The US airlifts pallets of cash to Iraq

Iraq keeps its oil revenues in a Federal Reserve Bank of New York account. Roughly $10 billion flows through it each year. When the Central Bank of Iraq needs dollars, it requests a tranche, the US prints fresh $100 bills, bundles them into $400,000 bricks, loads them onto wooden pallets, and ships them to Baghdad on C-130 military cargo planes.

Between 2003 and 2004, $12 billion moved this way, including one $2.4B shipment, the largest single cash transfer ever recorded. The US has pushed for electronic transfers for years, but Iraq's banking infrastructure can't support it. The US can also block individual shipments and has done so multiple times when funds risked reaching sanctioned entities.