Iraq’s T-72s: Payment Received

Tanks Delivered: 77Repo men needed: 0Safer elections: Priceless Last week, we ran a story about 77 refurbished Hungarian T-72 tanks, headed for the Middle East and slated to form the core of Iraq’s first reconstituted armored division. They were scheduled to arrive just in time to provide additional security for Iraq’s December 2005 National Assembly elections… if they didn’t get impounded first for non-payment of bills. Defense Solutions wrote over the weekend to let DID know that the Iraqi Ministry of Defense has now fulfilled their obligation and paid in full. Delivery will proceed on schedule. Meanwhile, CENTCOM writes to explain the problem: “Please update your website that the Iraqi government has paid their bills to Mr. Ringgold. He never took legal action and his characterization of the Iraqi government’s failure to pay its bills is inaccurate. The funds were being processed as fast as possible based on the challenges that the government of Iraq faces as it rebuilds its banking system and government ministries. The Minister of Defense passed the payment authorization to the Ministry of Finance for Mr. Ringgold on 2 November and after some processing delays the funds were delivered to his bank on 9 November.” The […]