November 16, 200421 yr This is rediculous, Saddam Hussein got $21.3 billion and now it is coming out that France, Russia, and China got paid by Saddam to buy amnesty on the Security Council and Mr. Koffi Annan just turned away. I don't see the liberal media reporting this. Koffi Annan is going down this guy is a crook I can't wait to see his face hit the ground. The UN is going down. This investigation is just heating up, stay tuned. This is gonna become a huge controversy that will show the true colors of the UN and Annan.
November 16, 200421 yr Not sure if this is true, but nothing would surprise me outta those frauds from the UN.
November 16, 200421 yr The US Senate is currently investigating, this is nothing new, its a scandal that was reported a while back, it just seems that the Liberal media doesnt want anything to do with it, now is when the real fact are starting to come out, the UN is going down, atleast kofi is def going down and countries like France, Germany are gonna have big time egg on their faces
November 16, 200421 yr Officials Double Saddam's Oil-for-Food Theft Monday, November 15, 2004 NEW YORK ? Saddam Hussein's regime made more than $21.3 billion in illegal revenue by subverting the U.N. Oil-for-Food program (search) through surcharges, kickbacks and smuggling oil ? more than double previous estimates, according to congressional investigators. The figures are based on troves of new documents obtained by an investigative panel of the Senate Committee on Government Affairs (search), which was presenting them at a hearing Monday in Washington. The documents illustrate how Iraqi officials, foreign companies and sometimes politicians allegedly contrived to funnel vast illicit gains to the Iraqi government. The findings also reflect a growing understanding by investigators of the intricate schemes Saddam used to buy support abroad for a move to lift U.N. sanctions. In one document, a letter obtained by investigators, Russian ultra-nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky (search) ? who campaigned for the lifting of sanctions on Iraq ? invites an oil company to negotiate a price for an oil allocation the Iraqi government awarded him. "Saddam Hussein attempted to manipulate the typical oil allocation process in order to gain influence throughout the world," Mark L. Greenblatt, a counsel for the Senate panel's permanent subcommittee on investigations, said in prepared testimony obtained by The Associated Press. "Rather than giving allocations to traditional oil purchasers, Hussein gave oil allocations to foreign officials, journalists, and even terrorist entities, who then sold their allocations to the traditional oil companies in return for a sizable commission." The reference to terrorist groups referred to evidence that the regime had allocated oil to such organizations as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Mujahadeen Khalq, a group seeking to overturn the government of Iran, Greenblatt said. Previous estimates ? one from the General Accountability Office and the other by the top U.S. arms inspector Charles Duelfer (search) ? concluded that Saddam's government brought in $10 billion illicitly from 1990 to 2003, when sanctions were in place. But congressional investigators found that vastly more oil ? totaling $13.7 billion ? was smuggled out of Iraq than previously thought. Investigators also raised the GAO's estimate of $4.4 billion in Oil-for-Food kickbacks by $200 million, and said the regime made $2.1 billion more through a scheme where foreign companies imported flawed goods at inflated prices. According to the documents, the Iraqi government signed deals to import rotting food and other damaged goods with the full understanding of the exporting companies, who accepted payments for top quality products while kicking back much of the price difference to the Iraqi regime. The panel estimated that such substandard goods accounted for 5 percent of all goods imported under the oil-for-food program, which was put in place in 1996 amid concerns that the Iraqi population was suffering from lack of food and medicines under the sanctions. The rough estimate "is drawn from anecdotal information provide by officials of the former Iraq regime, the United Nations, and U.S. government officials," the panel said. The total estimate of illegal revenue also includes $400 million from interest earned from hiding illicit funds in secret bank accounts. Another $400 million in illicit revenue grew out of pricing irregularities and kickbacks in the Kurdish areas of northern Iraq. The Senate panel is conducting one of several congressional probes into alleged illegal profiteering in the Oil-for-Food program after allegations of corruption came to light earlier this year when Saddam was driven from power during the U.S.-led invasion. Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker heads a panel that's conducting an independent investigation. Zhirinovsky and other foreign officials and political figures implicated in the scandal so far ? mostly from Russia, France and China ? deny any wrongdoing. The new documents offer examples of how Saddam's regime ? sometimes the former Iraqi president himself ? awarded lucrative oil allocations to garner political favors. In Zhirinovsky's case, the Russian allegedly used his political party's letterhead to invite an international oil company to Moscow to negotiate a deal to buy oil allocated to him. "It is my honor to invite you for negotiations to Moscow, from the 18th to the 25th of January 1999. Will be happy to meet with you," he writes, according to investigators. The Iraqi government allocated 80 million barrels of oil to Zhirinovsky and his party, according to the panel, at a time when the Russian politician was backing Baghdad publicly. "When Hussein kicked out weapons inspectors in the late 1990s and the U.S. threatened military action in response, Zhirinovsky pushed Russia to provide military support to Iraq," Greenblatt said in prepared testimony. From FoxNews.com they have a whole section devoted to it.
