Army Bribes In Land Of Oiled Palms

From our fearless leader's home state of Texas comes word via AP that Federal authorities investigating an Army contract bribery case have recovered $900,000 in cash from an alleged middle man in the scheme.

The person, identified as "Person A" or Megde "Mike" Ayesh Ismail in federal court documents, intermittently worked for various companies in Kuwait while Army Maj. John Cockerham was working as a contracting officer. He allegedly acted as a middle man to pay Cockerham, and he helped authorities recover money from a bank account in the United Arab Emirates.

Cockerham, his wife and sister have been charged with fraud conspiracy, obstruction of justice and related bribery charges in U.S. District Court. Cockerham is accused of accepting $9.6 million in bribes for contracts in Iraq while he was stationed at Camp Arifjan, south of Kuwait City.