[glorgau]

IHO, There are many, many honest Frenchmen out there, but the elite of the country is hopelessly compromised and corrupt.

[Republic Rocker]

Dear John,

I think your idea of handing over US operations to the UN is a really bad idea.....

Yours, GW

[Anti-Bubba182]

This ought to be explosive. I hope some prominant heels get wounded, at least in a PR sense.

I doubt if a single one gets fired or does time. The rot goes too deep.

[An.American.Expatriate]

Will the hearing be on live-feed anywhere? I'd love to get a transcript of this as well . . .

[mass55th]

Heard today on Fox News that Clinton's pal, Mark Rich is connected to the oil for food scam. Doesn't surprise me one bit. More than likely, that's where all the money came from that Denise gave to his library.

[thoughtomator]

Hope he's got security.

[TomGuy]

So, why didn't the US Ambassador(s) to the UN know something was not right with the FoO Program? Or maybe they did.

I have about as much confidence in Congress investigating the UN as the 9-11 Committee investigating themselves.

No surprise with the following headline either. We even know that Yassir Arafat is banking in his personal account many millions of dollars tagged for his citizens. The UN has been complicit in supporting terrorism for a long time.

Oil-for-Terror: U.N. Iraq money may have ended up in accounts tied to al Qaeda and the Taliban
			Posted by pookie18 On 04/28/2004 5:04:45 AM CDT with 1 comment Opinion Journal ^ | 4/28/04 | CLAUDIA ROSETT It's looking more and more as if one of the best reasons to get rid of Saddam Hussein was that it was probably the only way to get rid of Oil-for-Food. The problem wasn't simply that this huge United Nations relief program for Iraq became a gala of graft, theft, fraud, palace-building and global influence-peddling--though all that was quite bad enough. The picture now emerging is that under U.N. management the Oil-for-Food program, which ran from 1996-2003, served as a cover not only for Saddam's regime to cheat the Iraqi people, but to set up a vast and intricate global...

[mewzilla]

Bet Congress won't ask what American pols knew...

[Stultis]

Live webcast available at the committee's website:

http://wwwc.house.gov/international_relations/

Committee on International Relations
U.S. House of Representatives
Henry J. Hyde, Chairman
CONTACT: Sam Stratman, (202) 226-7875, April 27, 2004

For IMMEDIATE Release

Alleged Abuses & Oil-for-Food Program
Hyde Schedules Wednesday Oversight Hearing on Issues
of Accountability and Transparency in U.N. Program

 

BACKGROUND: In a March report on Iraqi assets stolen by Saddam Hussein’s regime, the General Accounting Office (GAO) doubled to more than $10 billion its estimate of alleged theft and illegal oil smuggling from the U.N. Oil-for-Food Program. At issue are allegations of malfeasance ignored, and even condoned, by U.N. officials responsible for the program. Since its inception in 1996, more than $64 billion of Iraqi oil was sold to finance the purchase of food, medicine, and other humanitarian relief efforts for the Iraqi population. To ensure that the program operated under international standards, inspectors were employed by the U.N. to oversee the program. Throughout its seven-year life, the Oil-for-Food Program underwent frequent changes to cope with methods employed by Saddam Hussein to circumvent these safeguards in order to enrich himself and his cronies, including demands for kickbacks from companies wishing to do business with Iraq. Last week, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan named Paul Volcker, the former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, to lead an independent investigation of the program. In Iraq, the finance ministry has begun a separate inquiry, with the help of international auditing firms, in an attempt to locate stolen assets. 

WHAT: Full Committee Oversight Hearing: The United Nations Oil-for-Food Program: Issues of Accountability and Transparency

WHEN: 10:30 a.m., Wednesday April 28

WHERE:  Room 2172 Rayburn House Office Building

WITNESSES: Joseph A. Christoff, Director, International Affairs and Trade, U.S. General Accounting Office; Howar Ziad, U.N. Representative, Kurdistan Regional Government; Michael Soussan, Former Program Coordinator, U.N. Oil-for-Food Program; Danielle Pletka, Vice President, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute; Claudia Rosett, Senior Fellow, The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies; and John G. Ruggie, Professor, Harvard University.

[Thom Pain]

Imagine that! A $100 Billion giveaway and people slimeballs show up and dip their filthy hands claws in.

Get U.S. out of the UN, and get the UN out of the U.S.!!!

[evad]

..star witness of a House International Relations Committee hearing looking into Saddam's gigantic $10.1 billion rip-off.

If we're going to have crooks running things let's get our own professional crooks into the fray, the US COngress. We'll call it USCO.

They could have milked it for trillions.

[cake_crumb]

I would love it if it came out that J F'n K's or Soros' names are on that list of Saddam's paid agents.

[dennisw]

Frenchman Michael Soussan, a former program coordinator for the $100 billion fund, is expected to be the star witness......

He better seek asylum in the USA.

[Lunatic Fringe]

Nothing to see here, we have bigger fish to fry... like ENRON!

Those are the real CROOKS! They gave to Bush!

[dennisw]

Credit to freeper doughty one

[ApesForEvolution]

If this doesn't lead to a rapid dissolution of the UN, if not removing them from American soil 100%, then I guess we really are all going to be slaves to a world government someday soon....

[EGPWS]

Is he still alive?

Or has he suddenly become ill with a splitting head ache....literally.