White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Tuesday he could not confirm the specific report of Saddam son's money seizure, but "as a general statement it is not surprising that Iraqis would try to get their ill-gotten loot out of the country and flee."
"These people robbed the country, took resources away from the Iraqi people, built lavish palaces while leaving the people with paltry healthcare, and didn't take care of their own people but took care of themselves."
Although tracking the money reportedly taken would be difficult, the U.S. Treasury Department has systems in place and will work to make certain that the money can be tracked," he said.
"Wherever it is, it is a source of concern for the Iraqi people and therefore a source of concern for the United States government," Fleischer said. "We'll do everything we can through the normal means of the Treasury Department, through diplomacy, to get that money returned."
The statements came after Tuesday's editions of The New York Times reported that Saddam Hussein's second son took $1 billion from the bank.
The Times said removal of the money took place at 4 a.m., March 18 -- just hours before the first U.S.-led air assault -- and was ordered by Saddam.
Qusay, and an assistant to the deposed leader, Abid al-Hamid Mahmood, carried a letter to the bank authorizing the money seizure.
"When you get an order from Saddam Hussein, you do not discuss it," said an Iraqi official who held a senior position in a bank under Hussein's government. The Iraqi official said the removal of the money amounted to about a quarter of the Central Bank's hard currency reserves.
Three tractor-trailers were needed to carry the money, the newspaper said. The haul took a team of workers 2 hours to load, and was completed before employees of the Baghdad bank arrived for work.
Some U.S. officials suspect the money may have been taken into Syria, in much the same way some senior officials in Saddam's government are believed to have fled Iraq.
U.S. and Iraqi officials have recovered other large sums of cash since the fall of the Saddam government. Last month, Iraqi bank officials, with the help of U.S. soldiers, recovered an armored car loaded with about $250 million in U.S. currency.
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