United Nations Oil for Food scandal
Glenn at
Instapundit links to
a very detailed report of the Oil for Food scandal brewing at the United Nations.
bq.
Desert desperadoes
How the United Nations' oil-for-food program was transformed into a piggy bank for Saddam Hussein and the biggest financial scandal in the world body's 60-year history
bq. Fallen behind on your scandal news lately? Well, don't look now, but the doozy the United Nations has brewed up in its Iraqi oil-for-food program is about to come to full boil. The Treasury Department, the Department of Justice, the Manhattan district attorney's office, five legislative committees, at least three foreign governments, and, oh yes, the United Nations itself are asking who's responsible for the more than $4 billion in illegal kickbacks on Iraqi oil sales and goods from suppliers exporting food, medicine, and other materials to Baghdad. Former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker, who is heading the U.N.'s investigation of itself, is due to weigh in later this month with his findings and has already given a glimpse of the mess with a "provisional" assessment of a program plagued by sloppy, myopic management that may or may not turn out to have included criminal conduct. The Volcker report should be good reading, as the former Fed chief has had unfettered access to U.N. documents and personnel. U.S. News has learned that the Justice Department has lent him some experienced federal prosecutors, while the Manhattan district attorney's office is providing information gained through its subpoena power.
A bit more about the top leadership at the United Nations:
bq. The scandal, wherever it ultimately leads, has only deepened the already considerable woes of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan. Some U.N. officials close to Annan--including Benon Sevan, named by Annan to run the program's day-to-day operations--have been tarred by the mess. Annan's son, Kojo, who had business dealings with a Swiss company that had a U.N. contract to inspect humanitarian goods brought into Iraq by the program, has also come under scrutiny. Both men have denied any wrongdoing.
bq. ...The investigations, into what may be the largest financial scandal in U.N. history, come at a time when Annan is grappling with a host of other public-relations disasters, among them allegations that U.N. peacekeepers raped Congolese girls and a no-confidence vote on senior management by U.N. staffers...
Funny thing - the U.N. knew about the kickbacks and did nothing (how unlike them...)
bq. Summaries of U.N. sanctions committee meetings make it clear that member countries, including the United States, were aware that Saddam was attempting to game the system. More than once, committee members were shown evidence that kickbacks were being paid by aid suppliers, that Saddam was diverting aid to his military, and that Iraqi oil was being smuggled illegally. The question now for everyone examining the sieve like oil-for-food program is why so little was done to stop such abuses and what responsibility Washington may have. A Senate investigator who has reviewed some of the sanctions committee minutes told U.S. News that, overall, U.S. performance looks to have been pretty good. "When the U.S. or the Brits or the Dutch bring up a concern with the program," the investigator explained, "the Russians and the French and the Chinese stop the proper oversight."
The Russians and the French again... Along with France and Russia, the Chinese also sold Saddam arms so they don't want the gravy train to stop either.
The article is four pages so it's a bit of a long read but it is very well written and worth reading if you are following this scandal.
Posted by DaveH at January 16, 2005 2:23 PM