From “Axis of Evil” to “Forces of Badness”


After Bush randomly lumped together Iran, Iraq, and North Korea into an “axis of evil”, the British decided to take the lead in the race to be the world’s stupidest colonial power. Before flying to Baghdad, Rumsfeld sat and had tea with Maj. Gen. Robin Brims, the commander of British forces in the southern city of Basra, who remarked: “I assume the forces of badness will try to use infrastructure as a means of discrediting what we are trying to do to make things better”. (AP 5.1.03) Let’s hope they keep Brims in the tea room.

Soldiers arrested – for not stealing big enough


AP 4.23.03: BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. soldiers found $112 million in U.S. currency sealed inside seven dog kennels in a wealthy Baghdad neighborhood of mansions and rose gardens where top Baath Party and Republican Guard officials once lived, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

In a related development, investigators from the Army's Criminal Investigation Division have sealed off the area and were questioning six American soldiers about an undisclosed amount of missing cash, the newspaper reported.

The six soldiers, all from the Third Infantry Division, included four already under investigation for $900,000 stolen and recovered Friday from the cash in the cottages. Of that amount, $600,000 was found hidden in a tree and $300,000 inside a cooler on one of the trucks used to transport the $656 million to Baghdad's airport Friday night.

On Tuesday, The New York Post reported that four soldiers had been arrested in connection with the attempted theft. The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that the suspects, who were either assigned to guard the cash or load it onto trucks, have not been charged pending further investigation.

Comment: OK, let’s see if we got this right: GIs get arrested for stealing $900,000. Chalibi, Rumsfeld’s candidate for head of the new Iraqi government, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for stealing $300 million from his bank in Jordan before escaping from the country. Moral: Steal big enough and you get to be a dictator. And don’t forget to give the right politicians a big campaign contribution. Instead of the stockade, you may get a Presidential Palace and a friend in the White House.
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