Thursday
Jul292010
Iraq's Missing Billions: Scott Lucas on Al Jazeera's Inside Story
Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 23:53
This week the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction reported that the Pentagon cannot account for almost 95% of $9.1 billion allocated by the United Nations, from revenues from the sale of Iraqi oil and gas, after the Iraq War in 2003. There are still no records for $2.6 billion.
I discussed the issue on Inside Story alongside Mundher Adhami, an analyst on Iraqi affairs, and Jeremy Carver, a board member of Tranparency International.
I discussed the issue on Inside Story alongside Mundher Adhami, an analyst on Iraqi affairs, and Jeremy Carver, a board member of Tranparency International.
Iraq: The Billions of Disappearing US Reconstruction Dollars
Reader Comments (4)
Jeez Scott, is this your first time on TV? You failed to call the other guy a racist, you failed to call the network biased, and you failed to rip off your microphone and storm out of that den of liberal evil when they started in with all their socialist "facts." Why do you hate America so much?
I finally watched the programme last night (I record Inside Story every night) and I thought it was one of the better editions of the programme. Not only did none of you get into a shouting match or cause the presenter to pull out a whip :- as UJ already pointed out :-) - but you all had a bevy of facts right on hand and each guest provided many insights into the background and causes of these disappearances, some of which I wasn't familiar with. Mike Hannah (the presenter) always does his homework for Inside Story and was able to ask the right questions at every turn. Good show.
Catherine,
Thanks --- I actually felt a bit "flat" after the taping, The other guests were very good, but I wasn't sure we had done more than scratch the surface, especially with how revelations such as these may (or may not) affect Iraq's current political stalemate and shaky economic position.
S.
"how revelations such as these may (or may not) affect Iraq's current political stalemate and shaky economic position."
I think that was outside the scope of what Inside Story wanted to cover in 25 minutes as a response to the news item of the day, and since some years have passed since this was current, the presenter also had to ask the guests to describe the situation back then for today's viewers.