: An Object Lesson for Barack Obama
The recently released book Backstabbing for Beginners: My Crash Course in International Diplomacy by Michael Soussan is receiving little coverage by mainstream media. Could it be because the book provides an insiders look at the UN run Iraq oil-for-food operation and pulls no punches? The Paul Volcker lead investigation of the scandal found a scapegoat in Benon Sevon, and never went much further, despite indications that many others knew or benefited from the scam, including those close to the Bush Administration, then-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Condoleezza Rice.
Volcker, like Colin Powell, has what I call delusional integrity. You can always count on men like them to put on a good show about integrity. They both come across as straight shooting men of integrity, most likely because they are delusional and believe they are men of integrity. Yet, at the end of the day, the real insiders know that the Volcker types and the Powell types will deliver what the insiders want. Powell will deliver a bogus speech about Iraqi WMDs and Volcker will know when to stop his oil-for-food investigation. One of Volcker's top investigators resigned because he felt Volcker was protecting Annan in the oil-for-food investigation.
Soussan suffers no such delusions. It is clear from his book that he is a straight shooter and tells it like it is. He was literally at the center of the scandal and gives us a play-by-play of what went on, like few others could. In short, bureaucratic in-fighting put lives of UN workers at risk for no good reason and created huge opportunities for bribery and theft to the tune of billions of dollars. Saddam skimmed cash everywhere, had UN workers on the payroll and co-opted many countries including France and Russia through bribe after bribe. In this book, you learn the details of how he did it and how he got away with it. And you learn about the other players, across the spectrum, that pocketed skimmed cash.
Soussan does not take the lessons of the oil-for-food scandal beyond the scandal itself , and this is a good thing. But there is a lesson here far larger than just the oil-for-food scandal that the reader can extrapolate from the book. It is about bureaucracy and money. Fredrich Hayek in The Road To Serfdom titled a chapter Why the worst get on top. In the chapter, Hayek's basic conclusion is that the worst get on top because the ruthless will do anything it takes to gain power. A corollary could very well explain why the worst circled the oil-for-food scam, and likely will circle any huge bureaucratically created pool of money. The most evil will do what it takes to get at the money. The oil-for-food scandal, as detailed, is an object lesson in how that happens.
Given that President-elect Obama is about to create a huge new pool of "rescue the economy" bureaucratic money when he takes office, it would not be a bad idea for him to read this book to get a sense for how a bureaucracy can get away from its goals. "The rescue the economy" pool has some characterstics that are different from the oil-for-food scam, but it has the one key ingredient, the creation of a huge pool of bureaucratic of money. The vultures are most certainly already circling the pool.
Soussan is not John Le Carre nor Frederick Forsyth when it comes to weaving a tale, but he doesn't have to be. He has fact not fiction to guide him. His sense of humor, ability to create suspense and paint a picture are all more than passable. His powers of observation are superior. Only a great observer could write these words, for example:
There's a lot of curious things that go on in this world, one of them is why this book is not getting more coverage. If you want a real life play-by-play explanation of how a bureaucracy can get out of control and lead to mass scamming, this book is must reading.
Volcker, like Colin Powell, has what I call delusional integrity. You can always count on men like them to put on a good show about integrity. They both come across as straight shooting men of integrity, most likely because they are delusional and believe they are men of integrity. Yet, at the end of the day, the real insiders know that the Volcker types and the Powell types will deliver what the insiders want. Powell will deliver a bogus speech about Iraqi WMDs and Volcker will know when to stop his oil-for-food investigation. One of Volcker's top investigators resigned because he felt Volcker was protecting Annan in the oil-for-food investigation.
Soussan suffers no such delusions. It is clear from his book that he is a straight shooter and tells it like it is. He was literally at the center of the scandal and gives us a play-by-play of what went on, like few others could. In short, bureaucratic in-fighting put lives of UN workers at risk for no good reason and created huge opportunities for bribery and theft to the tune of billions of dollars. Saddam skimmed cash everywhere, had UN workers on the payroll and co-opted many countries including France and Russia through bribe after bribe. In this book, you learn the details of how he did it and how he got away with it. And you learn about the other players, across the spectrum, that pocketed skimmed cash.
