- "...it is noteworthy that six major centers for
Russian/Israeli mafia activity - Ukraine, Moldova, Albania, Bulgaria, Lithuania,
and Georgia, are all able to bid on Iraqi contracts."
-
- "[The White House] said that nations might be able
to get off the banned list if they contributed money, and not necessarily
troops, to the Iraq debacle."
-
- Yet Canada has contributed more than $190 million to
the rebuilding effort in Iraq and it is still on the banned list!
-
-
- On December 5, the rodent-like Deputy Secretary of Defense
Paul Wolfowitz threw down the Bush regime's latest gauntlet to the rest
of the world. A charter-member of the chickenhawk neoconservatives, Wolfowitz,
whose arrogance has no limit, named 61 countries eligible for Iraqi reconstruction
projects. It is apparent that Wolfowitz had no problem violating the 1977
U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by promising prime contracts
for countries that, in return, send troops to Iraq.
-
- The FCPA expressly prohibits Americans from attempting
to bribe and otherwise illegally influence foreign officials in order to
seek favorable treatment in the awarding of contracts. Since the Coalition
Provisional Authority is a quasi-foreign entity, Wolfowitz's attempt to
bribe other countries into sending troops to Iraq is a clear violation
of the spirit and intent of U.S. law.
-
- The blatant extortion contained in Wolfowitz's "Determination
and Finding" is found in paragraph 5 of the document. It states, "Every
effort must be made to expand international cooperation in Iraq. Since
May 2003, Coalition forces other than those from the United States have
increased from 14,000 to 23,700. U.S. force levels, accordingly, have decreased
by approximately 12,000. Limiting competition for prime contracts will
encourage the expansion of international cooperation in Iraq and in future
efforts."
-
- Apparently, Kazakhstan, hardly a democratic paradise,
chipped in 25 troops just before Wolfowitz issued his "finding."
In return, Kazakhstan is now on the contractor "A List." Rwanda,
whose army has committed genocidal atrocities in central Africa and is
led by a person who is under investigation for an international act of
terrorism against a presidential aircraft in 1994, is also able to bid
on contracts in Iraq.
-
- On December 11, the day after the banned nations expressed
their disgust with Wolfowitz's action, the White House engaged in a bit
of extortion itself. It said that nations might be able to get off the
banned list if they contributed money, and not necessarily troops, to the
Iraq debacle.
-
- So there you have it. If India, Germany, Russia, France,
and Canada want a piece of the Iraq pie, they should send troops or cash
to Iraq. And those troops should be available for other "future efforts,"
conceivably U.S. military action against Syria and Iran.
-
- However, if the Justice Department were on the ball,
it would be opening up a criminal investigation of Wolfowitz's actions
(not likely, considering the Justice Department is headed by another ethically-tainted
neoconservative, John Ashcroft). The FCPA states that it is "a crime
for U.S. companies to bribe a foreign government official for the specified
corrupt purposes. Companies violating the criminal prohibitions face maximum
fines of $500,000. Individuals acting on behalf of such companies face
a maximum fine of $10,000 and 5 years in jail." The law also covers
payments made to foreign officials for the purposes of obtaining business.
-
- Now, here's the rub. Although Wolfowitz is not acting
as a "company," he clearly has a questionable relationship with
people like Richard Perle, who has, according to Seymour Hersh in The New
Yorker, attempted to extort contracts from Saudi Arabia for his Trireme
Partners. It is noteworthy that Saudi Arabia (the birthplace of 15 of the
19 alleged September 11 hijackers) is eligible for Iraqi prime contracts
while Canada and Mexico are not. Vice President Dick Cheney, who also has
a questionable relationship with Wolfowitz through a parallel and unofficial
intelligence organization, continues to collect a deferred salary from
Halliburton, a company that is reaping billions from Iraqi reconstruction
contracts.
-
- Considering the close relationship of Wolfowitz to Trireme
and Halliburton, the Justice Department could argue that as a result of
these obvious conflicts of interest, Wolfowitz is acting as an "individual
acting on behalf" of companies engaged in bribery and extortion.
-
- If troops, as a form of chattle, are considered "payment,"
Wolfowitz and American Iraq pro-consul L. Paul Bremer III could be in clear
violation of the FCPA. A criminal investigation of Wolfowitz, Bremer, Cheney,
and their co-conspirators should be a top priority of a Democratic administration
before the statute of limitations expires. It is another reason, among
numerous others, to oust the Bush regime from the White House next year.
-
- There is another interesting aspect to the list of countries
Wolfowitz authorized to bid on prime contracts in Iraq. The major media
laughed off the inclusion of the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, the
Solomon Islands, and Tonga as insignificant. Not so fast corporate-controlled
media! These countries all play host to varying degrees of "offshore"
and tax-free financial centers. Remember Enron and its offshore entities?
Recall how the Bush administration permitted U.S. companies that relocate
offshore to bid on federal contracts? By a stroke of a pen, Wolfowitz established
a mechanism for U.S. companies to use offshore entities to bid on Iraq
contracts without ever having to pay one FDR dime in taxes!
-
- It is clearly time for Bush's documented nation-state
opponents to start playing hardball with the usurper in the White House.
Wolfowitz and his cronies have likely violated a number of anti-bribery
laws around the world. Nations having laws similar to the FCPA could ask
INTERPOL for an arrest warrant against Wolfowitz, and others, much in the
same manner that a number of countries have arrested leading Russian mafia
figures before they could escape to asylum in Israel. In this vein, it
is noteworthy that six major centers for Russian/Israeli mafia activity
- Ukraine, Moldova, Albania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Georgia, are all
able to bid on Iraqi contracts.
-
- The European Union is considering taking up Wolfowitz's
extortion with the World Trade Organization. They should not stop there.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development also has anti-bribery
guidelines. Canada and Mexico can bring up the extortion with the North
American Free Trade Agreement. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, Uruguay,
Guatemala, Peru, and Bolivia should halt Free Trade Area of the Americas
talks until Wolfowitz's boycott is put on the negotiating table. Countries
with strong anti-bribery laws should use INTERPOL and EUROPOL to put out
"red notices" for the arrest of Wolfowitz, Bremer, Cheney and
other members of their criminal cabal. I cannot think of a better use for
our new airline passenger screening and travel intelligence programs.
-
- Finally, those nations, including neutrals that cannot
legally get involved in the Iraqi quagmire but have been banned from contracts
in any event, should begin a boycott of American products during this holiday
season. Which means, Christmas shoppers from Dublin to Helsinki and Toronto
to Guadalajara, should avoid McDonalds, Starbucks, and Coca Cola. Moviegoers
from Kuala Lumpur and Rio de Janeiro to Cape Town and Dakar should take
a pass on American flicks. Europeans should give Mickey Mouse a swift kick
in the ass by avoiding the Euro Disney theme park near Paris. And lastly,
people everywhere should register their disgust with the Bush regime by
flooding American embassies, the White House, and the Pentagon with email
petitions against the march of American fascism in the United States and
around the world.
-
- - Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based journalist and
columnist and the co-author of 'America's Nightmare: The Presidency of
George Bush II'
-
- Copyright © 1998-2003 Online Journal. All rights
reserved.
-
- http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/121603Madsen/121603madsen.html
|
