UN officials Loot Oil for Food Program!

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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WASHINGTON : At least three senior UN officials may have looted millions of dollars from the aid programme that oversaw Saddam Hussein’s oil sales in Iraq, ABC news reported, citing US and European intelligence sources.

Documents from Saddam’s oil ministry linked the program’s director, Benon Sevan, to a payoff scheme that allowed some 270 foreign officials to deal in Iraqi oil at dramatically reduced prices, ABC news said.

A letter to former Iraqi oil minister Amer Mohammed Rasheed – which UN officials have not yet seen – said that Sevan indicated which company should handle his own oil deal valued at up to 3.5 million dollars.

“It’s almost like having coupons of bonds or shares. You can sell those coupons to other people who are normal oil traders,” said Claude Hankes-Drielsma, a British adviser to the Iraq Governing Council.

Sevan has been on vacation in Australia since the scandal broke.

The United Nations has been struggling to contain a mounting scandal over the now defunct oil-for-food program, which comes at a sensitive time as the world body prepares to take on a central role in Iraq’s political future.

But by the time oil-for-food was closed last year after Saddam’s ouster, an alleged system of kickbacks, fraud and inflated cost figures had developed that critics say allowed officials and friends of the regime to profit. US officials told ABC the lost money could amount to five billion dollars.

The list included the names of more than 270 people, political organizations and religious figures from more than 40 countries – including Britain, Canada, France, Russia, the United States and several Arab countries – whom it said received free crude oil.
UN officials loot iraq oil for food program

Is it any wonder muslims detest western institutions such as the UN and Western Governemnts when they intefere promise to do it for the people but end up like common criminals stealing from programs that is supposed to help the poor!

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Wow. You mean on April 23, 2004, you and ABC News finally figured out that the Oil for Food program was abused?

OhioGuy has been saying this for months and months. Time to launch an OGBC...Ohio Guy Broadcasting Corporation.

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[quote]
Wow. You mean on April 23, 2004, you and ABC News finally figured out that the Oil for Food program was abused?
[/quote]

Wow. Does it imply that the US government knew of this fact and yet continued to endorse the continuation of the Oil for Food program? Wow. Imagine how stupid a government can get.

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Nadia, in case you didn't notice, the Bush admin. had already said UN policies in Iraq had become a failure due to Saddam's actions and general ineptness of UN. That is why the war was needed to remove Saddam. This relevation only makes the American's case that much more stronger.

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Everybody knew that this program was crooked. Let's call it what it is, typical of the way the UN operates. The main benficiaries of the corruption were those who were owed large sums by Iraq, and consequently those who did not want Saddam removed. These were the same countries who did not want Saddam indicted for crimes against humanity.

Funny how people can rationalize and justify those who kept Saddam in power, yet critiize the only country who wanted Saddam, his heinous sons and his corruption gone. How did you think Saddam had money to build palaces? And, logically, if he has enough money to build palaces, could he have enough money to build WMD? Alternatively he also had enough money to significantly help his people, and mitigate the effects of the sanctions. Instead he built monuments to his ego.....

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This investigation should go much deeper! Read on:

"Beyond that, the U.N., during the final months of Oil-for-Food, gave every indication of knowing just where the problems lay. Last May, shortly after the fall of Saddam’s regime, the U.N. Security Council voted to end the Oil-for-Food program and gave the U.N. Secretariat six months to tie-up loose ends before handing over any outstanding import contracts to the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority. With Saddam’s regime gone as a contracting party, the U.N. began a frenzied process of “renegotiating” billions in contracts, basically winnowing out the graft component that Oil-for-Food had previously approved.

By the end of this sudden housecleaning, the U.N. had scrapped more than 25 percent of the contracts for which, under Saddam, it had already agreed to release funding from the U.N.-controlled Oil-for-Food bank accounts. Uncharacteristically, the U.N. on its website has posted explanatory notes next to some of the dropped contracts. These do not suggest a U.N. that was living in ignorance of Saddam’s 10-percent-overpricing-and-kickback scheme.

For instance, in the U.N.'s own footnotes, there is reference to the welding-machine contractor from Lebanon, “unwilling to accept the 10% deduction”; likewise the Belgian and Jordanian suppliers of medicine, both refusing a “10% reduction.” In other cases there is a vaguer note, such as the Russian backhoe supplier, who “refused to accept extra fee deduction.” Or the supplier of “fork lift and spares” from Belarus who “stated that the supply of remaining parts cannot be cost effective under the current circumstances.” Asked to further explain these notations, an Oil-for-Food spokesman offers no comment except that all available information is already posted on the U.N. website.

Altogether, according to U.N. records, 728 previously approved and funded deals were “removed from the list of amendable contracts,” a few because the supplies had already been delivered, but many because the contractors appear to have run for the hills. For instance, there’s the Jordanian supplier of school furniture, whose contract was dropped during the U.N.'s post-Saddam frenzy of “prioritization” because the “Company does not exist and the person in charge moved to Egypt.” Or the Russian supplier of “vehicle spare parts,” who “could not be contacted despite all efforts.” Or the Algerian seller of “adult milk” who “has no interest in renegotiation”; the Egyptian seller of “generator” for educational purposes, who “is not enthusiastic about proceeding with the amendment”; the Syrian seller of “laboratory equipment” who is “not possible to contact.”

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/rosett200403101819.asp

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Well, I guess a fat and happy Saddam was better than an isolated, poor and desperate Saddam. Remember the big scary idea that Baby Kim would be most inclined to invade when his standard of living hits bottom? I don't see how Saddam's case would be much different. Maybe it was a good thing that those countries violated the embargo. Of course, bad for the Iraqi people, but every option seems to have been bad for them.. the point is that, if this was the case, it was good for the greater majority, us included.

