Shock and Awe:

Almost five years into a war based on lies and deception, we find we have helped build a country that now ranks third world-wide in overall corruption. Today's New York Times reports that "an independent analysis ranked Iraz the third most corrupt country in the world. Of 180 countries surveyed, only Somalia and Myanmar were worse, according to Transparency International, a Berlin-based group that publishes the index annually." According to the Times,

as much as a third of what they spend on Iraqi contracts and grants ends up unaccounted for or stolen, with a portion going to Shiite or Sunni militias. In addition, Iraq’s top anticorruption official estimated this fall — before resigning and fleeing the country after 31 of his agency’s employees were killed over a three-year period — that $18 billion in Iraqi government money had been lost to various stealing schemes since 2004.

So that's what's happening to the money we've been borrowing from the Chinese to fight this war that never should have been fought in the first place. Thanks, George. It's good to see you are able to apply those wonderful lessons you learned in your highly successful business career before turning your skills to the political arena.