November 16, 200421 yr This has been under discussion many times over the last few years. It's nothing new to anyone who follows the news. Interesting to see you took it from FoxNews..the "Fair and Balanced" (Not) network.
November 16, 200421 yr U.N. Response to Probe Troubles Senators Friday, November 12, 2004 NEW YORK ? Two U.S. senators investigating the U.N. Oil-for-Food (search) program have told U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (search) in a letter that they were "troubled" by his decision to withhold documents or witness testimony from lawmakers. Sens. Norm Coleman (search) of Minnesota and Carl Levin (search) of Michigan sent a letter to Annan Tuesday in which they blasted Annan for "affirmatively preventing" their congressional panel from getting requested information. "They are not providing access to U.N. personnel, not providing access to U.N. internal audits," Coleman told FOX News. Coleman and Levin ? respectively, the chairman and ranking minority member of the Senate Governmental Affairs investigations subcommittee ? want to know how Saddam Hussein was able to pocket an estimated $11 billion through payoffs and oil smuggling. The lawmakers are asking Annan to hand over documents outlining why the consulting firm Lloyd's Register, a London-based company, was dropped in favor of a firm his son, Kojo Annan (search), once worked for. A Lloyd's official asked for U.N. permission to cooperate with the panel but was denied. "The organization has no objections to a contractor responding to authorized subpoenas for records, documents, tapes or other materials, subject to certain conditions. I note, however, that in the present case, the requested cooperation would be entirely on a voluntary basis ? Under the circumstances, the U.N. does not authorize the provision of materials or information relating to its contract with Lloyd?s Register," Bruce C. Rashkow (search), director of the U.N. general legal division, wrote to a Lloyd?s official on Aug. 31. Both Annan and his son's company, Swiss-based Cotecna Inspection SA, have denied any wrongdoing, but Annan has also not yet made available audits that could detail who exactly was getting money. The Oil-for-Food program was started in late 1996 as a way to let Iraq sell some oil to allow humanitarian goods reach Iraqis but investigators now believe the program was a multi-billion dollar corruption scheme. Asked about the senators? letter, Annan?s communications director said he would look into the claims that his boss is not cooperating. The spokesman said the situation was "very awkward" and he called the senators? communication "a troubling letter." The Senate panel also wants to talk to Benon Sevan (search), the former head of the Oil-for-Food program. Sevan has been accused of receiving bribes from Saddam but he denies the charges. "We have a number of questions we want to ask the individual in charge of the program and the most serious question that has been reported: ?Why did you get these vouchers? What was the reason you got them in the first place?'" Sevan has promised to cooperate with investigators and has denied any wrongdoing. But he has yet to agree to testify before congressional panels. Coleman told FOX News he's angry that the United Nations has so far tried to block his investigation. Senate hearings start Monday. The CIA and others say Saddam rigged a global network of bribes, payoffs and kickbacks, including hundreds of fake front companies, to earn his billions. The United Nations is conducting its own investigation, but that report is not due until next year. FOX News' Eric Shawn contributed to this report.
November 16, 200421 yr This has been under discussion many times over the last few years. It's nothing new to anyone who follows the news. Interesting to see you took it from FoxNews..the "Fair and Balanced" (Not) network. 615384[/snapback] Why is it that you criticize Fox, when this IS a newsworthy event, and not criticize CBS who was definately being as biased as ever when Rathergate came out, I dont know about you, but this scandal stinks and I am surprised you couldnt careless
November 16, 200421 yr This has been under discussion many times over the last few years. It's nothing new to anyone who follows the news. Interesting to see you took it from FoxNews..the "Fair and Balanced" (Not) network. 615384[/snapback] They are the only bastards reporting it deeply.