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Oil for food scam involved the crooked Amerikkkans in case you missed it who also looted stolen oil and took bribes!

No surprises there either!

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“Due to Saddam’s actions” :rotato: How many times does one individual have to repeat like a parrot the same statements, again and again, time after time after time. Imdad, come on yaar. After EVERYTHING i have repeated in this forum, given reports, conclusions, data, evidence to prove to the contrary that statement of your’s, please for pete’s sake don’t tell me you still believe in the validity of UN policies in Iraq failing “due to Saddam’s actions” and “general ineptness of UN”. Please, for the love of God, tell me you don’t believe that. i’ve been going around posting reports & data for the past two years in this forum, that have objectively showed just the opposite. i have done it in discussions with MyVoice, with UndertheDome, with OhioGuy, with Matsui, goodness - i have done it again and again. That statement is completely and utterly lacking a foundation.

Let’s make up our minds, not like the US admin. Was it Saddam or WMD?

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^ was it Hitler or freeing Europe from disintegrating (second time around)?

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How does Hitler fit in with Saddam Hussein ? oh yes both are tyrants, that's about it. One was coddled and had his arse kissed by the US govt., the other didn't.

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so it seemed like all the powers that be that are involved in this fiasco have some corrupt folks there...

the "interesting" deals that govt officials in France, germany and Russia had with Iraq

this new info about corruption in UN

and

dick cheney..

sigh

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Shame on those that loot.

Shame on cruddie behavior.

Crap on those those that lie.

Crud on those that use violence as an answer.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Madhanee: *
^ was it Hitler or freeing Europe from disintegrating (second time around)?
[/QUOTE]
If you don't have an argument, Hitler always works, eh?

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:konfused:

AP: 10 U.S. Contractors in Iraq Penalized](Yahoo News: Latest and Breaking News, Headlines, Live Updates, and More)

Ten companies with billions of dollars in U.S. contracts for Iraq reconstruction have paid more than $300 million in penalties since 2000 to resolve allegations of bid rigging, fraud, delivery of faulty military parts and environmental damage.

The United States is paying more than $780 million to one British firm that was convicted of fraud on three federal construction projects and banned from U.S. government work during 2002, according to an Associated Press review of government documents.

A Virginia company convicted of rigging bids for American-funded projects in Egypt also has been awarded Iraq contracts worth hundreds of millions. And a third firm found guilty of environmental violations and bid rigging won U.S. Army approval for a subcontract to clean up an Iraqi harbor.

Seven other companies with Iraq reconstruction contracts have agreed to pay financial penalties without admitting wrongdoing. Together, the 10 companies have paid to resolve 30 alleged violations in the past four years. Six paid penalties more than once. But the companies have been awarded $7 billion in Iraq reconstruction contracts.
…
The contracts are legal because the Bush administration repealed regulations put in place by the Clinton administration that would have allowed officials to bar new government work for companies convicted or penalized during the previous three years.
…

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How the amerikkkans can come on here and claim moral high ground is truely arrogant beyond belief.

Was it not that same crook Donald lets go to war Rumsfield who was shaking the hand of his great pal Saddam hussien in those now infamous TV pictures!

The western governments will break rules, will steal and do anything underhand just to get the dollar bills and contracts in there fat wallets, including stealing from oil for food programs intented for th poor in Iraq

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What is wrong with my statement? Saddam invaded Kuwait. He lost. He got sanctioned. He threw out the weapons inspectors and hindered their work. He failed to abide by the terms fo his retreat. He was found in a spider hole. End of story.

Of course it was saddam. WMD was a stupid excuse. I said this even before the war.

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yeah man, all UN regultions should be enforced.. all of em :)

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[QUOTE]
Originally posted by spoon: *
**But the companies have been awarded *$7 billion in Iraq reconstruction contracts.
...
The contracts are legal because the Bush administration repealed regulations put in place by the Clinton administration that would have allowed officials to bar new government work for companies convicted or penalized during the previous three years.**
[/QUOTE]

That's interesting... doesn't make much sense, but interesting.

[quote]
Saddam invaded Kuwait. He lost. He got sanctioned.
[/quote]

Wrong. The people of Iraq got sanctioned, especially the children and the elderly. BIG difference there buddy, please understand it. The US did not sanction "Saddam", one man. The US sanctioned the entire country.

[quote]
He threw out the weapons inspectors....
[/quote]

hahha - who gave the weapons inspectors an ultimatum and who wouldn't let them finish their work in peace ? Who levelled baseless and inaccurate accusations at Blix and his team for not discovering the supposed WMD?

[quote]
He failed to abide by the terms fo his retreat. He was found in a spider hole. End of story.
[/quote]

It's amazing how you seem to believe that this "story" is just about one man. Nowhere do you even mention the people of Iraq. man. Just amazing! You have wiped out an entire nation of 22 million individuals - you are so obsessed with the image of Saddam Hussein the dictator, that you cannot open your eyes to the images of Iraqis as non-dictatorial, individual human beings. Simply amazing.

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Of course Iraq was sanctioned. Saddam was in charge of Iraq! Did that little fact slip by? How would you like to sanction Saddam by himself and not his government and country? And he did hinder the work of weapons inspectors and threw them out. Of course, one would assume he did this since he had something to hide. If he didn't have anything to hide, Saddam was indeed an idiot.

Nadia, you accuse me of not caring for Iraqis? But do you care about the half a million or so Iraqis killed by Saddam? Or are you just obsessed with whatever actions America had to take to remove Saddam?