UN starved kids in IRaq: OIL FOR FOOD SCANDAL

[Banky]

http://www.opinionjournal.com/column.../?id=110005099

Very U.N.-Attractive
A leaked audit gives hints of the Oil-for-Food corruption.

BY CLAUDIA ROSETT
Wednesday, May 19, 2004 12:01 a.m. EDT

In the scandal over the U.N. Oil-for-Food program in Iraq, Kofi Annan's main line of defense has been that he didn't know. Perhaps he should take a closer look at internal U.N. Oil-for-Food audit reports, more than 50 in all, produced by his own Office of Internal Oversight Services--the same reports he's declined to share with the Security Council, or release to Congress.

One of these reports has now leaked. It concerns the U.N. Secretariat's mishandling of the hiring of inspectors to authenticate the contents of relief shipments into sanctions-bound Iraq. (Obtained by a journalist specializing in the mining industry, Timothy Wood, a copy of this report can be found at www.mineweb.com.)

Reflecting the findings of a U.N. internal audit conducted during the sixth year of the seven-year Oil-for-Food program, the report focuses on one contractor hired directly by the U.N. Secretariat: Swiss-based Cotecna Inspection SA. This is the same company that, while bidding against several rivals for its initial Oil-for-Food contract in 1998, had Mr. Annan's son, Kojo, on its payroll as a consultant. Both Mr. Annan and Cotecna's CEO, Robert Massey, have insisted that the contract was strictly in accordance with U.N. rules.

[Banky]

This is in response to all the PEACE NAZIS that say the US stole all the money or starved Saddam's Children.

It wasn't the US, it was EUROPE and the UN.

BUSH WAS RIGHT.

[Banky]

Neal Boortz
http://boortz.com/nuze/index.html

It's about time the corruption at the United Nations is being exposed, and this one looks like a doozy. Remember the U.N's Oil-for-food program? Back in the mid-nineties, this was supposed to allow Saddam Hussein to sell oil in exchange for humanitarian needs such as food and medicine. Since just about everybody knows that Saddam was cheating on a massive scale, an investigation has been on-going. Turns out not only was Saddam benefiting, but so were a lot of other people, including ones at the U.N.

According to U.S. and European intelligence sources, at least three senior United Nations officials are suspected of taking multi-million dollar bribes from Saddam's regime. U.S. officials also say there's evidence that the Iraqi dictator diverted $5 billion from the oil-for-food program to his personal bank accounts. Documents have turned up in Baghdad showing U.N. undersecretary general Benon Sevan was paid off, along with about 270 foreign officials around the world. Some of those people include everyone from a British member of parliament to the PLO. Sevan has denied the allegations, but went on vacation as soon as they broke. He has also submitted his retirement papers. Kofi Annan has launched an independent investigation, led by the former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, Paul Volcker. This ought to be good.

http://www.m4radio.com/main/messageboard/458.html

[Banky]

UN Oil-for-Food Program: Scams R Us
by William F. Jasper

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his son Kojo are at the center of an enormous scandal involving Saddam Hussein’s $100 billion oil-for-food program.

Order This Issue

Vol. 20, No. 8
April 19, 2004
Nationalizing Children?

Sold Out!


The June 30 deadline is rapidly approaching. On that date, the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority will relinquish control of Iraq to the United Nations. Of course, tens of thousands of U.S. troops will remain in place to assist the global body in its latest venture in "nation building." And since it may be some time before the Iraqis are allowed to hold elections and form a permanent government, the UN will be in charge of billions of dollars (mostly provided by U.S. taxpayers) in transition funds. Even after an Iraqi constitution is adopted and a new government is installed, the UN is expected to stay on for many years to oversee the reconstruction of Iraq’s infrastructure — again, largely at U.S. taxpayer expense.

Just as Iraq is being readied for UN stewardship in Baghdad, a mammoth scandal is breaking that threatens to expose the rampant corruption and criminal activity in the UN’s administration of Iraq’s oil-for-food program between 1996 and 2003. Evidence that has been emerging from Saddam Hussein’s captured records implicates top UN officials, including UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and UN Assistant Secretary-General Benon V. Sevan, in an enormous racket that skimmed billions of dollars from funds that were supposed to be for humanitarian aid. The skimmed billions were instead funneled into private bank accounts.

http://www.thenewamerican.com/tna/20...19-2004/un.htm

[Banky]

The Oil-for-Food Scandal
The program was corrupt. The U.N. owes the Iraqis--and Congress--an explanation.

BY THERESE RAPHAEL
Thursday, March 11, 2004 12:01 a.m. EST

"If there is evidence, we would investigate it very seriously," Kofi Annan insisted last month when presented with allegations that U.N. officials knew about and may have benefited from Saddam Hussein's corruption of the U.N.'s Oil-for-Food Program. Fortunately, Saddam appears to have been a stickler for record-keeping.

A letter has come to The Wall Street Journal supporting allegations that among those favored by Saddam with gifts of oil was Benon Sevan, director of the U.N.'s Oil-for-Food Program. As detailed on this page on Feb. 9, Mr. Sevan's name appears on a list of individuals, companies and organizations that allegedly received oil allocations or vouchers from Saddam that could then be sold via middlemen for a significant markup. The list, compiled in Arabic from documents uncovered in Iraq's oil ministry, included many of Saddam's nearest and dearest from some 50 countries, including the PLO, pro-Saddam British MP George Galloway, and French politician Charles Pasqua. (Messrs. Galloway and Pasqua have denied receiving anything from Saddam.) According to the list, first published by the Iraqi daily Al Mada in January, Mr. Sevan was another beneficiary, via a company in Panama known as Africa Middle East Petroleum, Co. Ltd. (AMEP), about which we have learned quite a bit.

