Bernard Allen (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)

The Minister says he is a great friend of President Bush and the US Administration, but has he asked the President where all the money has gone from Iraq? Where have the 363 tonnes of hundred dollar bills that were shipped to Iraq gone? There were enough banknotes to pay for the Pentagon four times over but where has that money gone? Will the Minister get real and accept that the Administration there, beyond the green line, has lost control in Iraq? There is no water or electricity and people cannot walk the streets without the fear of being kidnapped or killed. The police force in Iraq has been infiltrated by militias so one does not know whether a peacekeeping unit or a death squad is calling to one's house. The Minister should get real and accept that the war there is one against humanity and that nobody is safe on any side. Will the US Administration be asked the hard question about where the money has gone? Will the Taoiseach and the Minister insist on an audit of the moneys shipped to Iraq and the expenditure concerned?

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