Corruption dogs post-Saddam Iraq
Corruption isn’t something that Australians are accustomed to. When corruption strikes, it’s often followed by by a high-profile court case and lengthy jail terms for those involved. Yet some countries struggle with it on a daily basis. The Berlin-based Transparency International this week released its annual corruption report. The 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) looked at public sector corruption in 163 countries. Nearly half of them scored below three points, indicating rampant perceived corruption. One of the worst contenders was Iraq, who came in third from the bottom. This is despite coalition leaders claiming that democracy is flourishing in Iraq. The Wire spoke to Transparency International’s Michael Ahrens about how the Corruption Perceptions Index is compiled, while The Middle East Institute’s Wayne White explained that Iraq wasn’t always a hot bed of corruption.