Ten Years On

Ten years have elapsed since the start of the Iraq war.

Here are some sobering statistics, at least 116,000 Iraqi civilians and more than 4,800 coalition troops died in Iraq between the outbreak of war in 2003 and the US withdrawal in 2011, while the total cost to the US could reach $3 trillion according to new estimates.

A Shambles

The double suicide bombing in Baghdad on Sunday that claimed more than 130 lives, and wounded hundreds more, highlights that the situation in Iraq is still far from stable.

Other news from that troubled country indicates that even the construction of the world's largest and "most secure" embassy (the US embassy) has been spectacularly botched.

Despite the US spending $700M on construction, the yet to be completed complex is riddled with serious flaws eg; "safe areas" that were not constructed according to contract specifications, walls and walkways that have begun to crack and a power distribution system that used nonstandard wiring.

There are also plumbing problems in 200 locations in the embassy compound, eg the deputy ambassador has the pleasure of airconditioning that pumps noxious sewage fumes into his residence, and deficiencies in a water treatment plant.

The cost of repairs is estimated at being a "mere" $132M.

However, the cost of running the new complex is expected to be so exorbitant that the US may well be forced to rent out part of the space.

Why on earth was such an unwieldy building commissioned in the first place?

As some local wags point out, if the Americans cannot even build their own embassy without botching it, how can they possibly expect to build a nation?

The Cost of The Occupation

Aside from the ongoing loss of civilian and military lives, the continuing occupation of Iraq is also having a devastating impact on the finances of the USA.

According to congressional analysts, the eventual total cost of the Iraq war and the occupation could be as high as $ 1.5 trillion (that's TRILLION not BILLION!).

This cost does not include the cost of rebuilding Iraq's shattered infrastructure.

The occupation phase of the Iraq war is costing the United States $1,538 a second, or $92,333 a minute, or $5,540,000 an hour.

Despite that, McCain (were he to become president) wants to keep troops there for up to 100 years.

How does he intend to pay for this?

The Cost of The War

In case anyone is wondering what the cost of the Iraq war has been to the USA, aside from the lives lost, they can read about it in The Times.

The current estimate gives a cost of around $3 Trillion.

This bill will be hanging around the taxpayers' necks for decades.

Mission accomplished!

Bribes Investigation

Executives from GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly may be interviewed by Britain's Serious Fraud Office as part of its investigation into allegations that British companies paid bribes to Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq.

The inquiry comes in the wake of the 2005 UN report by Paul Volcker, who listed more than 2000 companies worldwide that could have been involved with bribes paid to the former Iraqi regime to secure contracts under the UN program.

The report has found evidence suggesting AstraZeneca had paid $162K in kickbacks to secure $2.9M of contracts. GSK was accused of paying $1M for business worth $11.9M.

The investigation could take years, and is expected to cost £22M.

Lousy Bookkeeping

Lousy bookkeeping by US forces has meant that there is a $5.2BN black hole in the accounts of the Iraqi security forces. Equipment and services allegedly supplied, at the cost of $5.2BN, to the Iraqi forces cannot be proven.

The Multinational Security Transition Command in Iraq cannot prove that the money was used for its intended results and not wasted.

That is no way to run a budget or a country.

Double Your Money

The Democrats delivered something of a bombshell with their report "The Hidden Costs of the Iraq War". In it they claim that the total cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is expected to be $1.6 trillion, double the amount President George Bush says it will cost.

The report says:

"The full economic costs of the war to the American taxpayers and the overall US economy go well beyond even the immense federal budget costs already reported."

The Whitehouse responded by saying that the Democrats were playing politics. True enough, but that's what politicians (Republicans included) do.

Blackwater Given The Boot

The Telegraph reports that Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, has called the Iraqi prime minister to express her regret over a shootout involving a private American security firm (Blackwater) in which at least eight people were killed and 13 wounded.

The Iraqi government has withdrawn the licence from Blackwater, one of the largest foreign security firms working in the country, and says it intends to prosecute the guards after they "opened fire randomly at citizens".

The article notes that Blackwater has more than 1000 staff in Iraq, this figure is a tad misleading.

Balckwater has in fact, according to this article, over 100,000 personnel operating in Iraq.

Why so many?

• The body count figures, reported by the media and Pentagon, exclude the 770 mercenary deaths.



• The mercenaries are unaccountable to public oversight by Congress, re their actions and their costs.



• When Bush announces in the future with great flourish that the US is pulling out of Iraq, the mercenaries will be left there continuing the war.

Has anyone told the Iraqi's exactly how many Blackwater operatives there are in Iraq?

The Cost of Kick Backs

Australian wheat exporter AWB Ltd is now suffering "payback", for the kick back allegations that engulfed it.

First-half profits fell 72%, to $9.7M, the company blamed Australia's worst drought in 100 years and costs from a scandal related to kickbacks to Iraq to win wheat contracts.

AWB paid $2.2M towards the cost of a government inquiry into the kickbacks scandal.

The Australian government has promised to reform the Australian wheat market after an inquiry last year concluded that AWB paid $220M in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime between 1999-2003, to secure lucrative wheat contracts under the discredited U.N. oil-for-food scheme.

