New Iraq could become nest of corruption - World - www.smh.com.au

New Iraq could become nest of corruption - World - www.smh.com.au:

"Like so many other Iraqis, businessmen invariably make then-and-now comparisons with the days of Saddam Hussein. The deposed leader ran his own massive corruption of the United Nations' oil-for-food program and he and his cronies regularly demanded a cut of any new business or contract.

But Mr Jawad, a Shiite with no brief for his former leader, says: 'I'd say that about 10 per cent of business was corrupt under Saddam.'

That's probably an underestimation, but Mr Jawad is making a point: 'Now it's about 95 per cent - we used to have one Saddam, now we have 25 of them.'"