Soussan does not take the lessons of the oil-for-food scandal beyond the scandal itself , and this is a good thing. But there is a lesson here far larger than just the oil-for-food scandal that the reader can extrapolate from the book. It is about bureaucracy and money. Fredrich Hayek in The Road To Serfdom titled a chapter Why the worst get on top. In the chapter, Hayek's basic conclusion is that the worst get on top because the ruthless will do anything it takes to gain power. A corollary could very well explain why the worst circled the oil-for-food scam, and likely will circle any huge bureaucratically created pool of money. The most evil will do what it takes to get at the money. The oil-for-food scandal, as detailed, is an object lesson in how that happens.
Given that President-elect Obama is about to create a huge new pool of "rescue the economy" bureaucratic money when he takes office, it would not be a bad idea for him to read this book to get a sense for how a bureaucracy can get away from its goals. "The rescue the economy" pool has some characterstics that are different from the oil-for-food scam, but it has the one key ingredient, the creation of a huge pool of bureaucratic of money. The vultures are most certainly already circling the pool.
Soussan is not John Le Carre nor Frederick Forsyth when it comes to weaving a tale, but he doesn't have to be. He has fact not fiction to guide him. His sense of humor, ability to create suspense and paint a picture are all more than passable. His powers of observation are superior. Only a great observer could write these words, for example:
Freedom may be a political concept, but it is first and foremost a feeling. A breath of fresh air. A smile on people's faces. The absence of fear in their eyes. The difference between the north and the south [of Iraq] was palpable.I visited Germany a year before the wall came down, and spent time in both West Berlin and East Berlin. The difference between the two was striking. The difference between what I saw in East and West Berlin is exactly what Soussan observed in the difference between North and South Iraq and, in his writing, he was able to turn this observation into what I consider a great universal truth about freedom. Freedom is more than just a political concept, it becomes who people are and what happens to their lives
There's a lot of curious things that go on in this world, one of them is why this book is not getting more coverage. If you want a real life play-by-play explanation of how a bureaucracy can get out of control and lead to mass scamming, this book is must reading.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Cuban's Insider Trading Charge: Payback For Anti-Bush Movie?
Wow, when I made the post below, I did not expect the Mark Cuban story to develop this quickly, bizarrely and intensely.
A person close to Mark Cuban, has told DealBook that an SEC employee had sent Cuban e-mails several times over the last year or so, accusing him of being unpatriotic. Cuban was today charged by the SEC with insider trading. The emails from the SEC employee raised concerns about Cuban’s involvement as producer of “Loose Change”, a documentary that accuses the Bush administration of engineering the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as a pretext for the Iraq war.
The Cuban camp contends this semi-coherent email was sent by SEC employee Jeffrey Norris:
In a statement, an S.E.C. spokesman told DealBook that the insider-trading investigation was run out of the Commission’s Washington headquarters. Norris worked out of a regional office and had no role in or knowledge of the investigation. He was “referred for disciplinary action,” the spokesman said.
But, the regional SEC office turns out to be Fort Worth, TX and Norris is listed on numerous public court filings (See here, here and here) as a Senior Trial Counsel, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, Fort Worth, TX Cuban lives next door in Dallas.
A person close to Mark Cuban, has told DealBook that an SEC employee had sent Cuban e-mails several times over the last year or so, accusing him of being unpatriotic. Cuban was today charged by the SEC with insider trading. The emails from the SEC employee raised concerns about Cuban’s involvement as producer of “Loose Change”, a documentary that accuses the Bush administration of engineering the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as a pretext for the Iraq war.
The Cuban camp contends this semi-coherent email was sent by SEC employee Jeffrey Norris:
From: Norris, Jeffrey B.Curiously, SEC chairman Christopher Cox recused himself from the commission vote on whether to bring charges against Cuban.
Sent: Saturday, May 05, 2007 2:27 PM
To: Mark Cuban
Cc: Cox, Christopher
Subject: RE: “Lose Change”
I AM SHARING THIS WITH CHAIRMAN COX. NEITHER HE NOR THE COMMISSION ENDORSE MY OPINIONS, BUT IN LIGHT OF YOUR THREAT, I THOUGHT SHOULD SEND THIS TO HIM.
