Well worth the money
It should come as little surprise when you consider how completely Saddam Hussein was able to corrupt the United Nations and its oil-for-palaces program that he was also able to corrupt three liberal Democrats.
Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency footed the bill for a U.S. congressional delegation's trip during a buildup to the Iraq war, according to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday in the case of an Iraqi-born U.S. citizen charged with spying for the Iraqi government.
Muthanna al-Hanooti, a former official with an Islamic charity in Detroit, Michigan, was taken into custody Tuesday night. Hussein's spy agency secretly paid al-Hanooti 2 million barrels of oil, during the time the U.N. Oil for Food program was in place, for services rendered, the indictment states.
Those services included providing the Iraqi government with the names of U.S. members of Congress believed to favor the lifting of sanctions against Iraq, arranging for delegations of those members to visit Iraq and traveling with those delegations, the indictment states.
Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the Department of Justice, said no member of Congress was aware of al-Hanooti's alleged activities. "None of the congressional representatives are accused of any wrongdoing, and we have no information whatsoever that any of them were aware of the involvement of the Iraqi Intelligence Service," he said.
That's as may be, but you'd think that if they were so dedicated to the cause of keeping a brutal dictator in power that they would've used their own funds -- campaign or personal -- to suck up to Hussein. I believe there also is a term for these sorts of people: "useful idiots."
UPDATE
Stephen Hayes over at The Weekly Standard digs up some contemporaneous reporting that demonstrates that Baghdad Jim McDermott, at the very least, wanted to be corrupted.
So how does it feel to be used as a propaganda tool against your own country? McDermott, who was asked that question by CNN's Jane Arraf when he was still in Baghdad, said it feels fine. "If being used means that we're highlighting the suffering of Iraqi children, or any children, then, yes, we don't mind being used."
That's right, McDermott didn't mind being used by Saddam Hussein.
0 comments on “Well worth the money”
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1) There's no evidence al-Hanooti "corrupted" these people. Either you're unclear on its meaning based on context, or drawing conclusions not based on the evidence. Either way, individuals exercising poor judgment is not tantamount to them being corrupted by an outside source. I'd say you should buy a dictionary, but you're already on the internet, so there's really no excuse for misusing words.
2) I have no clue what you mean when you say that they should have used "campaign" funds (if not personal) to finance their trip. By definition, "campaign funds" are to be used directly to fund the various aspects of an election campaign, are heavily regulated, and, as such, can't be spent on things like trips to other countries (in fact, I would say that it would be *corrupt* to use them in this way). If you're talking about party funds, then don't say "campaign" funds, as they're two different things (though I doubt you would see such funding as anything less than corruption on a party-wide scale). Regardless, I'm curious as to why the Department of State isn't under your microscope for not scrutinizing the trip given the circumstances, nor why various American intelligence agencies didn't pick up on such an obvious ploy.
3) Considering you only had to write handful of words yourself, grammatical errors such as "That's as may be" are inexcusable. Even a cursory look over your finished piece should have been enough to spot it. It certainly implies that this was spit out without much thought or proofreading.
Overall, you seriously need to improve the quality of your pieces. None of what I said comes from a partisan bias, as I'm neither American nor particularly enamored with either party more than the other. I'm simply sick of useless opinions, and the poor quality articles to which they're tethered.
1) It's true there's no evidence that the Baghdad Three were corrupted by the Iraqi agent's money. They were already pretty corrupt, not to mention seditious, by making the trip in the first place.
2) Before you opine on the rules, you'd probably be advised to look at the rules (link).
I won't hold my breath awaiting an apology.
3) I confess to being barely literate through my use of the vernacular, but possibly ungrammatical, use of a phrase such as "That's as may be." After all, no one has ever used that construction before me in English literature (link), let alone a conversationally written blog.
I'm sorry that you feel that my pieces need improving. That's really devastating coming from some random individual on the Internet posting anonymously. I feel properly chastened and will work hard to minimize the snark in the future. I will instead write pieces that are textbook-like, dull, boring and sure to be read only by the likes of yourself.