Posted on 10/29/2005 10:09:34 PM PDT by Coleus
United Nations: The final report on the oil-for-food scandal has been released, to little fanfare. How sad so few people, apart from policy wonks, will read it. It's a stunning indictment of the U.N.'s current leadership.
Maybe it's just an accident that the U.N.'s report on the biggest financial scandal in history was released amid the political maelstrom of the Harriet Miers fiasco and the possible indictment of two key presidential aides, thus ensuring it would get little coverage. But we doubt it.
The first news accounts of the so-called Volcker Commission's final report emphasized that 2,200 out of 4,500 companies that were involved in the U.N.'s $67 billion oil-for-food program — set up to let Saddam Hussein sell oil to buy food, medicine and other necessities for the Iraqi people — had paid bribes.
It's true. Those companies — among them, Daimler-Chrysler, Volvo, Glaxo-SmithKline and Novartis — paid bribes. And those bribes let Saddam steal $11 billion from the program.
But who, we wonder, looked the other way as bribes were paid? Who served as middlemen? And who, besides Saddam, profited?
The answer is uncomfortable for the U.N. and its many defenders. Saddam had paid off hundreds of officials around the world, like pro-Saddam British MP George Galloway, former French government official and Chirac ally Charles Pasqua, France's envoy to the U.N. Jean-Bernard Merrimee and Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
But it was the U.N. itself, as venal as any mob-run enterprise, that made the corruption of its own program possible — "facilitated it," in U.N.-speak.
The Volcker report, while highlighting corporate malfeasance, also shows conclusively that the U.N. crooks who ran oil for food gave preference to French, Russian and Chinese companies.
Why? The easiest answer is they were the most corruptible.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
There is very little about this in the MSM and this is the most important story of the day. This in a nut shell is the justification for the Iraq war. The corruption of the Security Council and the proof that Sanctions do not work. As long as Saddam was allowed to game the U.N. his murderous thuggery would have continued. He would have passed funding and weapons on to Al-Quida and would have eventually caused great harm to the U.S. What fool would deny these facts...
Hope Bolton doesn't hurt the UN puke's feelings.
The UN is a sham organization...look at how they have handled the Darfur region. This area falls under the French area of responsibility and all they can do is make sideways comments about why the US doesn't commit troops to handle the attrocities there because there isn't any oil there. They opposed ousting Saddam (for obvious financial reasons we see now), they opposed troops in Bosnia and they prefer to sit idly by as millions are massacred in Africa. They criticize US aid efforts internationally. What are they good for? In any real crisis we will be left standing alone while the UN continues its tried and true policy of back alley deals and appeasement of whatever dictator happens to be menacing their people or their neighbors at the time. With friends like that, who needs enemies?
If you aren't informed about this stuff, you will be made sick. If you are informed, you will be made mad, all over again.
"The final report on the oil-for-food scandal reveals that the United Nations is so rife with corruption and dishonesty that it resembles a criminal syndicate."
The United Nations IS a criminal syndicate. The U.N. resembles the Insider D.C. political society and its MEDIA adjunct.
"The final report on the oil-for-food scandal reveals that the United Nations is so rife with corruption and dishonesty that it resembles a criminal syndicate."
The United Nations IS a criminal syndicate. The U.N. resembles the Insider D.C. political society and its MEDIA adjunct.
"And those bribes [U.N.]let Saddam steal $11 billion from the program."
Don't forget that Annan, Chirac, and the international politik, including America's MEDIA and "liberals", blamed the U.S. for starving millions of Iraqis because of the imposed sanctions.
Inept is much too kind a word..
They're FUBAR'd!!
Good links.
I hope the media, mostly only Fox news, keeps the heat on.
later read bump
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