What goes around, comes around!

Execution Reenacted

Those of you with a ghoulish sense of the macabre, may find an exhibition in the Indian capital of Mumbai to be to your taste.

A waxwork House of Horrors is showing a reenactment of Saddam Hussein's hanging.

As visitors walk along on an uneven pathway, a rubber replica of Hussein's head pops up with a noose tied around the neck. The head makes a snapping noise, to simulate the neck being broken.

The visitors then run into a masked actor chasing them with an axe. The 20-minute walk through costs about $4 per person.

British Firms Investigated

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is investigating a number of British companies, over allegations that they paid bribes to Saddam Hussein to win lucrative contracts.

The investigation will look at possible breaches of the oil-for-food sanctions.

The UN has issued a report which lists over 2,200 companies, worldwide, that may have been linked to bribery to Iraq.

The British firms listed in the report by Paul Volcker, submitted two years ago, include GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca. They have all denied the accusations.

The SFO spokesman said:

"The SFO has now opened a formal investigation into issues relating to the breaches of the embargo (against Iraq).

All this springs out of the Volcker report and other information that came to us last year. The director of the SFO has now signed us up to conduct a full investigation."

AstraZeneca state:

"We deny any allegation of unethical behaviour on our part in our trading relationships with Iraq,” a spokesman said.

AstraZeneca sent a consignment of medicines originally requested by the Hussein government under the United Nations Oil for Food Programme.

Most of the consignment was delivered after the coalition forces of the US and UK had taken control of the country.

The consignment was sent with all relevant United Nations permissions and UK Government Department of Trade and Industry export licences in place."

A GlaxoSmithKline spokesman said:

"GSK denies any wrongdoing. The UN Oil for Food programme was run in the UK by the Department of Trade and Industry and GSK operated entirely within DTI guidance in this area.

Indeed, GSK had a regular dialogue with officials at the DTI in order to ensure that all its dealings under the Oil for Food programme were transparent and in accordance with the regulations."

The investigation will take years and cost millions.

What A Shambles!

The trial of Saddam Hussein, heralded with a fanfare back in 2003 by the US, is now beginning to look like a kangaroo court set up by rank amateurs.

The cost to date, incurred by the US Regime Crimes liaison Office, is $128M.

What do they have to show for their money?

• A defendant who won't appear



• A trial only covering one small aspect of Saddam's time in office



• Murdered lawyers and threats to the remaining members of court



• A shortage of interpreters, the media have to supply their own



• Mismatched desks for defence counsel benches, and poorly hung curtains hiding witnesses



• No court record



• No stenographers to produce a transcript



• Witnesses whose testimony sounds barely credible



• There is even a very real possibility that Saddam could get off

Nehal Bhuta, an international justice expert with Human Rights Watch, said:

"We have always had concerns that the writing was on the wall. There are a number of serious difficulties with the tribunal ... It's a concern that the necessary experience is just not there."

Was the invasion really all for this?

People should hang their heads in shame over this farce. This trial, unless it is taken in hand swiftly, will not provide Iraq with a firm foundation for its future; it will merely create more instability in that already blighted country.

The Mother of All Mercs

First Sergeant William von Zehle has just shipped Saddam Hussein's Mercedes car to the USA.

The Connecticut soldier bought the car for about $5K, when he was serving in Baghdad. Much like the Batmobile, the car has one or two extras such as armour plating and flame throwers that shoot out the sides for crowd control.

Von Zehle says he did some research on the car, and found that just three of armoured 560 models were sold to the Iraqi government in 1988.

Von Zehle had the Mercedes shipped back home where it sits in his garage. He hasn't registered the car yet, and says it needs some work.

A broken front passenger window needs to be replaced. However, the bulletproof glass costs more than $14K.

Nine Expelled From Tribunal

Nine staff members of the Iraqi Special Tribunal, preparing to try Saddam Hussein, have been dismissed because of their links to the Baath Party.

There are also another 19 cases reportedly under review.

A system of De-Baathification, similar to the De-Nazification of Germany, is being employed in Iraq.

The executive director of the Supreme National Commission for de-Baathification, Ali al-Lami, said that the nine held administrative jobs such as; the witness security protection program and tribunal security.

Amongst the remaining 19 being considered for expulsion are a number of judges, including chief judge Raid Juhi.

The head of the government committee in charge of purging former Baath officials is Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi, he was once a Pentagon favorite.

His spokesman, Entifadh Qanbar, is quoted as saying:

"We believe that many Baathists have infiltrated the special tribunal and they should be dismissed. The reasons behind the delay in the trial of Saddam is the presence of Baathists in the special tribunal, and they represent an obstacle to the trial of the former regime members."

The need for speed in bringing Saddam Hussein to trial is now keenly felt. The longer the delay goes on, the worse the situation in respect of the body count becomes as Iraq lurches towards civil war.

The trial is being seen as a palliative for Iraq's ills.

To my view, a more effective palliative would have been an effective, efficient and well thought through reconstruction programme in the aftermath of the "regime change" operation.

However, as the people of Iraq and the rest of the world are now learning to their cost, there was no effective post decapitation plan in place.

Let us trust that there are no other "regime change" plans being considered.