U.S. military officer guilty in Iraq reconstruction theft

**sonz** · 08-27-2006

A U.S. Army Reserve officer admitted on Friday that he steered millions of dollars meant for Iraq’s reconstruction as part of a conspiracy involving kickbacks, smuggling and sexual favors, Reuters news agency reported.

Bruce D. Hopfengardner, 46, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering, the Justice Department said in a statement.

"A Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army admitted to disturbing abuse of his position, in scheming with others to defraud the government for their own personal and financial gain," Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher said.

Hopfengardner served as an adviser to the U.S.-led occupation forces in Iraq, recommending funding for projects on law enforcement facilities in the war-torn country.

He admitted conspiring with Philip H. Bloom, a U.S. citizen with businesses in Romania and postwar Iraq, Robert J. Stein, a former Defense Department contract official, and others to create a corrupt biding process that included the theft of $2 million in reconstruction money.

In exchange, they received money, plane tickets, jewelry, alcohol, cigars and sexual favors from women provided by Bloom at his villa in Baghdad, the government said.

Hopfengardner is the first military officer to admit taking part in the scheme. Bloom and Stein have already pleaded guilty to related charges.

Stein, who was responsible for overseeing more than $82 slated for rebuilding the shattered infrastructure in Iraq in 2003 and 2004, pleaded guilty in February to stealing more than $2 million and rigging bids on $8.6 million in reconstruction contracts.

Bloom pleaded guilty on April 18 to conspiracy, bribery and money laundering.

Prosecutors said some of the stolen money was smuggled out of Iraq into the United States aboard commercial airlines. Hopfengardner and his co-conspirators also laundered cash through multiple bank accounts in Switzerland, Amsterdam and Romania.

Hopfengardner faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $500,000.

Two other Army Reserve lieutenant colonels were arrested last year in connection with the investigation.

The Coalition Provisional Authority has already been criticized over the way it managed reconstruction funds.

Earlier this year, a report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SGIR) said that huge sums of money intended for Iraq’s reconstruction were stashed in filing cabinets, paid without receipts, and gambled away between 2003 and 2004.

AlJazeera

**Zone Maker** · 08-27-2006

And why I am not surprised?

**Zone Maker** · 08-27-2006

Originally Posted by HusamLah

i dunno why dont you tell us

Don’t you see U.S.A. (Government) is stealing Iraq's important resources?
Oil is one of them. Bush him self said that U.S.A. cannot pullout while there is large amount of Oil in Iraq

(making an excuse that terrorists are going to use it).
Every body knows this. Most people ignore, deny or even twist this fact.
No offence was meant brother

:coolbro: .

**Trumble** · 08-27-2006

Originally Posted by Abu Skakeen

Don’t you see U.S.A. (Government) is stealing Iraq's important resources?

I don't follow your logic. Corrupt, private individuals (albeit their day-job being army officers) were trying to make a fast buck off the backs of the Iraqi people. They were stopped, caught, and sent to trial by the US authorities.

Originally Posted by Abu Skakeen

Bush him self said that U.S.A. cannot pullout while there is large amount of Oil in Iraq (making an excuse that terrorists are going to use it)

Did he? I very much doubt it. Source, please.

**Zone Maker** · 08-27-2006

Originally Posted by Trumble

I don't follow your logic. Corrupt, private individuals (albeit their day-job being army officers) were trying to make a fast buck off the backs of the Iraqi people. They were stopped, caught, and sent to trial by the US authorities.

Exactly private this corrupted, soldier that is corrupted, etc.
When you sum them all you will see a whole corrupted system.

Originally Posted by Trumble

Did he? I very much doubt it. Source, please.

Do you ever watch News on T.V.?

Anyway I hope a brother/sister give you a link.
I will try to search for a link my self.

**Trumble** · 08-27-2006

Originally Posted by Abu Skakeen

Exactly private this corrupted, soldier that is corrupted, etc.
When you sum them all you will see a whole corrupted system.

Only if you concede that in that case there has never been an organised human system, at least on the governmental scale, that was NOT corrupt. There are the occasional bad apples everywhere. You can hardly single out the US on that basis.

Do you ever watch News on T.V.?

Yes. That's why I asked for a source!

**Abdulwaheed** · 08-27-2006

im not defending any1 here, but You can't judge the whole system based on the actions of a few people.

**Ninth_Scribe** · 08-27-2006

Originally Posted by Abu Skakeen

And why I am not surprised?

