Iraq helping Iran circumvent sanctions

[finnbow]

There is a "network of financial institutions and oil-smuggling operations that, according to current and former American and Iraqi government officials and experts on the Iraqi banking sector, has provided Iran with a crucial flow of dollars at a time when sanctions are squeezing its economy.

...Iraqi government officials are turning a blind eye to the large financial flows, smuggling and other trade with Iran. In some cases, they say, government officials, including some close to Mr. Maliki, are directly profiting from the activities.

'Maliki’s government is right in the middle of this,' said one former senior American intelligence official who now does business in Iraq. "

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/wo...sanctions.html

So are there folks (Pete?) who still think that the Iraq War was worth thousands of US dead and $1 trillion?