Was Iraqgate Business As Usual?

One woman, a federal prosecutor, allegedly carried a magnet in her purse to erase computer records containing crucial evidence. Another woman, a Customs inspector pursuing an illegal-exports case, was subjected to a grueling in-house probe of her professional conduct. And a third, a corporate lawyer, says she became the target of threats and intimidation when she blew the whistle on her bosses.

What links these three women? The politically charged investigation of the Atlanta branch of the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro and its illegal scheme to finance exports to Iraq with billions in federally guaranteed loans--the affair that has become known as Iraqgate.