Corruption In Iraq & World

Dick Morris, Political Pundit, Questions US Foreign Aid due to Corruption

Here is a YouTube video of political pundit Dick Morris questioning the need to provide foreign aid to countries who always vote against the US in UN deals, and citing anti-corruption attempts in the WorldBank and UN that were rejected by the members.

http://www.youtube.com/user/dickmorrisreports#p/u/4/9ijlgbdCZv0  

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Norway & IMF Suspend Foreign Aid to Afghanistan Due to Corruption

We have been preaching the idea of "conditionality" for 2+ years.  That is the idea that if a country receiving foreign aid like Iraq or Afghanistan lets the funds or equipment be siphoned off due to poor anti-corruption methods, then they should be cut off from funding, or a percent should be allocated to anti-corruption investigators until corruption is greatly reduced, and the country is in the TOP, not Bottom, 50% of most corrupt countries as measured by the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index.

But, the US has rarely done that, but now Norway has.  The article also says the IMF (International Monetary Fund) also has reduced aid to Afghanistan for the same reason.

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http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/south/Report-Norway-Suspends-Aid-to-Afghanistan-Over-Corruption-129300843.html

September 06, 2011

Report: Norway Suspends Aid to Afghanistan Over Corruption

VOA News (Voice of America)

Norway has frozen $55 million in aid to Afghanistan until the scandal surrounding the collapse of corruption-ridden Kabul Bank is resolved.

Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said Tuesday that a "lack of good governance" on the part of Afghan authorities is the primary reason for the aid suspension. Eide made his comments to Norwegian daily newspaper Dagens Naeringsliv.

The International Monetary Fund and Afghan government are currently in a dispute over how to resolve the crisis surrounding Kabul Bank, Afghanistan's biggest private lender. The bank is on the verge of bankruptcy after nearly collapsing last year over of mismanagement, cronyism, and questionable lending.

Several high-profile bank officials, including the brother of Afghan president Hamid Karzai, have been accused of taking out more than $900 million in loans that were never repaid.

The IMF has also said it will withhold financial aid to Afghanistan until the issue is resolved.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

Iraq's Anti-Corruption Chief Resigns due to Political meddling

Yup, hard as it is to believe, Iraq's government still isn't serious about reducing corruption.  So the head of the Integrity Commission just resigned.

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Below are the two available articles:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Iraq-s-anti-corruption-chief-resigns/Article1-743528.aspx 

Iraq's anti-corruption chief resigns

Agence France-Presse
Baghdad, September 09, 2011

The chief of Iraq's anti-corruption watchdog  has resigned, citing political interference in the performance of his duties, a spokesman said on Friday. "Rahim Hassan al-Uqailee, the head of the Integrity Commission, submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, due to pressure from political parties," an Integrity Commission spokesman told on condition of anonymity.

Uqailee, a 44-year-old judge who had led the Integrity Commission since January 2008, quit on Thursday.

In a February interview with AFP, Uqailee said that instead of fighting graft, Iraq's ministers prefer to hide departmental corruption, contributing to a major source of insurgent financing.

Iraq is rated by anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International as the world's fourth most corrupt country, with diplomats and local officials persistently citing widespread graft as a major obstacle to its development.

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 The second article is from the same source, but has a picture of Rahim Hassan al-Uqailee, the head of the Integrity Commission.

http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/09/iraqs-anti-corruption-chief-resigns.html