Corruption fuels Insurgency (apparently Iraq has a Republican Party!)

[Roland99]

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/article_1172102.php/Corruption_is_funding_insurgency_says_Iraqi_official

Baghdad - The head of the Iraqi authority charged with tackling administrative corruption in the country has said the problem is now so bad that it is a source of funding for armed groups.

'Corruption has become one of the most important sources for funding terrorism and it is spread throughout all government bodies,' said Aza al-Radhi, head of the Iraqi Integrity Authority.

The number of administrative corruption cases has topped 1,400 with 45 top officials including ministers and deputy ministers implicated in the cases, al-Radhi said.

Some government officials accept bribes in return for finding jobs for citizens or registering them under a fake name. Other officials use state money to spend on their houses, or exploit trade deals with international companies and smuggle oil, al-Radhi said.

Wow, the US sure was exporting democracy! They transplanted the core of the Republican Party over there!

[enid602]

1. Makes sense.

Under Saddam they had a Repulican Army.

[yella_dawg]

2. So.

We're funding the insurgency?

Figures.

[Roland99]

3. Well, the article does mention a big source is oil smuggling out of Basra

and that people are afraid to turn criminals in or testify against them. Looking at RawStory's homepage we see a developing headline from the NYT that the murder rate in southern Iraq is soaring, well, seems we might have a reason why.

[Roland99]

4. Here's an excerpt from that upcoming NYT article >>>

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Murder_rate_soars_in_Basra_as_0612.html

The city of Basra in southern Iraq is suffering from a soaring murder rate, a tattered oil industry, and a terrified population, the New York Times will report on Tuesday page ones, RAW STORY has learned. Excerpts:
#

Western-style politics, once seen as the solution to the problems of one-party rule, have degenerated into deadly fighting among the Shi'ite political parties for control of the province and its oil reserves.

There were almost 85 killings in the city in May, nearly triple the number in January.

Police reports from the past five months include the murder of eight oil company employees, the discovery of twenty caches of Russian rockets, including one cache in the back of an ambulance, and shoot-outs among different factions of the police.

DEVELOPING....