Mr. Sevan, through a U.N. spokesperson, has also denied the allegation. But the letter, which two separate sources familiar with its origins say was recovered from Iraqi Oil Ministry files, raises new questions about Mr. Sevan's relationship with Iraqi authorities.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editor...l?id=110004801

[Banky]

Forgotten Scandal: The UN's Oil for Food Program








CBN.com – (CBN News) - The world's obsession with the Iraqi prison abuse story has obscured what could be one of the most expensive scandals in the history of the world: the United Nations' Oil for Food program. The UN is not eager to say how Saddam Hussein collected billions of dollars in illegal kickbacks from this scheme.
The Oil for Food program started eight years ago, as a U.N. plan to feed hungry Iraqis with Iraq's own oil revenues. But it ended last year in a mire of alleged bribes, kickbacks and billions of dollars lost to Saddam Hussein.

The U.N.'s Secretary-General Kofi Annan responded to these charges by saying, "These are serious allegations, which we take seriously, and this is why we have put together a very serious group to investigate it."

Benon Sevan ran the Oil for Food program for six years. He's accused of using the program to buy oil below market value and sell it for millions of dollars in profit. Other UN officials are suspected of taking bribes from Saddam Hussein's government. The UN Security Counsel voted last month to launch an investigation headed by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.

http://cbn.org/CBNNews/News/040513a.asp?option=print

[Banky]

Bump to the future

[h2g2Fan]

Originally posted by Banky and Edited by h2g2Fan
If I post the same story from several different unreliable sources and bump it, that'll make it true!

I disagree.

[Ponycar_302]

Originally posted by h2g2Fan and edited by Ponycar_302


I agree.

See how stupid that looks?

[Banky]

Originally posted by h2g2Fan


I disagree.

Thanks for insulting me.

And thanks for sharing.

[h2g2Fan]

Originally posted by Banky
Thanks for insulting me.

And thanks for sharing.

I didn't insult you. I just disagree with your posting seven times in a row in a thread.

[Banky]

Originally posted by h2g2Fan

I didn't insult you. I just disagree with your posting seven times in a row in a thread.

I am supposed to keep these threads to a minimum, by posting all the articles in ONE thread, I save bandwidth...and also, prove in spades, that BUSH WAS RIGHT.

[h2g2Fan]

Originally posted by Banky
I am supposed to keep these threads to a minimum, by posting all the articles in ONE thread, I save bandwidth...and also, prove in spades, that BUSH WAS RIGHT.

Here are your sources:

Opinion Journal
Neal Boortz (also note that the slogan on the top of his site is "OH! YOU'RE OFFENDED? GO TELL YOUR MAMA!")
The New American
Opinion Journal
The Christian Broadcasting Network

[Banky]

Why the UN Isn't a Solution
by Phyllis Schlafly
Posted May 24, 2004


The media pundits can't understand why all the negative news coming out of Iraq doesn't produce poll results that show John Kerry defeating George W. Bush. That's probably because Kerry's solution to the Iraq problem is to turn the management over to the United Nations.

The UN didn't have a lot of enthusiastic admirers before the Iraq war, and as news is sinking in about corruption on a scale never seen before, support for the UN is dropping to near-zero.

Because of the hardships on Iraqi children from the sanctions imposed on Iraq after the Persian Gulf War, beginning in 1996 Iraq was allowed to sell limited amounts of oil to finance the purchase of goods and medicines for humanitarian purposes. This Oil-for-Food program was supposed to be under tight UN supervision, but the UN was the fox guarding the chicken coop.

The UN collected a 2.2% commission on every barrel of oil to pay for overseeing a flow of funds that totaled at least $67 billion, a task administered by ten UN agencies employing 1,000 staff. That was just the start of the giant Oil-for-Food rip off.

The evidence is now pouring in that more than $10 billion in bribes and kickbacks were siphoned off under the noses of the UN monitors. Oil-for-Food was a giant scam that allowed Saddam Hussein to divert that incredible sum to finance his lavish lifestyle and to buy friends to keep himself in power.


http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=3987

[Banky]

Originally posted by h2g2Fan

Here are your sources:

Opinion Journal
Neal Boortz (also note that the slogan on the top of his site is "OH! YOU'RE OFFENDED? GO TELL YOUR MAMA!")
The New American
Opinion Journal
The Christian Broadcasting Network

When people lose debates, or lack facts, they always attack sources, even though those sources are correct.

[h2g2Fan]

Originally posted by Banky
When people lose debates, or lack facts, they always attack sources, even though those sources are correct.

When people lack veracious news sources, they turn to biased media outlets. Such as Human Events Online: The National Conservative Weekly.

[Ponycar_302]

Then give him a list of acceptable sources and maybe he'll indulge you with the same stories from them.

[h2g2Fan]

Originally posted by Ponycar_302
Then give him a list of acceptable sources and maybe he'll indulge you with the same stories from them.

Too many to list of the top of my head.

Common sense suggests any paper with subtitles such as Liberal, Conservative, Christian, or Jewish should be ignored.

So should most, if not all, editorials.

[Ponycar_302]

Originally posted by h2g2Fan

Too many to list of the top of my head.

Common sense suggests any paper with subtitles such as Liberal, Conservative, Christian, or Jewish should be ignored.

So should most, if not all, editorials.

You could have typed "CNN, NBC, FOX, ABC, or CBS" before you could all that.

[Banky]

Originally posted by Ponycar_302

You could have typed "CNN, NBC, FOX, ABC, or CBS" before you could all that.

He would call CNN right wing.

Even the Washington Post right wing.

and even they admit the UN stole all the money and it was NOT sanctions that starved the Iraqi kids, it was Saddam...just like Republicans have been saying all along.