[Moose4]

OK...I'm not going to call BS on this, because we know that Saddam was bribing and paying off people left, right, and center. And we know that at least some members of the Axis of Weasels were involved.

But these numbers are frickin' HUGH. If they're right about Russia getting (contracts for? futures? vouchers? IOUs? Shell credit cards?) 1.36 BILLION gallons of oil, folks, that's between $30 and $40 billion on the open market. That is multiple years' worth of production from any of the world's biggest oil producers, Iraq included.

What's the quid pro quo here? Saddam, greedy bastard that he was, wasn't going to just give Pootie Poot $30 bil to throw a spanner in GWB's war plans. One has to wonder what else Saddam got.

Or maybe this really is BS. Further investigation is obviously needed. But these numbers are so utterly gigantic that I've got to be skeptical until more information comes out.

}:-)4

[Moose4]

Doh. Replace "gallons" with "barrels" in my #106.

}:-)4

[buwaya]

These were not gifts of oil, but purchase contracts to supposed middlemen. These would take a cut, not the entire value of the contract. Actually, many of the Russian entries look like they may be legitimate, as some of those are actual Russian oil companies or the Russian state. The Iraqis had to sell the oil to somebody.

[kabar]

Or maybe this really is BS. Further investigation is obviously needed. But these numbers are so utterly gigantic that I've got to be skeptical until more information comes out.

I don't know the total period of time these transactions took place, but if you are producing over 2 million bbls a day, the numbers are not that unrealistic.