Trump: US Iraq War Soldiers Stole $50 Million

Local Editor

The Republican front-runner, who has characterized himself as a champion of US soldiers, made the allegation during an off-the-cuff segment of a speech on Tuesday night and has since been pilloried by mainstream media outlets.

Donald Trump's Tuesday night speech in Greensboro, North Carolina, took a controversial detour when the Republican presidential candidate commented on corruption in the military on a day that was also marked the 241st anniversary of the founding of the US Army and at a time when the country remained gripped by fear and patriotism following this weekend's Orlando terror attack.

"Iraq, crooked as hell. How about bring baskets of money - millions and millions of dollars - and handing it out?" Trump said at the evening rally. "I want to know who were the soldiers that had that job because I think they're living very well right now, whoever they may be."

The line of discussion that the Republican leader apparently hoped to explore was the bureaucratic ineptitude of the Bush and Obama administrations, dovetailing toward the worn-out line that "America needs to be run like a business," and that "our leaders are failing us, they are incompetent."

Instead, the leading narrative resulting from the off-the-cuff remark was more along the lines of how could a candidate who repeatedly dodged his military draft and who is disliked by 70% of the population attack a trusted and venerable American institution while recent public opinion polls show that 74% of the country thinks the armed forces are doing a good job.

The politically-costly comment opened up a secondary debate, supported by a great deal of analysis, showing that US troops repeatedly stole cash intended to be used for post-war rebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan, while other military service people were arrested for accepting bribes from corrupt local contractors during the reconstruction period.

The nonprofit Center for Public Integrity found that 115 US soldiers were convicted of committing theft or bribery in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2005 and 2015. Government reports indicate that large amounts of cash, intended for Afghanistan reconstruction were reported as lost by US soldiers, leading to increased scrutiny by the US Congress.

Retired military officials also claim that graft is pervasive throughout the US Army, especially among contracting officers and those tasked with managing funds.

It isn't the first time that candidate Trump waded into this controversy, having remarked in September 2015, "Remember when they were handing $50 million in cash when they were going through Afghanistan? I want to know who were the soldiers who were carrying cash. 50 million dollars cash! Cash! How stupid are we? I wouldn't be surprised with those soldiers if the cash didn't get there."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team