From this morning's L.A. Times:
BAGHDAD -- Two Army sergeants went searching for saws Friday to clear away branches that were blocking their Humvees. But they stumbled across a sealed-up cottage that aroused their curiosity - and ultimately led to the discovery of an estimated $650 million in cash.Now one of the pre-war discussion was on the cruelty of the U.S. government in maintaining sanctions which impoverished the Iraqi people, and led to stories of starving children, as Matt Welch noted:The sergeants tore down a cinder-block and concrete barricade at the cottage door and found 40 sealed galvanized aluminum boxes lined up neatly on the stone floor. Breaking open one box, they were stunned to discover 40 sealed stacks of uncirculated $100 bills — $100,000 per stack, or $4 million in the box. In all, the 40 boxes were assumed to contain $160 million.
Are "a million innocent children...dying at this time...in Iraq" because of U.S. sanctions, as Osama bin Laden claimed in his October 7 videotaped message to the world? Has the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) discovered that "at least 200 children are dying every day...as a direct result of sanctions," as advocacy journalist John Pilger maintains on his Web site? Is it official U.N. belief that 5,000 Iraqi children under the age of 5 are dying each month due to its own policy, as writers of letters to virtually every U.S. newspaper have stated repeatedly during the past three years?I hope we're starting to get the idea about why the Iraqi people suffered during the B'aath regime. And I hope that in other Middle Eastern countries run by brutal kleptocrats, this news get out...
...me, I'm going to go rent "Three Kings" again tonight.
wow-that's a lot of money.
In which case, then, the refusal of the French, Russians, and the House of Saud to agree to lifting sanctions violates the "It's for the Children?" meme! How dare they!!!
Sanctions: I have wondered recently how much support has been given to the continuance of UN sanctions against Iraq by Russia, France, China etc; quite a lot it would appear. Also, the volume of nasty weapons sold to Saddam by Russia and France over tewnty years to 1991 seems quite impressive... they now insist on a hand in operating the new regime, as oponents to the USA, sorry 'Evil Empire'. It all seems more about the politics of envy than ethics. Finally - why did Pilger et al presume the anti South Afica sanctions of the 1980s to be imperative, whereas Iraq sanctions evil ?
The story didn't say it, but am I to assume that those were U.S. dollars, and genuine, not counterfit? Lets see, the soldiers don't get to keep souvineers, do they? I'd like to know who they think that belonged to.
Re; accusations of children dying because of sanctions.
I think we all ought to recognize that the Left is not making serious charges. Their intention is to "throw enough shit on the wall to see what sticks". And then take what sticks and run with it. They hate America. They hate capitalism. They mean to destroy us in whatever way they can.
In the bad old days of the cold war the Soviet was brilliant in doing Hollywood style blitz pieces almost every day about how bad we were in various places until something caught hold at the NYT or CBS and then they would blitz the entire world with the lie.
Nothing has changed. Stop taking their charges as if they are misguided people. They know the charges are false when they make them. It is we who are sucker enough to "debate a false premise" who make the mistake of honoring liars. It's like look at the war prognostications. Not one truth in the thousand or so, but they aren't bothered. They will keep on lying because that is what they do.
Kudos to those sergeants who, faced with untold wealth, did the honorable thing and turned it in. Honorable mention to their superiors who did not cover up the find and embezzle the money.
If genuine this is money belonging to the Iraq state, to be used on behalf of the Iraqis by whatever government succeeds the former Ba'athist tyranny. If counterfeit, it looks like a weapon to be used against the US by Saddam and his pals.