He's probably related to the idiot in charge of the Big Dig here in Boston! Yep! Let's send all our corrupt government officials over to Iraq and show those Iraqis how to avoid corruption in the government! Or to quote my favorite wild child (Zarqawi): Let's cure our drunks with booze!

Ninth Scribe

**Zone Maker** · 08-27-2006

Originally Posted by Trumble

Only if you concede that in that case there has never been an organised human system, at least on the governmental scale, that was NOT corrupt. There are the occasional bad apples everywhere. You can hardly single out the US on that basis.

I am not sure the limit number of the so called occasional that you know about

. However the crimes of the government are not only in Iraq but also in Afghanistan. Al-Jazeera camera man was captured while he was recording the sufferings of the people there. Right now he is in the guantanimo prison so much for the so called (free press)

.

Yes. That's why I asked for a source!

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exer...A73782E2A0.htm

Bush rejects calls for early Iraq pullout

Thursday 17 August 2006, 4:51 Makka Time, 1:51 GMT

Bush sees Iraq war as part of a broader war on terrorism

Related:
Bush rejects Iraq pullout timetable
Bush: No withdrawal timetable for Iraq
Bush rejects timetable for exiting Iraq

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The US president has rejected calls by opposition Democrats for an early withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, warning such a move could result in a "terrorist state" with vast oil reserves.

Those who say the United States should leave Iraq are "wrong", George Bush said on Wednesday.

"Leaving before we complete our mission would create a terrorist state in the heart of the Middle East, a country with huge oil reserves that the terrorist network would be willing to use to extract economic pain from those of us who believe in freedom,"

Bush said at a fundraising event for the Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, former football star Lynn Swann.

The war in Iraq is a significant political issue for the legislative and gubernatorial elections on November 7, with opposition Democrats calling for the start of a US withdrawal and opinion polls showing public disquiet over the US presence in Iraq.

Bush's Republican party, anxious to retain its majority in congress, and his administration have set out to persuade American voters that Iraq is part of the "war on terror".

They hope to repeat previous successes in elections in 2002 and 2004 when voters expressed more confidence in Bush and the Republicans to safeguard the country against possible terrorist attack.

War on terror

"The central front on the war on terror, now, is Iraq," Bush told the partisan audience.

"The central front on the war on terror, now, is Iraq"

George Bush, the US president

"If we were to leave before the mission is complete, it would hurt US credibility.

"Who would want to stand with the United States of America if we didn't complete the mission, and a mission that can be completed and will be completed?"

Bush said that the war in Iraq was part of the broader battle against terrorist threats.

"It's important to understand that this is a global war on terror, not an isolated moment of law enforcement. This is the first war of the 21st century and the United States of America must lead that war, and we must be firm, and we must be resolved."

AFP

**wilberhum** · 08-31-2006

in Afghanistan. Al-Jazeera camera man was captured while he was recording the sufferings of the people there. Right now he is in the guantanimo prison

Would you provide the source of that information?

**Zone Maker** · 09-01-2006

Originally Posted by wilberhum

Would you provide the source of that information?

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exer...EEBF47C27A.htm

**Trumble** · 09-01-2006

Originally Posted by Abu Skakeen

Bush him self said that U.S.A. cannot pullout while there is large amount of Oil in Iraq

(making an excuse that terrorists are going to use it).

Nice try with a "source", but no, he didn't say that. The quote;

"Leaving before we complete our mission would create a terrorist state in the heart of the Middle East, a country with huge oil reserves that the terrorist network would be willing to use to extract economic pain from those of us who believe in freedom"

simply doesn't say that. Bush says that the US will not leave Iraq until the mission there is complete (i.e the defeat of insurgent/terrorist factions and the handover of security to Iraqi forces) NOT that the US cannot pull out of Iraq while large amounts of oil remain there.

**Zone Maker** · 09-01-2006

It seems you don’t see the point I am trying to make.

"Leaving before we complete our mission would create a terrorist state in the heart of the Middle East"

Yeah right while the country is on the edge of a civil war it will have time to go and do an attack on America. And it doesn’t need a whole country to make an attack. It only takes few terrorists to do such a job (which is happening). So why don’t he (Bush) pull out of Iraq and defend America instead of making senseless statements.

Here is a link for you to learn some real facts about the War in Iraq:
http://www.thedebate.org/thedebate/iraq.asp