Annan says 'concessions' made to Saddam

AP Wire ^ | 12/13/05 | AP

[JoJo Gunn]

....there were concerns the Iraqi people would starve without it.

All unfounded, I'm sure.

[Peach]

Oh, and now the excuses start.

[sure_fine]

LONDON - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in an interview broadcast Sunday that "concessions" were made to Saddam Hussein to win his agreement to the oil-for-food program because there were concerns the Iraqi people would starve without it.



well, Kofi, they starved with them

[joedelta]

"It was a political arrangement, it was a transaction that was intended to force Saddam Hussein to comply with the inspection requirements, disarmament requirements, and, in the process, concessions were also made to him," Annan said.

Question. How do you force compliance with concessions?

[anniegetyourgun]

U.N.-think is always flawed.

[DoughtyOne]

And so your honor, I rest my case.
The flag of the United Nations is good for only one thing.

[lepton]

If you had to give concessions to someone in order to give them something, then it should be obvious that there is something wrong.

If we have to give concessions to a government in order to allow their people to be fed, then obviously the government is not interested in having the people fed. In this case, it should have been considered grounds for removal.

[ichabod1]

The new talking point. Vig? Of course there was some vig. You Americans are so naive

[JoeV1]

"Saddam had resisted the scheme for several years and there was concern that if something is not done the Iraqi population will starve. And some of these concessions were the price they had to pay to get the scheme off the ground," he added. "In retrospect, one may criticize it. But at the time, because of the urgency and the need to help the Iraqi people, some concessions were made."

And THIS is when the Baghdad Butcher should have been taken out for the good of all.

[elbucko]

Oh, and now the excuses start.

Really. Is this the, "We were corrupt and greedy to save the children", excuse.

[muawiyah]

Interesting that Kofi and the gang were concerned that Saddam would simply starve the Iraqi people to death, but when "W" proposed moving in on this criminal, they threw roadblocks in the way, or actually opposed the idea.

I don't they were really concerned about the people though ~ sounds more like the money.

[elhombrelibre]

I believe he was holding the ordinary people hostage and basically willing and was starving and failing to give proper medical treatment to many of them. So, like other frauds, he'd argue that we needed to do what he wanted - trade deals and other sanction busters - for the children. Now that we have liberated all of those people, though, no one is saying how onerous the sanctions were. It's as if the Saddam appeasers had never tried to tug at our hearts or use the victims of Saddam's brutal social policies as a way to persuade people to let nations trade with Saddam.

[anniegetyourgun]

Isn't it odd that he doesn't seem too concerned about the starvation in Sudan? Or is he busy making "concessions" to the thugs there too?

[eyespysomething]

Pay him money? ( /sarcasm)

[yer gonna put yer eye out]

"How do you force compliance with concessions?"

Now let's not get too logical here, or we stand a good chance of solving some of these complicated international problems...
Even though you've (unintentionally, I hope) exposed the French/Liberal/Appeaseniks Master Game Plan, you may want to not force the issue, or there may be irreversible solutions...:o)

[anniegetyourgun]

Yep - hence, he had to make "concessions" to Kojo.

This group isn't competent or ethical enough to run concessions, much less make them.

[Walkingfeather]

"Saddam had resisted the scheme for several years and there was concern that if something is not done the Iraqi population will starve. And some of these concessions were the price they had to pay to get the scheme off the ground," he added.


Annan uses the word "scheme" twice in this sentence. What does that tell you folks.

[anniegetyourgun]

Good catch.

[popdonnelly]

Okay, what were the concessions?