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Posted on 01/07/2005 5:10:08 PM PST by hipaatwo
By KEN GUGGENHEIM ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- The United Nations' long-secret internal audits on the oil-for-food program do not reveal any bombshells, investigators told congressional aides Friday ahead of next week's release of the reports.
The 56 audits have been a source of contention between the United Nations and members of Congress examining allegations of corruption in the program. U.N. officials have declined to release the audits while a three-member commission appointed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan conducts its own investigation.
That refusal made lawmakers suspicious that the audits pointed to widespread problems. It also contributed to criticism of Annan over the program and to one senator's for his resignation.
The commission, headed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, announced Friday that it would release the reports to the public Monday. Volcker is expected to issue a preliminary report this month that will include an analysis of the audits.
Two congressional aides, speaking on condition of anonymity, said congressional staff members were told by Volcker's investigators that the audits didn't reveal rampant corruption.
Also, Volcker, in an interview with The New York Times published Friday, was quoted as saying the audits `don't prove anything."
"There's no flaming red flags in this stuff," he said.
The $60 billion oil-for-food program was created as a humanitarian exemption to sanctions imposed on Iraq after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Beginning in 1996, it allowed Saddam Hussein's government to sell oil and use the proceeds to buy food, medicine and other items.
The program is widely credited with preventing starvation in Iraq, but investigations by congressional auditors and CIA weapons inspector Charles Duelfer found that it was riddled with corruption. They said Saddam received kickbacks and bribed U.N. and foreign government officials in an attempt to build political momentum against the sanctions.
Volcker and a member of his panel, Swiss criminal lawyer Mark Pieth, have complained of the difficulties in investigating the corruption allegations. But in a statement Friday, Volcker said he was confident the committee has adequate tools "for getting the job done."
He said he expected the interim report "will address some of the questions that have been raised about the ability of the inquiry to get to the bottom of things."
Of the 56 audits being released Monday, 19 are apparently unrelated to oil-for-food, dealing with compensation claims stemming from the invasion of Kuwait. Two other draft reports are also being released. The audits were produced by the Office of Internal Oversight Services, the U.N. watchdog agency responsible for monitoring the oil-for-food program.
Among the lawmakers seeking the audits were House International Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill.; Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn, chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs investigations subcommittee and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the subcommittee's top Democrat.
Hyde, who repeatedly pressed for the audits in the spring, said then that the United Nations' refusals revealed "an absence of the most elementary principle of accountability."
In November, Volcker wrote to Coleman and Levin, saying he wouldn't hand over the audits until his own reports were released in January. He said he wanted to avoid the release of "potentially misleading and incomplete information that could impair the ongoing investigation, distort public perceptions, and violate simple concerns of due process."
Coleman cited the lack of access to audits and to U.N. staff as factors when he called for Annan's resignation later that month. Many countries rushed to support Annan and the United States eventually backed him as well.
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Associated Press Writer Desmond Butler in New York contributed to this story.
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Right...nothing to see here....sure....
Volker is the establishment's designated cover-up crook.IMO
Sen. Coleman needs to start sending out subpoenas and blow this thing wide open in the spring.
Like Nixon going after Hiss, Coleman can earn his national gold star by going after the assortment of UN crooks and Euroes on Saddams payroll.
I hope he kicks ass this spring.
Big whup. They had plenty of time to sanitize the audits. Even if they ARE on the up-and-up and show nothing new, there's still plenty of other evidence of wrongdoing and corruption by those involved in blood for oil vouchers. The author writes as if this proves the whole UN was wrongly accused by the evil VRWC. In fact, it DISproves none of the accusations leveled
Why am I not surprised?
In this country, it seems that the more crooked and corrupt you are, the more you are coveted by the dems and MSM-- therefore, nothing ever happens.
But, let a Rep even say a bad word, and the cable and radio shows buzz for weeks. Today they are raking Armstrong Williams and by extension Bush yet again, but we don't hear about Hitlery's corrupts campaign aide.
I have never trusted Volker and just like CBS with the Dan Rather report, I bet we will never get the right story and no one will be penalized.
And, just like Sandy Berger, this story will disappear by the week after Volker's report clearing Annan & his Band of Thieves of any wrongdoing.
What a surprise!!
The biggest surprise would have been Volcker's having discovered anything.
"They said Saddam received kickbacks and bribed U.N. and foreign government officials in an attempt to build political momentum against the sanctions."
This is, in my opinion, the most important element of the scam. Saddam was supporting the French and Russian arms manufacturers while the French and Russians were getting rich off the oil vouchers. This involved not only Saddam and Kofi Annan but the French and Russian governments. This is way over Volker's head.
Don't understand. What exactly is the due process for discovering or prosecuting a crime that UN honchos commit, ever?
Pull the plug on this rancid scam-infested rats nest.
No power without accountability.
I never expected any different. Next CBS reveals Dan rather was as innocent as a vestal virgin.
FYI
(Not what I was hoping to hear--looks like the coverup process continues...)
UN: These are not the bombshells you're looking for.
Media: These are not the bombshells we're looking for...
UN: Move along.
Media: Move along! Move along!
Disgusting. Quite a few US corps were in on it.
At this point, who can say that Volker wasn't bought off? We are talking about BILLIONS of dollars. I'm not sure, but I think I could be bought off for less than 100 million. I'd certainly have to weigh the merits of such an offer.
Perhaps I am a little naive but 20 billion dollars was skimmed and there are no flaming red flags? This is pure Bravo Sierra. Does Mr. Vocker think that 20 billion is normal operating expenses? If he does I would like to work for his company and retire a very rich man in just a few short years. I think Mr. Vocker has a great future at the Accounting Firm of Author Anderson. Unfortunately Author Anderson no longer exists because they COOKED THE BOOKS
"Perhaps I am a little naive but 20 billion dollars was skimmed and there are no flaming red flags?"
Like you, I don't know how he can just blow this off. I think the total scam dollar amount is considerably more than $20 billion. Danforth was on TV today and said that Volcker didn't have the tools to do a thorough investigation and made other comments that led me to believe that Volcker's findings will not be the last word.
The books have been Cooked
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