Trump Accuses Troops Of Stealing Money In ‘Crooked As Hell’ Iraq

Donald Trump was criticized after implying that US soldiers stole funds from the federal government intended for reconstruction efforts during the Iraq war.

Trump made that last claim on Tuesday night during a rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, where Trump implied to a cheering crowd that military personnel tasked with allocating funds during deployment in Iraq were, instead, pocketing the cash for themselves.

He said: “Iraq. Crooked as hell”.

During a speech on Tuesday evening in Greensboro, North Carolina, Trump criticized USA policy during the Iraq war to send millions of dollars in cash to Iraq, which he called “a corrupt country”, with no supervision. In reality, it was Americans, not Iraqis, who were distributing millions of dollars, so the defense doesn’t make a lot of sense.

But, officials from VoteVets.org, the largest progressive organisation of veterans in the country, said the comments should disqualify Mr Trump from serving as Commander-in-chief. However, it’s not the first time he’s implied US soldiers could have taken money in the Middle East.

Trump on Tuesday also derided the steep cost of USA military involvement in Iraq and other Middle Eastern nations.

“They didn’t really want to fight for Iraq because Iraq is a corrupt government, you know”. Remember when they were handing 50 million dollars of cash? “Because I think they are living very well right now, whoever they may be”. “Cash! How stupid are we?”, Trump said.

Not only is the topic unusual for a presidential candidate to bring up, especially on the Army’s anniversary, this accusation touches on a real crime that happened in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

The implication that veterans are money-grubbing thieves is a odd one, given Trump’s ongoing-albeit hotly contested-claims of being the candidate with the most pro-vet agenda. The presumptive nominee gave million of his own money to a veterans organization last month.

VoteVets.org officials also listed a series of military missteps by Trump’s campaign in the a year ago, including comments questioning Arizona Sen. John McCain from Arizona was “not a war hero” because he was captured. “The idea that Trump would call out the integrity of those who answered the call of service and deployed to a war zone is repellant”. “He was a war hero because he was captured”. And those who investigate and prosecute military wrongdoing say the convictions so far constitute a small portion of the crimes they think were committed by US military personnel in the two countries.