1 Quoted from http://mondediplo.com/2005/02/05irak?var_recherche=february+2005+joy+gordon "Behind the UN oil for food programme Iraq: the real sanctions scandal " "The recent interim report by the independent commission investigating the United Nations oil-for-food programme accuses UN officials of favouritism, violation of competitive bidding rules, and a dangerous lack of auditing. But the truth may be far more complicated. By Joy Gordon ANOTHER Iraq scandal emerged last spring, quite different from the Abu Ghraib prison torture allegations, complete with photographs, that were then embarrassing the Bush adminstration in the United States. The Iraqi newspaper Al Mada focused attention on charges that the United Nations-run oil-for-food programme had been corrupt. In April the US general accounting office published a report claiming that Saddam Hussein had accumulated over $10bn in funds from illicit oil sales and kickbacks on import contracts (1). Later a 900-page CIA report found there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but noted that the Iraqi government had none the less engaged in smuggling and fraud to raise money for weapons of mass destruction. The rightwing press in the US has been eager to follow up on the accusations, and histrionically. William Safire proclaimed it “the worst financial scandal in human history” (2), although the recent Enron company scandal involving Kenneth Lay, a long-time friend of President George Bush, resulted in similar losses, including billions of dollars of employee pension funds. Claudia Rosett of the Wall Street Journal described the UN programme as marked by “privilege and secrecy”, suggesting this put the UN in the same category as dictatorships (3). Congressman Christopher Shays, who presided over two of the nine congressional hearings that investigated the accusations, claimed that the programme had “trusted Saddam Hussein to exercise sovereign control over billions of dollars of oil sales and commodity purchases” (4).........." ".............The CIA report, in October 2004 (7), maintained that most of Iraq’s illicit income came from unauthorised trade agreements between the government of Iraq and other nations. Iraq’s illicit trade with Jordan, some $4.4bn, was the largest share. According to the report, this arrangement was particularly valuable to Iraq in the first half of the 1990s and “ensured the regime’s financial survival” until the programme began in December 1996[8]. But the security council, and its most influential member, the US, was well aware of the trade with Jordan, and did nothing......" "....Over the course of sanctions, the US was by far the most aggressive about blocking contracts for security concerns. As of July 2002 there were $5bn of critical humanitarian imports unilaterally placed on hold by the US, and the Iraqi people suffered because of it. But faced with clear documentation showing likely kickbacks, the US again chose to do nothing. In over 70 cases, the UN staff informed the committee of contracts where kickbacks were likely to occur, and in none of these cases did the US choose to block or delay the contract........" Seems to be a case of the pot calling the kettle black. W.M.D. = Weapons of Mass Deception

2 Hello Beaver Bill! I don't know quite what you're getting at, but if I'm not going to defend the Clinton Administration. Mark Rich, who Clinton pardoned just before he left the White House, is also implicated in the scandal. One of the reasons Osama bin Laden gave for attacking the U.S.A. was "all the dead Iraqi babies" due to the sanctions, which is why some of us are so angry that several officials in the U.N. aided and abetted in diverting the funds meant to be used for humanitarian purposes into their own pockets as well as Saddam's. Of more particular concern to any Canadian should be how Adscam and theft under Oil-for-Food seems to involve the same people. It was all about the oil, just not about Halliburton or the U.S.A. I know how difficult it can be so see your country's leaders dragged through their own mud (I remember Watergate all too well) and I don't intend to sling any at the Canadian people for the misdeeds of their leaders, but Martin, Strong, Chretien, Frechette and Reid are despicable rodents and I will go after them. Americans survived Watergate, and Canadians will survive Adscam. As for the U.N., it served the purpose for which it was conceived baut be warned: I intend to do everything in my power to get it off U.S. soil.

3 The scandals run much deeper than people realize. But as an aside, I want to know how Mr. Strong really made his money?

4 Good question, Brian. I'd also like to know if there are any members of the Canadian elite who aren't tied to Power Corp, which is coincidentally the common link between Adscam and the U.N. Oil-for-food scandal.