What A Shock, Eh?

The Nation (08.30.07), via TPMMuckraker:

"[A]ccording to the working draft of a secret document prepared by the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, the Maliki government has failed in one significant area: corruption. Maliki's government is 'not capable of even rudimentary enforcement of anticorruption laws,' the report says, and, perhaps worse, the report notes that Maliki's office has impeded investigations of fraud and crime within the government."

Secret Report: Corruption is "Norm" Within Iraqi Government

"The report depicts the Iraqi government as riddled with corruption and criminals - and beyond the reach of anticorruption investigators. It also maintains that the extensive corruption within the Iraqi government has strategic consequences by decreasing public support for the U.S.-backed government and by providing a source of funding for Iraqi insurgents and militias."