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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (34490)	3/15/2004 2:31:20 AM
From: KLP	Respond to of 793931

AFTER THE WAR -Saddam's Useful Idiots Did any Iraqi money filter back to American war critics?<i/> BY ROBERT L. POLLOCK Mr. Pollock is a senior editorial page writer for The Wall Street Journal. Great find, LindyBill.........Seems to me because McDermott is from this area, there was a list of other sponsoring groups for he and the group that went to see Saddam before the Iraq War. It will be useful to check that list in the Seattle Times, etc. The group below would be interesting to know more about as well. >>>>>>>>>Life for Relief and Development <<<<<<<< This was most interesting as well: Shakir al-Khafaji's close ties to Iraqi Baathists and Michigan Democrats are a matter of public record. In late January the al Mada newspaper in Baghdad published his name on a list of 270 individuals, companies, churches and political parties that Iraqi Oil Ministry documents allege benefited from Saddam's largesse. The Iraqi Governing Council has hired a team of professional auditors to investigate; some of the alleged beneficiaries have already confessed. <b/> Re: Mr. al-Khafaji's and the other US Congressmen/women, Ritter, etc.... Federal authorities were aware, to some degree at least, of his Iraq-related activities. It is possible that he trucked extensively with a corrupt regime while keeping his own hands clean. But a few things are clear. First, he was a well-connected fixer when it came to dealings with Saddam's regime, able to arrange meetings with the likes of Tariq Aziz at the drop of a hat. Second, Iraqi intelligence, rightly or wrongly, perceived him as at least a potential asset. Third, he was intimately involved in facilitating the Iraq trips of some of the most prominent American critics of the Bush administration's Iraq policy. If there's no fire with all this smoke, as everyone involved maintains, then surely they will welcome the scrutiny it deserves. The U.S. Treasury says it is aware of the Iraqi Oil Ministry documents, and is looking into the matter.