Re: (NBC) Cindy Sheehan has lost me

Perhaps your embarrassment stems from guilt for not trying harder to do

something about the war. I think she strikes a nerve in a lot of
people
who don't like Bush or the war, but never really lifted a finger to do
anything about it. At least she's trying, and her attempts may be
clumsy, but she's not a leader, not a politician, and has never done
this before. She's got heart, and she deserves a lot more respect than

the one who got us into this mess. <

Exactly. What a friggin mess. This should piss us all off. From
MSNBC.com

OLBERMANN: If you‘re going to build and rebuild Iraq, you‘re going to
need a lot of money, and you‘re going to need somebody who knows how to
handle a lot of money. Who better than a man convicted of felony fraud
a decade ago?

Our fourth story on the COUNTDOWN tonight, the Robert Stein saga. The
late sportswriter Welles Twombley (ph) updated the old Greek
observation and noted, “Larceny abhors a vacuum.”

Our chief investigative correspondent is Lisa Myers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA MYERS, MSNBC CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over):

Luxury cars, a $20,000 motorcycle, $10,000 watches, mountains of cash,
all part of an elaborate corruption scheme in Iraq which court
documents allege involves at least seven Americans, including five Army
Reserve officers.

FRANK WILLIS, FORMER RECONSTRUCTION OFFICIAL: The degree and level of
what happened is appalling. It‘s extraordinary.

MYERS: This former Iraq reconstruction official, Robert Stein, a
convicted felon inexplicably put in charge of $82 million in contracts,
today pleaded guilty. He now admits stealing at least $2 million and
accepting at least a million more in bribes, used to buy this $160,000
car, these automatic weapons, and an airplane like this.

Stein also admits steering contracts to this American, Philip Bloom,
who allegedly provided cash, fast cars, even sexual favors from women.
Bloom‘s lawyer did not comment. In one e-mail, Stein tells Bloom that
his contract money is coming through. “I love to give you money.”
Signed, “Bob.”

WILLIS: It shows the brazenness of the people who were around those
sums of money, and what they thought they could get away with.

MYERS: E-mails indicate that some unnamed U.S. officials even demanded
specific cars, a white SUV, and a sports car, electric blue.

And what about the projects that were supposed to be built or
refurbished in Iraq?

STUART BROWN, FORMER RECONSTRUCTION INSPECTOR GENERAL: There were
millions of dollars in grants and contacts that simply went for no work
at all.

MYERS (on camera): And work that was done was often shoddy. For
example, a newly installed hospital elevator collapsed, killing Iraqis.
In fact, U.S. investigators now say, reconstruction in the region
where this corruption occurred was a failure.

Lisa Myers, NBC News, Washington

.

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