Transparency International has in the recent past labelled Nigeria as the most corrupt nation on earth. I'm not sure where the US ranked or the UK for that matter, but if one is looking for corruption on a monumental scale, one need look no further than what Haliburton is doing in Iraq. Paul Wolfowitz was caught with his hand in the cookie jar - he influenced/intimidated the powers that be to ensure his Iraqi girlfriend got jobs in Iraq and later at the State Department. In Kenya, we call that nepotism, the World Bank's board, calls it acting in good faith because the guidelines weren't clear. The board of the World Bank should tender their resignation with immediate effect because any integrity they may have had, has gone along with their absolution of Wolfie.
Whoever sang that war is good for absolutely nothing, got it totally wrong as the profit earnings of Haliburton and KBR can attest. Haliburton was awarded contracts on the basis of their links to Dick Cheney and despite this, they still overcharged the US Army when it came to fuel, as the US Army's own Inspector General discovered. I thought war profiteering was a felony - evidently the some animals are more equal than others rule applies here. In the UK, the AG halted an investigation into how BAE came to win a contract with the Saudis for fears it would jeopardise future multi-billion pound contracts. BAE, a significant contributor to the UK's GDP, exerted considerable pressure on Downing Street to halt the investigation.
So the next time the US and the UK see fit to lecture another country on corruption or lack of transparency just say Haliburton, Wolfowitz or BAE.
****UPDATE****
It has since emerged that BAE has been accused of paying ONE BILLION POUNDS STERLING to a Saudi prince, over a 10 year period, who saw to it that BAE was awarded their biggest weapons contract. What's more, it was done with the full complicity of Britain's Ministry of Defence - more details here.
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