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May 14, 2008
Pile On: More Allegations of Cover Up at State
Another claim of cover up at the State Department comes from former State Department officials on Monday who told Senate Democrats that the department shut them up on findings of widespread corruption within the Iraqi ministries.
"The Department of State's actual policies not only contradicted the anti-corruption mission but indirectly contributed to and has allowed corruption to fester at the highest levels of the Iraqi government," said Arthur Brennan, who served as director of the State Department's Office of Accountability and Transparency at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
Delivering his statement to the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, the long-time Republican and former New Hampshire judge added:
"The embassy effort against corruption, including its new centerpiece, the now defunct Office of Accountability and Transparency, was little more than 'window dressing."Although Brennan only served in Baghdad a few months, his claims carry more weight because he is not the first to claim that fraud has been overlooked by the State Department. The State Department's former inspector general, Howard Krongard, resigned last November after being accused of thwarting numerous fraud investigations stemming from contracts in Iraq.
Even more curious is the predicament of Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, the former head of the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity, who testified before Congress about rampant corruption in Iraq. The Iraqi Judge said that nearly four dozen of his staff members were killed while working for him. Radhi is now seeking asylum, but apparently, the State Department has been dragging its feet.
Notes TPMMuckraker:
One of the former officials testified that "a senior State Department official had ordered agency employees not to give al Radhi references or contact him" for help with his asylum.
Posted by davidphinney at May 14, 2008 12:30 PM
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