U.S. sent giant pallets of cash into Iraq

[EscortBiz]

DYUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM thats tons of cash (363 tons)

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/02/...eut/index.html

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The Federal Reserve sent record payouts of more than $4 billion in cash to Baghdad on giant pallets aboard military planes shortly before the United States gave control back to Iraqis, lawmakers said Tuesday.

The money, which had been held by the United States, came from Iraqi oil exports, surplus dollars from the U.N.-run oil-for-food program and frozen assets belonging to the ousted Saddam Hussein regime.

Bills weighing a total of 363 tons were loaded onto military aircraft in the largest cash shipments ever made by the Federal Reserve, said Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

"Who in their right mind would send 363 tons of cash into a war zone? But that's exactly what our government did," the California Democrat said during a hearing reviewing possible waste, fraud and abuse of funds in Iraq.

On December 12, 2003, $1.5 billion was shipped to Iraq, initially "the largest pay out of U.S. currency in Fed history," according to an e-mail cited by committee members.

It was followed by more than $2.4 billion on June 22, 2004, and $1.6 billion three days later. The CPA turned over sovereignty on June 30.

Bremer: Cash requested by Iraqis
L Paul Bremer, who as the administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority ran Iraq after initial combat operations ended, said the enormous shipments were done at the request of the Iraqi minister of finance.

"He said, 'I am concerned that I will not have the money to support the Iraqi government expenses for the first couple of months after we are sovereign. We won't have the mechanisms in place, I won't know how to get the money here,"' Bremer said.

"So these shipments were made at the explicit request of the Iraqi minister of finance to forward fund government expenses, a perfectly, seems to me, legitimate use of his money," Bremer told lawmakers.

Democrats led by Waxman also questioned whether the lack of oversight of $12 billion in Iraqi money that was disbursed by Bremer and the CPA somehow enabled insurgents to get their hands on the funds, possibly through falsifying names on the government payroll.

"I have no knowledge of monies being diverted. I would certainly be concerned if I thought they were," Bremer said. He pointed out that the problem of fake names on the payroll existed before the U.S.-led invasion.

The special inspector general for Iraqi reconstruction, Stuart Bowen, said in a January 2005 report that $8.8 billion was unaccounted for after being given to the Iraqi ministries.

"We were in the middle of a war, working in very difficult conditions, and we had to move quickly to get this Iraqi money working for the Iraqi people," Bremer told lawmakers. He said there was no banking system and it would have been impossible to apply modern accounting standards in the midst of a war.

Republicans argued that Bremer and the CPA staff did the best they could under the circumstances and accused Democrats of trying to score political points over the increasingly unpopular Iraq war.

"We are in a war against terrorists, to have a blame meeting isn't, in my opinion, constructive," said Rep. Dan Burton, an Indiana Republican.

[reynold]

Would be nice to have a Fedex-style "routing" problem and that pallet ends up at my doorstep. Sure, buddy, I'll sign on the delivery receipt........ AWwwwww YEAH!!!!!!!!!

[Webby]

Remember reports of at least 23 cargo aircraft loaded with cash notes - and some "problems" about the cash "disappearing" off some aircraft within an hour of them landing ;-)

Then... "we don't need to continue with the auditing process"

[Fap]

Geez couldnt they just write out a check? Im sure the federal reserve would have been good for it.

[tony286]

man makes the skim so easy

[EscortBiz]

write out a check and who will cash it lol an iraqi bank with 0 cash

[Doctor Dre]

You gotta do what you gotta do...

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

The sad part is that some of the money may have been funneled to people killing out soldiers...

Thanks again, Mr. President!

ADG Webmaster

[czarina]

You gotta love Bush... ain't he most original president ever? That beats the heck of getting blowjobs in the white house, in my opinion...

[mikeyddddd]

What happened to all the cash they found in Saddam's and his son's palaces?

There were 100s of millions in one palace and over a billion in some nearby cottages.

[EscortBiz]

Originally Posted by mikeyddddd

What happened to all the cash they found in Saddam's and his son's palaces?

There were 100s of millions in one palace and over a billion in some nearby cottages.

[Webby]

Originally Posted by mikeyddddd

What happened to all the cash they found in Saddam's and his son's palaces?

There were 100s of millions in one palace and over a billion in some nearby cottages.

Eh?? Wot cash?

[Elli]

How nice of the US to hold their money for them while they were otherwise occupied...

I wonder if they also gave them interest on the initial amount or if they kept that part.

[PussyTeenies]

hey UPS was at my door with a package..

could it be???

[EscortBiz]

Originally Posted by PussyTeenies

hey UPS was at my door with a package..

could it be???

ups is too cheap on shipping so the govt, def did not use them

[2012]

Originally Posted by AsianDivaGirlsWebDude

The sad part is that some of the money may have been funneled to people killing out soldiers...

Thanks again, Mr. President!

ADG Webmaster

Your Welcome, Just doin muh job !

[reynold]

Originally Posted by EscortBiz

COMEDY GOLD.

[LiveDose]

It would be funny if we didn't have to pay taxes.

Government is pathetic.

[BusterBunny]

must really suck to be in politics these days.....they hand over money to the rightfull owners and get shit talked for it.....if they didn't give it to them everyone would be bitching about how we are stealing it.....

[cones]

money money money