It is common knowledge that much Iraqi money was counterfeited after the illegal U.S. invasion of 2003. Both the new Saddam-less dinars and the former currency with the Iraqi president were fair game for copiers.

The biggest culprit was Ahmed Chalabi, everyone’s favorite crook. He had warehouses full of counterfeit bills of both eras. Eventually, he was caught, but he never was tried or fined for the crime of which the magnitude was staggering. Being of the same crooked mentality of the stooges now in power in Iraq, Chalabi was named as Minister of Energy. Instead of disavowing such actions, the quislings held Chalabi in high esteem because he was able to rob much more than they could.

There was a counterfeit scheme in Iraq in the early 1990s that was much more devastating than Chalabi’s shenanigans. It hit the country hard and everyone suffered. Don’t be remiss if you never heard of this. It was a tightly-guarded operation. However, every Iraqi was familiar with it because it affected the lives of all.

Shortly after Desert Storm, the U.S., along with other accomplices, flooded Iraq with billions of dollars of counterfeit dinars and dollars. The results were staggering, taking down further the worth of the already weak dinar.

Eventually, Iraq discovered the bogus money scheme and began to print hew money. Every retail business in the country was equipped with a special machine that could verify or negate the authenticity of the notes.

It took about a year or so for the country to be mostly rid of the bogus dinars. The newly-printed dinars were much more difficult to copy.

Ironically, some of the countries who joined in with the U.S. in passing the false money were hurt in the long run because the legitimate dinars they held became worthless after the introduction of Iraq’s new currency.

I asked an Iraqi-American friend today about that period. He lived in Baghdad during the 1990s. He said:

Everybody in Iraq knew of the scam. It was well-known to the Iraqi public. At the time, various countries came to mind who may have assisted in the scheme, notably Iran. The average Iraqi knew Iran, although it did not print the notes, did help in getting them to Iraq.

I saw firsthand a person get arrested for trying to pass on these notes. He was in an outdoor market trading dinars for U.S. dollars. This was a commonplace occurrence. He was standing only a few feet from me when he handed a bunch of dinars to a proprietor and out of nowhere came the police who quickly handcuffed him.

The U.S. would stoop low in its efforts to make Iraq implode. If not for a vigilant Iraqi government and a quick response, the counterfeit money scheme may have worked. The U.S. did not care if it used such an underhanded method of keeping the country in a state of chaos or deprivation, all the time stating its goals were honorable and cleanly implemented.

Herbert A. Friedman is an expert on Psychological Operations. In 1996, he retired from the U.S. military. Friedman runs a website, www.psywarrior.com on which he discusses various psychological operations. One was of the counterfeit money scheme in Iraq in the 1990s. He stated:

There is reason to believe that at the same time the 4th Group was making imitations of the Iraqi currency, the CIA was forging their currency. Prior to the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq’s currency was prepared abroad, by Thomas de la Rue of England and, presumably another country. According to Triumph without Victory, U.S. News and World Report, 1992, page 190, in an operation called "Blink, Saddam, Blink," Washington persuaded the two countries that had produced the Iraqi currency to:

print counterfeit Iraqi currency, which was then distributed to Kurdish leaders, who flooded the market with worthless bills.

I questioned the editor in 1992 about the alleged forgery campaign and he answered:

Unfortunately, like so many pieces of information my colleagues and I came across in the course of reporting on the Gulf War, we were unable to develop more than the barest outlines of an operation codenamed "Blink Saddam Blink." We were told that the operation did involve the infiltration of counterfeit Iraqi currency into the country, but we were singularly unsuccessful in learning more about it.

In Newsweek, June 8, 1992, Ray Wilkinson in Amman, Jordan adds:

Can a blizzard of banknotes succeed where Desert Storm failed? Some of those still working to topple Saddam Hussein evidently think it’s worth a try. In a campaign Iraq denounces as a CIA plot called "Laundry," counterfeit Iraqi and U.S. dollars are flooding into the country across all of its borders. The Iraqis say bales of fake dollar bills have been dumped from American helicopters; U.S. intelligent sources say it’s an all-Arab operation led by the Saudis. Whoever is at the helm clearly knows his business. Many of the fake dinars can scarcely be distinguished from the poor-quality, blue and orange bills Iraq itself is printing at a furious rate to pay for reconstruction and military raises.

Coin World of 18 May 1992 added "CIA mum on counterfeit Iraqi currency." Richard Giedroyc went on to say in part:

Officials of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency are refusing comment on media reports that the agency has placed counterfeit Iraqi money into circulation in Iraq in an attempt to disrupt the economy and government. The undercover operation in Iraq is called "Operation Laundry." CIA media spokesman Mark Mansfield told Coin World "It is not our policy to comment on such allegations."

The highly respected London newspaper The Sunday Telegraph says that the CIA is quietly flooding Iraq with counterfeit money, especially, it is believed, 5, 25 and 50 dinar notes in an attempt to destabilize Saddam Hussein's government by making the money worth next to nothing.

The New York Times also wrote about the counterfeits in 17 May 1992. Some of their comments are:

Iraq's economy is the target of an American-led destabilization campaign to pour vast amounts of counterfeit currency into the country. The (Arab) officials, who insisted on not being identified, said the countries behind the separate counterfeiting operation included western nations, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Israel. "People joke about it and some have become experts in telling which denominations are printed in Israel, the United States or in Saudi Arabia", said an Iraqi who insisted on not being identified.

A Saudi official, who insisted on not being identified said, "All borders are being used."