Mark:
If this upsets you, I wonder how George Bush feels. I assume that Mr. Cox would view your involvement with “Loose Change” much as I do. After all, he served his country as a Republican Congressman from Orange County for nearly 20 years and was appointed by President Bush. If you feel like sharing my thoughts with Chairman Cox, be my guest.
Previously, I thought you were merely foolish and naïve (sic). Now, however, I see that you are also a hypocrite. I guess your belief in free speech has severe limitations. If someone else is the victim of an absurd conspiracy theory, you defend your right to participate in smearing the good name of of a patriot like President Bush. But, when you are the subject of a parody of the attack you have endorsed, you suddenly issue threats.
I think I will e-mail this to Chairman Cox myself. I think he will enjoy it. I’m sure he is also a Laker (sic)fan.
Since Chairman Cox may not know the background, I will explain. Mark Cuban is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and has participated in distributing the vicious and absurd documentary, “Loose Change,” which posits that President Bush planned the demolition of the World Trade Center as a pretext for going to war against Iraq. We have had some past exchanges about my opinion the Mr. Cuban’s support for this project is irresponsible and immoral. Below, I parodied his position that every opinion, no matter how absurd and vicious, deserves to be broadly disseminated.
In a statement, an S.E.C. spokesman told DealBook that the insider-trading investigation was run out of the Commission’s Washington headquarters. Norris worked out of a regional office and had no role in or knowledge of the investigation. He was “referred for disciplinary action,” the spokesman said.
But, the regional SEC office turns out to be Fort Worth, TX and Norris is listed on numerous public court filings (See here, here and here) as a Senior Trial Counsel, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, Fort Worth, TX Cuban lives next door in Dallas.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Inflation Headed To Baghdad
First we bomb them, now we must be printing Iraqi dinars day and night, if this AP story is any indication:
It is a politician's dream: Handing out cold, hard cash to people on the street as they plead for help. Iraq's prime minister has been doing just that in recent weeks, doling out Iraqi dinars as an aide trails behind, keeping a tally.
The handouts by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and a handful of other top officials are authorized _ as long as each goes no higher than about $8,000, and the same people don't get them twice. Aides say they are meant merely to ease the pain a bit, and are motivated by a belief that better conditions will lead to more security.
It is a politician's dream: Handing out cold, hard cash to people on the street as they plead for help. Iraq's prime minister has been doing just that in recent weeks, doling out Iraqi dinars as an aide trails behind, keeping a tally.
The handouts by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and a handful of other top officials are authorized _ as long as each goes no higher than about $8,000, and the same people don't get them twice. Aides say they are meant merely to ease the pain a bit, and are motivated by a belief that better conditions will lead to more security.
Friday, June 20, 2008
House Passes War Funding Bll
The House has passed a $162 billion war funding bill.
The bill will bring to more than $650 billion the amount provided by Congress for the war in Iraq since it started five years ago. Nearly $200 billion in additional funding has gone to operations in Afghanistan, according to congressional analysts.
A new GI Bll was attached and a 13-week extension of unemployment checks for those whose benefits have run out.
The new GI Bill essentially would guarantee a full scholarship at any in-state public university, along with a monthly housing stipend, for people who serve in the military for at least three years. It is aimed at replicating the benefits awarded veterans of World War II and more than doubles the value of the benefit — from $40,000 today to $90,000.
The bill will bring to more than $650 billion the amount provided by Congress for the war in Iraq since it started five years ago. Nearly $200 billion in additional funding has gone to operations in Afghanistan, according to congressional analysts.
A new GI Bll was attached and a 13-week extension of unemployment checks for those whose benefits have run out.
The new GI Bill essentially would guarantee a full scholarship at any in-state public university, along with a monthly housing stipend, for people who serve in the military for at least three years. It is aimed at replicating the benefits awarded veterans of World War II and more than doubles the value of the benefit — from $40,000 today to $90,000.
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