The Oil-for-Food Scam: What Did Kofi Annan Know, and When Did He Know It? Suddenly, Oil-for-Food is with us again, this time splashed all over the news as the subject of scandal at the UN: bribes, kickbacks, fraud, smuggling; stories of graft involving tens of billions of dollars and countless barrels of oil, and implicating big business and high officials in dozens of countries; allegations that the head of the program himself was on the take. [...]
Unlike most of its relief programs, in which both the cost of the relief itself and UN overhead were paid for by contributions from member states, Oil-for-Food would in every respect be funded entirely out of Saddam?s oil revenues. The UN Secretariat would collect a 2.2-percent commission on every barrel of Iraqi oil sold, plus 0.8 percent to pay for UN weapons inspections in Iraq.
If the aim of this provision was to make Saddam bear the cost of his own obstinacy, the effect was to create a situation in which the UN Secretariat was paid handsomely, on commission, by Saddam?to supervise Saddam. And the bigger Oil-for-Food got, the bigger the fees collected by Annan?s office.
Oil-for-food inquiry says 'key' is $1bn UN paid itself in fees: A senior UN official who is closely involved in uncovering evidence of the scandal admitted: "The UN was not doing this work just for the good of Iraq. Cash from Saddam's government was keeping the UN going for a few years.
... But the Economist notes that, though some American congressmen are calling it "the biggest scandal ever," there's "little hard evidence" implicating anyone in wrongdoing. While seven different entities are carrying out investigations, so far most of the evidence comes from Iraqi government documents that haven't been authenticated.
Outros documentos:
- SOURCES OF REVENUE FOR SADDAM & SONS
- The Beneficiaries of Saddam's Oil Vouchers: The List of 270
