Ghost Soldiers
Embedded blogger Bill Ardolino on deadly corruption in the Iraqi Army.
“Let’s say there are 500 soldiers reported on staff; there will really be only 300, but someone up the line will report 500 and pocket the extra pay,” said the former MiTT member who insisted on anonymity. Having fewer actual soldiers available for patrols and other missions exposes both Iraqi and U.S. soldiers to more lethal attacks by insurgents, he said. The reduced manpower allows insurgents “freedom of movement” to both stage attacks and plant Improvised Explosive Devices, the number one killer of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers and police.
“There’s always some level of corruption going on, and that’s one thing, but when it’s getting people killed, it’s unacceptable,” he angrily explained.
Another Coalition officer not attached to a MiTT cited what he termed reliable intelligence on another Iraqi general at the Division level whose base pay is vastly exceeded by the $30,000 per month he makes from the corruption. The officer noted, however, that officials must sometimes recognize “the lesser of two evils” as the general in question is “effective and gets the job done.”
But it’s hard to see how effective a senior officer would have to be to justify such a level of embezzlement.
Topics: Uncategorized
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 12:42 pm on Monday, January 22, 2007
2 Responses to “Ghost Soldiers”
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January 22nd, 2007 at 8:57 pm
Sounds like the New Orleans PD before Katrina to me.
Gary
January 23rd, 2007 at 5:26 am
Your tax dollars at work.