Everyone does this openly over here. Anything less than $500k or so isn't even worth thinking about, since as a kidnap victim, you're sold for about that much.
I really don't see why it's worthy of an article. I've been buying cash from other contractors, as well as providing cash on a short-term loan or wire basis, and these activities are common as well. It would be a good environment to deploy various electronic payment systems, but nothing is really up to snuff for the kind of things people do here -- large sums, and making purchases from existing online vendors. Quoting R. A. Hettinga <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > <http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=542&u=/ap/iraq_loose_cash&printer=1> > > Yahoo! > > > U.S. Said to Pay Iraq Contractors in Cash > > > > 1 hour, 4 minutes ago > > By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Writer > > WASHINGTON - U.S. officials in postwar Iraq (news - web sites) paid a > contractor by stuffing $2 million worth of crisp bills into his gunnysack > and routinely made cash payments around Baghdad from a pickup truck, a > former official with the U.S. occupation government says. > > > Because the country lacked a functioning banking system, contractors and > Iraqi ministry officials were paid with bills taken from a basement vault > in one of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s palaces that served as > headquarters for the Coalition Provisional Authority, former CPA official > Frank Willis said. > > Officials from the CPA, which ruled Iraq from June 2003 to June 2004, > would count the money when it left the vault, but nobody kept track of the > cash after that, Willis said. > > "In sum: inexperienced officials, fear of decision-making, lack of > communications, minimal security, no banks, and lots of money to spread > around. This chaos I have referred to as a 'Wild West,'" Willis said in > testimony he prepared to give Monday before a panel of Democratic senators > who want to spotlight the waste of U.S. funds in Iraq. > > A senior official in the 1980s at the State and Transportation departments > under then-President Ronald Reagan (news - web sites), Willis provided The > Associated Press with a copy of his testimony and answered questions in an > interview. > > James Mitchell, spokesman for the special inspector general for Iraq > reconstruction, told the AP that cash payments in Iraq were a problem when > the occupation authority ran the country and they continue during the > massive U.S.-funded reconstruction. > > "There are no capabilities to electronically transfer funds," Mitchell > said. "This complicates the financial management of reconstruction projects > and complicates our ability to follow the money." > > The Pentagon (news - web sites), which had oversight of the CPA, did not > immediately comment in response to requests Friday and over the weekend. > But the administrator of the former U.S. occupation agency, L. Paul Bremer > III, in response to a recent federal audit criticizing the CPA, strongly > defended the agency's financial practices. > > Bremer said auditors mistakenly assumed that "Western-style budgeting and > accounting procedures could be immediately and fully implemented in the > midst of a war." > > When the authority took over the country in 2003, Bremer said, there was > no functioning Iraqi government and services were primitive or nonexistent. > He said the U.S. strategy was "to transfer to the Iraqis as much > responsibility as possible as quickly as possible, including responsibility > for the Iraqi budget." > > Iraq's economy was "dead in the water" and the priority "was to get the > economy going," Bremer said. > > Also in response to that audit, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman had said, > "We simply disagree with the audit's conclusion that the CPA provided less > than adequate controls." > > Willis served as a senior adviser on aviation and communications matters > for the CPA during the last half of 2003 and said he was responsible for > the operation of Baghdad's airport. > > Describing the transfer of $2 million to one contractor's gunnysack, > Willis said: "It was time for payment. We told them to come in and bring a > bag." He said the money went to Custer Battles of Middletown, R.I., for > providing airport security in Baghdad for civilian passengers. > > Willis said a coalition driver would go around the Iraqi capital and > disburse money from the a pickup truck formerly belonging to the grounded > Iraqi Airways airline. The reason is because officials "wanted to meld into > the environment," he said. > > Willis' allegations follow by two weeks an inspector general's report that > concluded the occupying authority transferred nearly $9 billion to Iraqi > government ministries without any financial controls. > > The money was designated for financing humanitarian needs, economic > reconstruction, repair of facilities, disarmament and civil administration, > but the authority had no way to verify that it went for those purposes, the > audit said. > > Sen. Byron Dorgan (news, bio, voting record), head of the Democratic group > that is holding Monday's hearing, said he arranged for Willis' testimony > because majority Republicans have declined to investigate the suspected > misuse of funds in Iraq. > > "This isn't penny ante. Millions, perhaps billions of dollars have been > wasted and pilfered," Dorgan, D-N.D., said in an interview ahead of the > Senate Democratic Policy Committee's session. > > Willis concluded that "decisions were made that shouldn't have been, > contracts were made that were mistakes, and were poorly, if at all, > supervised, money was spent that could have been saved, if we simply had > the right numbers of people. ... I believe the 500 or so at CPA > headquarters should have been 5,000." > -- Ryan Lackey [RL960-RIPE AS24812] [EMAIL PROTECTED] +1 800 723 0127 OpenPGP DH 4096: B8B8 3D95 F940 9760 C64B DE90 07AD BE07 D2E0 301F
