The Hidden Hand

The free markets scream the capitalist, but is it so an efficient market as claimed?

Some research has been done here and using extracts from some links and a time line with the chart embedded in the graph.

So you decide on it.

Just follow the time line and enjoy reading!

1)JANUARY 30, 2005: U.S. loses track of nearly $9 billion in Iraqi funds

The CPA provided less than adequate controls for approximately $8.8 billion of Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) funds provided to Iraqi ministries through the national budget process. [CPA Report, 1/30/05]

2)MAY 11, 2005: Bush signs supplemental spending bill, providing nearly $76 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan [State Department, 5/12/05]

3)FEBRUARY 3, 2006: Bush requests additional $70 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan, $120 billion total for 2006 [Washington Post, 2/3/06]

4)JULY 12, 2006: White House budget document reveals that administration will ask for another $110 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan [White House Office of Management and Budget, 7/12/06]

5)JANUARY 19, 2007: $8.4 billion: The cost of the Iraq war per month. “It rose from a monthly ‘burn rate’ of about $4.4 billion during the first year of fighting in fiscal 2003.” [LA Times, 1/19/2007]

6)FEBRUARY 2, 2007: Bush requests another $100 billion for Iraq
"President George W. Bush will ask Congress for $99.7 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars for rest of fiscal year 2007 and more than $145 billion for fiscal year 2008. … That money comes on top of $70 billion that Congress approved for the current fiscal year, adding up to a total of $170 billion and making it the most expensive year yet for the war.” [Reuters, 2/2/07]

7)MAY 12, 2007: Billions in oil missing in Iraq.

“Between 100,000 and 300,000 barrels a day of Iraq’s declared oil production over the past four years is unaccounted for and could have been siphoned off through corruption or smuggling, according to a draft American government report. Using an average of $50 a barrel, the report said the discrepancy was valued at $5 million to $15 million daily.” [New York Times, 5/12/2007]

8)JULY 19, 2007: Report: Iraq war to cost $550 billion by October. [Bloomberg, 7/19/07]

9)OCTOBER 8, 2007: Brown announces phased withdrawal from Iraq, says troop reductions have made Basra ‘calmer’. [BBC, 10/8/07]

10)NOVEMBER 9, 2007: Iraq veteran healthcare may be $650 billion claims a group of noted physicians. [Boston Globe, 11/9/07]

11)NOVEMBER 13, 2007: The economic costs to the United States of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan so far total approximately $1.5 trillion, according to a new study by congressional Democrats that estimates the conflicts’ “hidden costs”– including higher oil prices, the expense of treating wounded veterans and interest payments on the money borrowed to pay for the wars. [Washington Post, 11/13/07]

12)FEBRUARY 6, 2008: Bush administration abandons long-term “security guarantee” with Iraq, CQ reports. As one administration official said, “We say, look, if you want a security guarantee, that will be a treaty, and a treaty will have to go to our Senate,” endangering the whole agreement. [CQ, 2/6/08]

13)Oil trading manipulation probe by CFTC.http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/30/news/economy/oil_cftc/index.htm

14) The last entry is history now!