Probe to blow lid off massive U.N. scandal Documents prove corruption involving world leaders

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38040 ^ | April 15, 2004 | Kenneth R. Timmerman

[MamaLucci]

Asked about the allegations by Insight, Maugein denied he was involved with either company, although he did acknowledge knowing their principals, with whom he had worked as an oil trader with Marc Rich in Switzerland.

Marc Rich turns up in the funniest places.... can the Clinton's be far behind?

[Maceman]

Give France a break

Give ME a break.

[ken5050]

There won't be a whitewash of this...Look for Tom delay to announce that the House will cut off all UN appropriations until we get EVERY document and ANSWER we want....and dont' forget, the UN needs the US to "loan" them a few billion for the repair of the HQ building and to erect termporary structures during the refurbishment....The UN will p**s up a rope before they get the money, unless they come clean..

[Izzy Dunne]

the testimony of Hankes-Drielsma on April 22 before the House International Relations Committee is expected to provide new evidence of widespread international corruption.

I'm so glad this committe is in Republican hands, so that it won't be ignored.

< /cynicism>

[mplsconservative]

I was thinking the same thing. No six-degrees of separation for the Clintoons in this one.

[Mo1]

Marc Rich turns up in the funniest places.... can the Clinton's be far behind?

He sure does

[monkeywrench]

Wow! This might explain the international make up of the contractors in Iraq right now, and why some of them are turning up dead.

[Howlin]

No, Clinton can't be far behind.

[Prince Charles]

But Insight has learned that the Coalition Provisional Authority, or CPA, led by J. Paul Bremer, recently took over the investigation, just as the accountants were stumbling over evidence of corruption by Americans working for the CPA. "We were hearing stories of contractors passing envelopes with huge amounts of cash to CPA officials," an investigator says. "As much as $300,000 in cash passed hands."

Interesting.

[RickGolden]

Diplomats: Volcker Wants U.N. Resolution




Apr 15, 9:05 PM (ET)

By EDITH M. LEDERER

(AP) An Iraqi boy carries a poster of Muqtada Al-Sadr in the predominantly Shiite district of Sadr City,...
Full Image








UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, tapped to chair a panel investigating alleged corruption in the U.N. oil-for-food program, wants the Security Council to endorse the panel with a resolution before he takes the post, diplomats said Thursday.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan discussed Volker's request with ambassadors from the five permanent council members - the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain - and the envoy for the current council president, Germany, the U.N. diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Security Council sent a letter to Annan on March 31 signaling its support for the inquiry, but only a resolution is legally binding.

The diplomats also said the two others on the panel with Volcker will be: Richard Goldstone, the first prosecutor at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal and now a judge on South Africa's Constitutional Court; and Mark Pieth, professor of criminal law at Basel University in Switzerland.

Volcker, 76, served as chairman of the Federal Reserve System from 1979-1987. He has since chaired a panel that investigated Swiss banks' handling of the accounts of Holocaust victims and an independent oversight board at Arthur Andersen LLP, the accounting firm responsible for auditing the bankrupt energy company, Enron.

U.S. lawmakers conducting their own investigation into the oil-for-food program have expressed skepticism about the U.N.'s ability to create an independent probe that could implicate some of its top officials.

For that reason, U.S. diplomats pressed for an American to lead the panel and backed Volcker, who has a reputation for integrity and fairness. A call to Volcker's New York office Thursday seeking comment went unanswered.

The corruption claims - a major embarrassment for the United Nations - surfaced last January in the Iraqi newspaper Al-Mada, which published a list of about 270 former government officials, activists and journalists from more than 46 countries suspected of profiting from Iraqi oil sales under the U.N. program.

The U.S. General Accounting Office, Congress' investigative arm, estimated last month that the Iraqi government pocketed $5.7 billion smuggling oil to its neighbors and $4.4 billion extracting illicit surcharges and kickbacks on otherwise legitimate contracts.

Annan launched an internal inquiry into the oil-for-food program in February but canceled it to allow an independent examination covering governments and companies that signed contracts with the United Nations or Iraq.

The oil-for-food program allowed the former Iraqi regime to sell unlimited quantities of oil to buy humanitarian goods and pay reparations to victims of the 1991 Gulf War. Saddam Hussein's government decided on the goods it wanted, who should provide them and who could buy oil; a U.N. committee monitored the contracts.

[MamaLucci]

No six-degrees of separation for the Clintoons in this one.

Nope.

[MamaLucci]

This might explain the international make up of the contractors in Iraq right now, and why some of them are turning up dead.

Very good point.

[katz]

Has anyone heard about this post on www.lucianne.com titled "Iraqi Nuclear Gear Found in Europe". It was posted today. I know it doesn't have to do with oil, but this thread seemed the place to post it.

[rwfromkansas]

Wow.

If this is true, it is big stuff.

Not even the mainstream media can ignore such corruption.

[Unknown Freeper]

Hope everyone who is going to testify stays away from Ft. Marcy Park.

[Dolphy]

He said allegations that France condoned kickbacks or took bribes "are completely false and can only have been an effort to discredit France, a longtime friend and ally of the U.S."

It's funny how the French remember our longtime friendship and alliance when they need something.

[MamaLucci]

We all know that there is no way that billions of dollars were skimmed from a sham UN program, and the Clinton's weren't getting a piece of the action.

[TomGuy]

Oh the irony. What if the UN happens to be the first body tried in the ICC?

lol.

The new Iraqi government should sue the UN for damages and reparations.

[mo]

methinks we may be finding out EXACTLY why Bubba HAD to pardon Mr.Rich..very soon now .