Where has Iraq’s money gone?

By George Monbiot.
Published in the Guardian 8th February 2005

The Republican lawmakers who have devoted their careers to mauling the UN are seldom accused of shyness. But they went strangely quiet on Thursday. Henry Hyde became Henry Jekyll. Norm Coleman’s mustard turned to honey. Convinced that the United Nations is a conspiracy against the sovereignty of the United States, they had been ready to launch the attack which would have toppled the hated Kofi Annan and destroyed his organisation. A report by Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the US federal reserve, was meant to have proved that, as a result of corruption within the UN’s oil-for-food programme, Saddam Hussein was able to sustain his regime by diverting oil revenues into his own hands. But Volcker came up with something else.

Anne Montgomery
Christian Peacemaker Teams

“Tanks and airplanes do not frighten me. Our Fallujah is ours. We will build it with the clay of Fallujah and irrigate it with our blood. The American soldiers destroyed my toys and my life, and I want them to leave.” (Ruah, 10, 5th grade whose name means `vision’)

“If the Americans are strong, why didn’t they find Al Zarqawi? Why did they destroy my books and games, the children’s toys? Is my teddy bear Zarqawi? What is our fault? We have 5 demands before we will go home.” (Rania, l2, 7th grade)

These two little girls, echoing adults yet determined and articulate, spoke to us at the Baghdad University mosque, next to a large tent camp for Fallujah refugees. Even the mosque is partitioned by blankets into cubicles. The sheikh explained that the people’s decision is to remain in the cold and mud until their demands are met:

By Cliff Kindy
Christian Peacemaker Teams

Ahmed knocked at the door of the CPT apartment, accompanied by his translator. His family had been searching for his brother Mohammad for three months without success. His translator had met CPT at a conference last summer and suggested the family ask CPT for help.

On November 7, 2005, U.S. soldiers knocked at the door of Ahmed’s home. They did not damage any property or take anything from the house. But the soldiers did detain Ahmed and his three brothers and transport them to Scania U.S. Military Base, south of Baghdad. Three of the brothers, Ahmed included, were not charged and were scheduled to be released. Soldiers did levy a tentative charge against the fourth brother, Najim.

Speech to the Labour Against The War conference by Milan Rai, University of London Union, Malet Street, London
5 February 2005
[edited version]

Commenting on the handling of terrorist suspects, the Prime Minister said in the House of Commons on Wednesday 2 February, ‘the one thing I will not do as Prime Minister is engage in anything that I think puts the security of our country at risk. That is paramount for me.’ (Hansard)

Why, then, did he ignore the advice of British intelligence, which warned him in February 2003 that the invasion of Iraq would ‘heighten’ not lessen the risk of terrorism against Britain?

The Intelligence and Security Committee report into Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, published in September 2003, found that the Joint Intelligence Committee gave this warning to Tony Blair on 10 February 2003:

‘The JIC assessed that al-Qaida and associated groups continued to represent by far the greatest threat to Western interests and that threat would be heightened by military action against Iraq.’ (emphasis added)

How Washington Plans To Dominate The New Iraqi National Assembly
By Milan Rai

The elections in Iraq have been an unprecedented opportunity for ordinary people to influence the destiny of their country, but the National Assembly they have elected is so hedged in with US-imposed restrictions that the cabinet it produces will be more like a chain-gang of prisoners than an independent government.

A prominent Iraqi politician in the Shia coalition told the New Yorker in January that the US had quietly told the parties before the election that there were three conditions for the new government: it should not be under the influence of Iran; it should not ask for the withdrawal of US troops; and it should not install an Islamic state.