"The Americans are handing out contracts and jobs to terrorists, bandits and gangsters"

Same ol', same ol' in Anbar. I used to have soft, shiny, Revlon Medium Auburn hair. Now I'm nearly bald from pulling it out. Not a pretty picture, I might add.

Iraq's deadly insurgent groups have financed their war against U.S. troops in part with hundreds of thousands of dollars in U.S. rebuilding funds that they've extorted from Iraqi contractors in Anbar province.

Is this something new? Nah.

The payments, in return for the insurgents' allowing supplies to move and construction work to begin, have taken place since the earliest projects in 2003, Iraqi contractors, politicians and interpreters involved with reconstruction efforts said.

The quote above is from Sheik Ali Hatem Ali Suleiman, the deputy leader of the Dulaim, the largest and most powerful tribe in Anbar. He was "involved in several U.S. rebuilding contracts in the early days of the war, but is now a harsh critic of the U.S. presence."

Join the club.

One senior Iraqi politician with personal knowledge of the contracting system said the insurgents also use their cuts to pay border police in Syria "to look the other way" as they smuggle weapons and foot soldiers into Iraq.

I'm pulling out more hair as we speak. Maybe I'll give Britney a call and see where she buys her wigs.