Billions disappear in Baghdad

An investigation by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele in the October issue of Vanity Fair traces $12 billion in U.S. currency which was sent from the Federal Reserve to Baghdad between April 2003 and June 2004. While some of the money was spent on special projects and ministries, Barlett and Steele report that over $9 billion is missing. "Following a trail that leads from a safe in one of Saddam's palaces to a house near San Diego, to a P.O. box in the Bahamas, the authors discover just how little anyone cared about how the money was handled." The story is accompanied on the web by a Q&A with Barlett and Steele.