U.S. troops use cash to woo Iraqis

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/world/2701213

Cash has become the U.S. military's first line of defense in some parts of Iraq, where U.S. soldiers are distributing money to encourage good will and to counter their enemies' offers of money to unemployed Iraqis willing to attack Americans, officers say here.

Even patrol leaders now carry envelopes of cash to spend in their areas. The money comes from brigade commanders, who get as much as $50,000 to $100,000 a month to distribute for local rehabilitation and emergency welfare projects through the Commanders Emergency Response Program.

The targets at which the cash is aimed are the restless legions of unemployed Iraqi men, many of them former soldiers, policemen and low-level members of the Baath Party of ousted president Saddam Hussein. They were put out of work when the U.S. administrator, L. Paul Bremer, ordered a de-Baathification of Iraq. U.S. soldiers say those men are vulnerable to entreaties to carry out an attack on the Americans for pay.

[saigon68]

1. MY AUNT CANNOT AFFORD HER PRESCRIPTIONS

WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE??????????

[bleedingheart]

2. I feel the same way.

[tom_paine]

6. The customary business of Totalitarian Nations

Now, if Imperial Amerika were still the Old Republic of America, you migth have a legitimate question.

But Totalitarianism, even the New BushPutin "Managed Democracy", does as Totalitarianism does.

Your aunt is fortunate she isn't Gulagged.

</slight, very slight, sarcasm off>

[GHOSTDANCER]

14. They are buying their hearts and minds.

Scratch that Reverse it............................One of the 613 commandments of the Torah commands all Jewish males above the age of Bar Mitzvah to contribute a half-shekel each year to the Temple

[Az_lefty]

3. anyone who can be bribed by us can be bribed by the other guys

this just won't work.

[cthrumatrix]

4. our tax dollars at work...zero strategy costs the people's lives & $$$

[KansDem]

5. Hey, Bremer! How 'bout "deBaathifying" by house!"

and send some of that cabbage my way!

[Maeve]

7. Bushies know from personal experience that bribery works

Works on them, works for them, right? :eyes:

[TexasSissy]

8. Well, that oughtta work. But my min. wage sister surecould use some $ too

[Aidoneus]

9. so that's how the resistance is funding itself these days

well, partly.--I am aware of other sources, but I doubt they appreciate the use of cash & bullets so much as when they come from the crusaders they use them against the next week.

And for those outside of the resistance, however desperate, simple bribery is always an offense to the pride of their bribee at the least, or a sign of pathetic weakness on the part of the briber.

[gratuitous]

10. Gee, this worked soooo well in Afghanistan, remember?

After that little misunderstanding where food packages that looked incredibly similar to the bomblets from cluster bombs kept annihilating the Afghani people we were allegedly trying to help, we started dropping envelopes with pictures of Simpleton W. Bush and $300. And look at how Afghanistan is the very model of democracy today!

http://archive.infopeace.de/msg01000.html

[saigon68]

12. A pic of Simpleton W. Bush A/K/A THE CHIMPANZEE and $300.00

DROPPED FROM THE SKY????????

WOW where do I sign up!!!

[GHOSTDANCER]

15. Don't forget About the $300 blood money you took.............

Did you take the blood money???????

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The federal government mailed out nearly 8 million tax rebate checks Friday(July 20th 2001), the first wave of about 92 million checks that will be sent out in the next 10 weeks.
<http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/07/20/tax.rebate/>

Don't Worry.......I'M going to H:evilgrin:ll TO .

[leetrisck]

11. This has been going on almost since

the beginning - this is actually very old news.

[Downtown Hound]

13. The American Way

Can't win 'em over? Buy 'em. The funny and sad thing is, they'll probably use the cash we give them to buy weapons to kill us with.

[JSJ]

16. bad move... troops making 1600/month or so will...

...certainly be tempted to steal after figuring out how easy it is to steal(remember the plethora of reports detailing how the troops were stealing Iraqi cash and possessions during raids on Iraqi homes and businesses?). The CPA 'lost' an estimated 1.3 billion during it's tenure in Iraq- so if company commanders and even patrol leaders are given the kind of cash described in the article, and follow the same ethical standards- or even their own established ethics- as the CPA, the Iraqis will get absolutely nothing while undeserving troops and the commanders they kick back to will get rich.

[Algomas]

17. Full Spectrum Dominance?...Bwahahahahaha

[rooboy]

18. You don't negotiate with terrorists... you bribe them. n/t

[Tripmann]

19. Good idea by bushco.....

Cripple their country, slaughter their citizens, destroy their rich heritage, steal their oil and then get them to worship the almighty dollar. Another nation annexed, a whole mess to go.

Makes me sick

Tripmann