Oil-for-Food; the Diminishing Scandal | 22 comments (22 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: The corrupt administration (none / 1)

Tonight, reading this...it depresses me. The corruption is at the level of the Security Council. It must be really weird to be Annan and know all this stuff, and be pretty much completely powerless. AND have to defend himself, to boot.

Excellent article...I didn't realize you worked for the UN...you must have many interesting perspectives on all this (and more).

(And by the way, welcome back ask!)

"Once in awhile we get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if we look at it right" - Hunter/Garcia

by whataboutbob on Fri Dec 2nd, 2005 at 04:27:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The corrupt administration (none / 0)

Hi bob,
I usually refer to my employer as a large multi-national organization - keeping a low profile.
I wasn't really gone, lurking around here frequently. But started in a new assignment a couple of months ago - it's been busy. BTW, I work in the development/humanitarian sphere - not the political one.

It has been very frustrating to see the misdirected criticism. Yes, the OFF enabled Saddam to siphon off enormous resources, but as outlined above, this was not the UN's responsibility. It was not staff that failed, it was the respective national delegations (some particular ones) that prevented the UN from fully implementing the sanctions.

In the comments over at BT, Oui posted this link to a Kos-entry early November. I had missed it then, but it is an excellent piece, which unfortunately did not get much attention.

Anyway, time to wrap up here in the office - it's weekend!

by ask on Fri Dec 2nd, 2005 at 05:04:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The corrupt administration (none / 1)

Here is the link that I referenced just above.

by ask on Fri Dec 2nd, 2005 at 05:15:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The corrupt administration (none / 1)

Quote from that Dkos article:

In a global economy, distinctions between "American" or "French" companies are essentially a joke. The Volcker report paints a picture of layer upon layer of front companies and cut-outs, off-shore subsidiaries and hastily slapped together strategic partnerships: "Iraq's preference for French companies and the limited number of recipients in France for Iraqi crude oil led certain companies to pass themselves off ... as being French-based." The report cites a 1998 letter from a French official to an Iraqi official based in Paris, in which he expressed "his concerns and his government's concerns ... regarding the increase in British and American companies as well as others who exploit the decision of the Iraqi leadership in providing priority to conducting business with French companies by signing contracts with Iraq through their offices in France."

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Fri Dec 2nd, 2005 at 07:25:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The corrupt administration (none / 0)

True!
I hope there are people out there willing to dig. Would not surprise me if companies in the Halliburton sphere are found to be the manufacturer of parts supplied to Iraqi oil sector by trading and front companies - usually located in the Middle-East.
In which case, they would have been complicit in the kick-back schemes.

by ask on Sat Dec 3rd, 2005 at 10:18:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The corrupt administration (4.00 / 2)

The UN already ended up with egg all over its face in 1998 when the US infiltrated the weapons inspection teams with CIA agents in order to get coordinates for bombing Saddam's palaces...

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Dec 2nd, 2005 at 05:22:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Oil-for-Food; the Diminishing Scandal | 22 comments (22 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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