IT'S ONLY MONEY

Missing Iraq Money May Have Been Stolen, Auditors Say

U.S. Defense officials still cannot say what happened to $6.6 billion , sent by the planeload in cash and intended for Iraq's reconstruction after the start of the war. Pentagon officials determined that one giant C-130 Hercules cargo plane could carry $2.4 billion in shrink-wrapped bricks of $100 bills. They sent an initial full planeload of cash, followed by 20 other flights to Iraq by May 2004 in a $12-billion haul that U.S. officials believe to be the biggest international cash airlift of all time. This month, the Pentagon and the Iraqi government are finally closing the books on the program that handled all those Benjamins. But despite years of audits and investigations, U.S. Defense officials still cannot say what happened to $6.6 billion in cash — For the first time, federal auditors are suggesting that some or all of the cash may have been stolen, not just mislaid in an accounting error. Stuart Bowen, special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, an office created by Congress, said the missing $6.6 billion may be "the largest theft of funds in national history." Theft of such a staggering sum might seem unlikely, but U.S. officials aren't ruling it out.  U.S. contractors were accused of siphoning off tens of millions in kickbacks and graft during the post-invasion period.
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FLASHBACK TO 2007     
 PENTAGON 'LOOSES'2.3 TRILLION $$$