‘The great liberator of Iraq was actually the hyena that
cleaned out the nation. 

Piece by piece, Halliburton over here, a corrupt company
over there, we have heard various individual cases of overcharging and fraud by
American firms in the reconstruction of Iraq. Last weekend, a Globe story
connected some of the dots of corruption. Of $20.7 billion in Iraqi bank
accounts and oil revenues seized by the Coalition Provisional Authority in the
US-led invasion of Iraq, $14 billion was given out for reconstruction but tens
of millions of dollars were unaccounted for. A year ago, an audit by the
inspector general found no evidence of work done or goods delivered on 154 of
198 contracts. Sixty cases of potential swindles are under investigation.

Halliburton and its hundreds of millions of dollars of overcharges or baseless
costs are well known. But millions more were taken by companies that promised
to build or restore libraries or police facilities, or deliver trucks and
construction equipment. Money was given to the puppet government with no
follow-up. US government investigators can account for only a third of the $1.5
billion given by the CPA to the interim government and it appears that a
substantial portion of the $8 billion given to Iraqi ministries went to ''ghost
employees.'' 

Because of the way the United
States set things up after the invasion, contractors are immune from
prosecution by Iraqis. And even when firms are prosecuted, the millions of
dollars in fines go to the US Treasury, not the Iraqi people. It amounts to two
invasions. First the bombs. Then the banks. 

This is robbery, not
reconstruction.’ 

Robbery
Not Reconstruction In Iraq

‘This week, Daniel Pipes, adviser
to George Bush and a leading proponent of the Iraq invasion complained about
"the ingratitude of the Iraqis for the extraordinary favour we gave them:
to release them from the bondage of Saddam Hussein's tyranny." 

The reasons for that
"ingratitude" are given below in the shocking statistics which show
that, three years after the US/UK invasion, Iraqis are far worse off now than
they were under Saddam Hussein's brutal regime. 

There can be no clearer
indictment of those who took us into this illegal war - not least our prime
minister Tony Blair and the Labour MPs who supported him - nor can there be any
clearer vindication of the anti-war movement, which predicted the horrors that
continue to be inflicted on the Iraqi people. We always opposed Saddam
Hussein's tyranny, and wished for his overthrow as much as anyone, but it was
obvious that getting rid of a tyranny was the last motive in the minds of
George Bush and Tony Blair, as is shown from US/British support for tyrants
around the world, not least in earlier years for Saddam Hussein himself . 

Level Of Violent Deaths

The level of violent deaths is far higher than in the last years of Saddam
Hussein's rule. At least 100,000 Iraqi civilians have died, most of them at the
hands of U.S. forces but increasingly from terrorist groups and Iraqi
government death squads. Thousands of Iraqi soldiers and police have also been
killed. 

Crime At Record Levels

Violent crime, including
kidnapping, rape, and armed robbery, is at record levels. There is a
proliferation of small arms, and private militias are growing rapidly. A
Lebanon-type multifaceted civil war, only on a much wider and deadlier scale,
grows more likely with time. 

More Iraqis Imprisoned

Over 50,000 Iraqis have been
imprisoned by US forces since the invasion, but only 1.5% of them have been
convicted of any crime. Currently, U.S. forces hold 15,000 to 18,000 Iraqi
prisoners, more than were imprisoned under Saddam Hussein. 

Widespread Use Of Torture And
Other Abuses 

Amnesty International and other
human rights groups have cited U.S. forces with widespread violations of
international humanitarian law, including torture and other abuses of
prisoners. Fear of arrest and torture have worsened since the U.S. conquest of
Iraq. 

Increased Deaths From
Malnutrition And Preventable Diseases 

Deaths from malnutrition and
preventable diseases, particularly among children, are again on the increase.
The supply of drinking water, reliability of electricity, and effectiveness of
sewage disposal are all worse than before the invasion. 

Fifty Percent Unemployment And
Incomes Cut By Half 

As much as half of the labour
force is unemployed, and the cost of living has skyrocketed. The median income
of Iraqis has declined by more than half. The UN's World Food Program (WFP)
reports that the Iraqi people suffer from "significant countrywide
shortages of rice, sugar, milk, and infant formula," and the WFP documents
approximately 400,000 Iraqi children suffering from "dangerous
deficiencies of protein." 

Oil Production Halved,
Reconstruction Halted 

Oil production, the country's
chief source of revenue, is less than half of what it was before the invasion.
And despite Bush administration promises to infuse billions of dollars worth of foreign aid to rebuild the country's civilian infrastructure,
only a small fraction of these ventures have been completed, and most projects
have been cancelled.

One Million Iraqis Have Left The Country  

Close to one million Iraqis, most
of them from the vital, educated middle class, have left the country to avoid
the violence and hardship brought on as a result of the U.S. invasion.’

The above statistics are taken from Iraq Three Years After
"Liberation" by Stephen Zunes.

From the new York Times

Army Cancels Contract for Iraqi Prison

By JAMES GLANZ
Published: June 20, 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 19 — The Army Corps of Engineers said Monday that it had canceled a $99.1 million contract with Parsons, one of the largest companies working in Iraq, to build a prison north of Baghdad after the firm fell more than two years behind schedule, threatened to go millions of dollars over budget and essentially abandoned the construction site...
read more at the NYT