Iraq second most corrupt country on earth

[WhiteTara]

Here is the real reason we are in Iraq...greed and corruption.

http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/b8de8e630faf3631/id/7c27bd8070860389/cs/1/

snip
A strong correlation between corruption and poverty is evident in the results of the CPI 2006. Almost three-quarters of the countries in the CPI score below five (including all low-income countries and all but two African states) indicating that most countries in the world face serious perceived levels of domestic corruption. Seventy-one countries - nearly half - score below three, indicating that corruption is perceived as rampant. Haiti has the lowest score at 1.8; Guinea, Iraq and Myanmar share the penultimate slot, each with a score of 1.9. Finland, Iceland and New Zealand share the top score of 9.6.

Countries with a significant worsening in perceived levels of corruption include: Brazil, Cuba, Israel, Jordan, Laos, Seychelles, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and the United States. Countries with a significant improvement in perceived levels of corruption include: Algeria, Czech Republic, India, Japan, Latvia, Lebanon, Mauritius, Paraguay, Slovenia, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uruguay.

A concentration of so-called 'failed states' is apparent at the bottom of the ranking. Iraq has sunk to second-to-last place, with pre-war survey data no longer included in this year's CPI. Intermediaries who began operating during the United Nations Oil-for-food programme continue to play a central role in driving corruption. The Volcker Commission reported that 2,392 companies paid kickbacks or made other illicit payments to the Saddam Hussein regime in the context of the programme, often through intermediaries.

While the industrialised countries score relatively high on the CPI 2006, Transparency International continue to see major corruption scandals in many of these countries. Although corruption in this context may have less of an impact on poverty and development than in developing countries, these scandals demonstrate that there is no room for complacency.

[OnyxCollie]

1. Are we the first? nt

[Heywood J]

2. Not quite, but

included in the "Countries with a significant worsening in perceived levels". That says something right there. I think that won't be remedied significantly for two years or so.