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Source: http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/605fgcob.asp
Saddam's Cash and the Journalists and Politicians He Bought With It
(Weekly Standard) Stephen F. Hayes - One "top Egyptian editor" told the Wall Street Journal in 1991 about a conversation he had with Saddam: "I remember his saying, 'Compared to tanks, journalists are cheap - and you get more for your money.'" One of Saddam's friends in the U.S. is Shakir al-Khafaji, an Iraqi-American businessman from Detroit, who since 1992 has served as president of the regime-backed Expatriate Conferences, held in Baghdad every other year. Al-Khafaji first came to public notice after revelations that he gave former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter $400,000 to produce a film that criticized the U.S. for its role in the inspection process. Al-Khafaji, listed as a "senior executive producer" of the film, arranged meetings for Ritter with high-level officials in Saddam's government.