Posted on 06/30/2006 9:18:34 PM PDT by FairOpinion
AN AGENT from South Korea who established a “secret backchannel” between a former UN Secretary-General and Saddam Hussein’s regime asked Iraq for $10 million “to take care of some people”, a New York court was told. Iraq set aside $15 million for the bribery scheme and sent $3 million in cash to New York in the year the UN’s Oil-for-Food programme was set up, it was alleged.
It also heard that Iraq’s UN ambassador at the time believed that some of the money was destined for Boutros Boutros Ghali, then Secretary-General, although the prosecutors did not suggest that any of it reached him. Dr Boutros Ghali denies any wrongdoing.Samir Vincent, a businessman who has pleaded guilty to working secretly for Iraq, told the court that he had recruited Tongsun Park in 1992 because of his connections to Dr Boutros Ghali. Mr Park is on trial accused of acting as an unregistered foreign agent.
According to Mr Vincent, the secret backchannel was used to pass messages between the UN chief and Iraq. The court was told that Mr Vincent kept note of purported exchanges in which Dr Boutros Ghali allegedly told Iraq to put secret police with UN monitors and that he would try to “neutralise” the UN’s chief weapons inspector.
Mr Vincent said that he assumed that Mr Park was referring to Dr Boutros Ghali when he asked for $10 million to “take care of some people”. Nizar Hamdoon, Iraq’s UN ambassador who has since died, apparently took a similar view, telling Mr Vincent: “I guess he needs to take care of BB.”
This is one among a plethora of reasons for the gun grab conference going on right now. How can the UN plunder at will if those they intend to plunder have firearms?
Were we (supposedly) campaigning secretly for, or against, this guy's elevation to Secretary-General? I remember there was some U.S. involvement at the time, and that we had strong "druthers" and were twisting arms.
Then there was his ouster, described in this L.A. Times quote from last January -- the problem being the veracity and reliability of the person quoted:
In his book Against All Enemies, former White House advisor Richard A. Clarke details how he and then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright conspired to oust the contentious Boutros Boutros-Ghali and install the more conciliatory Annan.It was "a secret plan we had called Operation Orient Express, reflecting our hope that many nations would join us in doing in the U.N. head. In the end, the U.S. had to do it alone," he wrote.
[Emphasis added.]
On the other hand, the quote reminds us where we got Kofi Annan.
Yuck.
Oh, and then there's this pearl, from the same story:
Although there is an unwritten agreement that no one from a permanent member of the Security Council can hold the post because it would concentrate too much power with one country, a campaign pushing former President Clinton gained momentum with a Harper's magazine cover article this month insisting that only he can revive the U.N. and its "sense of relevance to Americans."
How very interesting. The guy who put up Kofi Annan is now being bruited in New York-based magazines as Kofi Annan's successor.
Which would fulfill the observation of some friends of mine, that this denouement matches the descriptions they've seen of the coming of the Antichrist.
Did you know about the press campaign for Slick as Secretary General?
Clinton, Clarke (who previously had been fired by Secretary of State Baker) and their pack of putzes despised B-B Ghali. The Marines had finished up the successful Operation Restore Hope in January 1993 and they were poised to return home. However, Clinton wanted assurances that UN troops would handle it from there. B-B anwered truthfully that he had no cofidence that he could round-up a UN force (or pay for it), and the only guarantee that southern Somalia might have a modicum of peace would result from a U.S. military presence. Basically, B-B, who had no partiuclar love for Somalia was arguing that the UN couldn't guarantee the peace. Clinton then dithered, opted for nation-building, and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.
There is no controlling legal authority.
Thanks FairO' for the topic, and Fred for the ping link.
The UN, about as useful as an umbrella in a level 4 hurricane.
Thanks for the ping. And Boutros was not as bad as Anan.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.