Oil-for-Food Scandal Draws Scrutiny to U.N.

Fox ^ | Sunday, September 19, 2004 | By David Asman

[Nathan Zachary]

NEW YORK — It began as a U.N. humanitarian aid program called "Oil-for-Food," but it ended up with Saddam Hussein pocketing billions to become the biggest graft-generating machine ever and enriching some of America's most forceful opponents at the United Nations. Plus, some evidence suggests that some of the money ended up in the hands of potential terrorists who are opposed to the United States. The roots of the scandal date back to 1991, when a U.N.-backed and U.S.-led coalition expelled Saddam from Kuwait following his hostile takeover of the neighboring country. Although Saddam lost the war, he walked away with one important victory -- he got to stay in power in Iraq.[Editor's Note: This is one in a series of articles about the U.N. Oil-for-Food program.]

[cwb]

Reading the Strong biography reminds me of why all the leading socialists, are some of the biggest capitalists. And just like a good socialist, once they reap the fruits of capitalism, they want to change the rules of the game. It is a fallacy that these rich and powerful people give a rats ass about the little people. For all their talk of caring and compassion, it is pure greed that dictates their socialist leanings.

The fact is, once they've achieved the status that makes their lives comfortable, they don't want anyone else who can challenge that status. Socialism plays right into that idealism, as it inherently limits competition and protects the status-quo. These people are socialist because it is a system that protects their wealth and power from the challenge of others.

[GailA]

btt

[The Great Yazoo]

And threatening to indict utilities operating wholly outside the state of New York on junk science claims. That pendulum swings both ways, some future out-of-work utility workers might convince some district attorney that their particular state has been injured by Spitzer's prosecutions.