Lawmaker: U.S. sent giant pallets of cash into Iraq

[KidRocks]

What's up with that? :shock:








Lawmaker: U.S. sent giant pallets of cash into Iraq - CNN.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The Federal Reserve sent record payouts of more than $4 billion in cash to Baghdad on giant pallets aboard military planes shortly before the United States gave control back to Iraqis, lawmakers said Tuesday.

The money, which had been held by the United States, came from Iraqi oil exports, surplus dollars from the U.N.-run oil-for-food program and frozen assets belonging to the ousted Saddam Hussein regime.

Bills weighing a total of 363 tons were loaded onto military aircraft in the largest cash shipments ever made by the Federal Reserve, said Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

"Who in their right mind would send 363 tons of cash into a war zone? But that's exactly what our government did," the California Democrat said during a hearing reviewing possible waste, fraud and abuse of funds in Iraq.

On December 12, 2003, $1.5 billion was shipped to Iraq, initially "the largest pay out of U.S. currency in Fed history," according to an e-mail cited by committee members.

It was followed by more than $2.4 billion on June 22, 2004, and $1.6 billion three days later. The CPA turned over sovereignty on June 30...

 

[1069]

What's up with that? :shock:








Lawmaker: U.S. sent giant pallets of cash into Iraq - CNN.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The Federal Reserve sent record payouts of more than $4 billion in cash to Baghdad on giant pallets aboard military planes shortly before the United States gave control back to Iraqis, lawmakers said Tuesday.

The money, which had been held by the United States, came from Iraqi oil exports, surplus dollars from the U.N.-run oil-for-food program and frozen assets belonging to the ousted Saddam Hussein regime.

Bills weighing a total of 363 tons were loaded onto military aircraft in the largest cash shipments ever made by the Federal Reserve, said Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

"Who in their right mind would send 363 tons of cash into a war zone? But that's exactly what our government did," the California Democrat said during a hearing reviewing possible waste, fraud and abuse of funds in Iraq.

On December 12, 2003, $1.5 billion was shipped to Iraq, initially "the largest pay out of U.S. currency in Fed history," according to an e-mail cited by committee members.

It was followed by more than $2.4 billion on June 22, 2004, and $1.6 billion three days later. The CPA turned over sovereignty on June 30...

Say what? :thinking

That's... very bizarre.
I'm not sure I understand.

What do you think the implications of this revelation will be, if any?

 

[RightinNYC]

The money, which had been held by the United States, came from Iraqi oil exports, surplus dollars from the U.N.-run oil-for-food program and frozen assets belonging to the ousted Saddam Hussein regime.

We took the money that belonged to the Iraqis and returned it to them. What's the problem with this?

If we had held onto it for longer, I'm sure you'd be posting an article right now lambasting the US for "stealing" the Iraqi oil money and claiming that that was the only reason we'd gone into Iraq.

 

[KidRocks]

We took the money that belonged to the Iraqis and returned it to them. What's the problem with this?

If we had held onto it for longer, I'm sure you'd be posting an article right now lambasting the US for "stealing" the Iraqi oil money and claiming that that was the only reason we'd gone into Iraq.

Yes but...

"Who in their right mind would send 363 tons of cash into a war zone? But that's exactly what our government did," the California Democrat said during a hearing reviewing possible waste, fraud and abuse of funds in Iraq.

Get real RightatNYU, you can't tell me that in this age and day that we couldn't wire the funds to Iraq!

No way, no how, no excuses period!

 

[Billo_Really]

Originally posted by RightatNYU:
We took the money that belonged to the Iraqis and returned it to them. What's the problem with this?

The part about "We took the money..."

 

[RightinNYC]

Yes but...

Get real RightatNYU, you can't tell me that in this age and day that we couldn't wire the funds to Iraq!

No way, no how, no excuses period!

:lol: Do you know how wires work? They have to have the tangible assets on the other end. Unless the Iraqi central bank had 3 or 4 extra billion dollars just sitting around, the only effective way to bring the capital to where it was needed was to physically transfer the money.

 

[The Mark]

Yes but...

Get real RightatNYU, you can't tell me that in this age and day that we couldn't wire the funds to Iraq!

No way, no how, no excuses period!

Actually, we here in the USA may be able to use cards for purchases, but what makes you think such are readily available in Iraq?

Their infrastructure is not the same, nor as advanced as ours....not to mention the damage a war would do to such. It seems likely that we decided physical representations of money would be more useful in a wartime Iraq, and likely the new Iraq government would need cash available for various reasons.

Edit: What RightatNYU said.

 

[The Mark]

The part about "We took the money..."

I believe what was intended by that statement was that "We took the money from Saddam's government and gave it to Iraq. Like the police returning stolen goods to their owner(s).

 

[RightinNYC]

The part about "We took the money..."

Read what I wrote in context. We didn't "take" the money, we RETURNED the money that had been frozen in accordance with UN sanctions.

 

[RightinNYC]

I believe what was intended by that statement was that "We took the money from Saddam's government and gave it to Iraq. Like the police returning stolen goods to their owner(s).

Exactly, thank you for clarifying that.