classified: corruption undermines Iraq legitimacy

Given the political intrigue that has been associated with our Bush administration and staff, don’t lend much weight to the fact that this classified report was leaked.

MSNBC - The Blotter

The State Department thinks the Iraqi government is larded with corrupt officials who protect their own at the expense of their country. But they don’t want you to know they think that. (mine)

Amid a clash with Congress over details on the problem of corruption in Iraq, the State Department classified a previously unclassified new report which details the pervasiveness of fraud, intimidation and misdirection within Iraqi ministries.

However, the “Secret” stamp appears to have come down too late: a watchdog group obtained an early version of the report, stamped “Sensitive but Unclassified,” and published it online.

Iraqi officials’ malfeasance undermines the legitimacy of the Iraqi government and hamstrings its anti-corruption efforts, according to the version of the State Department report posted by the Federation of American Scientists, the group which made the document public.

“Currently, Iraq is not capable of even rudimentary enforcement of anti-corruption laws,” it states.

How bad is it? The anti-corruption advisor to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki refuses to disclose his own financial holdings, the report says. Routine investigative reports by government anti-corruption watchdogs “cannot be trusted to truthfully reveal criminal activity against anyone protected by the violent or the powerful.”

read additional coverage on the ‘leaked’ classified report

Essentially our military and/or government doesn’t have the kind of control and influence that it would like. It’s my understanding that because the Iraqi government is doing its own thing, democracy isn’t working as it should . And it isn’t going to work as long as they continue to make the ‘bad’ decisions.

One of the biggest mistakes our administration has made is believing it is possible to install a ‘Democracy’ where ‘the people’ rule and ignoring all of the history that goes along with these peoples lives. Iraq and the Middle east have had a very volatile and contentious history. The old saying, “I hope for peace in the middle east” had so much meaning before because it was always considered a near impossibility given the various factions that exist and are at odds with one another.

The sectarian violence, American invasion, the nuclear controversies and growing tension between the U.S. and the ‘nation of Islam’ is making it difficult to achieve anything substantial in the region. It is unlikely that this democracy will work without further intervention on our part. The problem is so bad that we’re now being asked what we, Americans, think about splitting up Iraq into 3 sections for each faction to govern. At this point, it’s all about control and the U.S. is quickly losing its grip on the situation.

Fred Soto is an Attorney and Entrepreneur from the Silicon Valley.
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