- 8/29, "Iraq says sale of donated US computers legal" by A. Kami
- auctioned off for less than $50,000
- was sold legally, Iraq's customs authority said Sunday.
The U.S. military said Friday $1.9 million worth of computer shipment bought by the U.S. government, which should have gone to schools in the southern province of Babil, was
auctioned by a senior Iraqi official for less than $50,000
at Iraq's main port Umm Qasr.
The customs authority said in a statement it had the right to auction goods that remained unclaimed at the port for 90 days and added that
it did not know the shipment belonged to the U.S. Army or
was destined to schools in Babil.
Nawfal Saleem, head of the authority, said in the statement the sale had been canceled and about 90 percent of the shipment was being sent back to Umm Qasr port for the shipper to claim.
Corruption has been a major problem for Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Transparency International's 2009 corruption perceptions index ranked Iraq
as one of the world's most corrupt nations -- 176 out of 180 countries."
the US taxpayer. It will continue because US citizens have no one representing their interests. Commenters to the Reuters story:
- 1. "Almost as corrupt as the USA itself now!
- 2. "I’m sure all Americans are really proud that so many U.S. soldiers died in vain. Just so these corrupt officials can pocket ill gotten gains. Where’s the uproar! The same thing is happening in Afghanistan. Corruption Rules!"
- 3. "in this case not only the officials are corrupt, but US AID or whoever was managing this donation was incompetent, mostly likely some airhead sitting in DC with well connected parents."
- 4. "That equipment would have sold for $10k in Afghanistan "...
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