November 16, 200421 yr Oil-for-Food Probe Includes Annan's Son Friday, October 15, 2004 NEW YORK ? The Justice Department criminal probe into the U.N. Oil-for-Food program is focusing on several individuals, among them U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's (search) son, FOX News has learned. Kojo Annan (search), the secretary-general?s son, was employed by a U.N. contractor that monitored food and medicine shipments that were flowing into Iraq as part of the multibillion-dollar program created in late 1996. The Oil-for-Food program is now being probed by the Justice Department and Congress as a boondoggle that enriched Saddam Hussein (search) and others. A report delivered last week by Charles Duelfer found that Saddam was able to "subvert" the $60 billion U.N. Oil-for-Food program to generate an estimated $1.7 billion in revenue outside U.N. control from 1997-2003. The Justice Department investigation is looking into Kojo Annan?s conduct and determining whether Annan and others can be prosecuted for any crimes in the United States, according to law enforcement sources. Kojo Annan was a consultant for Cotecna, a Swiss-based company, and helped manage the firm?s operations in Nigeria. He ended his assignment with the firm just months after it got a $4.8 million U.N. contract to monitor goods coming into Iraq. At congressional hearings last week, Cotecna officials said they were unable to do their job properly because of Saddam's relentless manipulation of the U.N. system that let him bilk an estimated $11 billion from the program. Cotecna issued a statement that in part states ?at no time did Kojo Annan have anything to do with Cotecna?s operations relating to the United Nations or Iraq.? The company noted that Kojo Annan was hired a year before the Oil-for-Food program began and before his father was elected secretary-general. FOX News was unable to locate Kojo Annan for comment but his father told reporters at the United Nations earlier this year that there was no connection. "Neither he nor I had anything to do with contracts for Cotecna. That was done in strict accordance with U.N. rules and financial regulations and these are also part of the issues that the panel investigating this issue will look into,? Annan said April 28. Another person under investigation is Samir Vincent, an American citizen who was born in Iraq. Vincent's name was listed in the CIA report released last week that cited the Oil-for-Food scandal extensively in its discussion of Saddam's ambitions as one of three U.S. citizens who were allowed to profit by selling Iraqi oil or the right to trade it. The Duelfer report said that Vincent, a Virginia-based businessman, received about $4 million worth of Oil-for-Food vouchers over four years. In a faxed statement to FOX News, Vincent said it was his company, Phoenix International, which received oil vouchers legally under the program. In 2000, Vincent led Iraqi religious leaders on a tour of the United States to push for an end to sanctions against Saddam. Among the people who the group met with was former President Jimmy Carter. The Justice probe, centered in the Southern District of New York, is considered a full investigation, in other words it has gone on far beyond an initial inquiry. It has been going on for several months, sources said, but there is no indication whether prosecutors plan to seek any indictments. Besides the Justice Department investigation, committees in the House and the Senate are also examining what happened with Oil-for-Food. Plus, the United Nations has appointed former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to lead its own independent investigation. The scandal also is spilling over the campaign trail. Both President Bush and Vice President Cheney began to cite Oil-for-Food last week as another reason why the decision to go to war with Iraq was the right move. FOX News' Eric Shawn, Jonathan Wachtel, Anna Persky and Per Carlson contributed to this report. Click Here to read the report by the government and other things- FoxNews.com
November 16, 200421 yr The US Senate is currently investigating, this is nothing new, its a scandal that was reported a while back, it just seems that the Liberal media doesnt want anything to do with it, now is when the real fact are starting to come out, the UN is going down, atleast kofi is def going down and countries like France, Germany are gonna have big time egg on their faces 615371[/snapback] Do some of you ever use those brains? This thing got covered heavily when it first came out a while ago. Its always whining about the liberal media with you people. Youve never got any substance to anything you say. Just a whole lot of fluff. I wouldnt be suprised to hear allegations that liberals are linked with one "boogeyman." When I ask for some evidence of that youll just give me more fluff.
November 16, 200421 yr The US Senate is currently investigating, this is nothing new, its a scandal that was reported a while back, it just seems that the Liberal media doesnt want anything to do with it, now is when the real fact are starting to come out, the UN is going down, atleast kofi is def going down and countries like France, Germany are gonna have big time egg on their faces 615371[/snapback] Do some of you ever use those brains? This thing got covered heavily when it first came out a while ago. Its always whining about the liberal media with you people. Youve never got any substance to anything you say. Just a whole lot of fluff. I wouldnt be suprised to hear allegations that liberals are linked with one "boogeyman." When I ask for some evidence of that youll just give me more fluff. 615452[/snapback] Please, you talk about fluff, all you ever say is, "youre wrong", "im right", all I ever hear is whining about FOX, why doesnt CNN cover this, the US Senate, not some Duval county school board is actively investigating these claims, do you not recognize that this scandal is newsworthy at this point, or that it was mentioned a year ago is enough, CBS decided to run with Rathergate a bit prematurly I dont ever hear liberals saying sorry for that one
November 16, 200421 yr For whatever reason F_M youve had a hardon for me since that lawyer bit that I said, mostly tongue and cheek, than you had to persist, and continue and not quit on it, stop being so trivial, and analyze things for what they are worth, stop being such a psuedo-inteligent douche
November 16, 200421 yr why doesnt CNN cover this http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/11/15/...l.ap/index.html pwned Its in the news. CBS mentioned it. So did CNN. So maybe youre the one with the premature allegations of liberal media. But since Ive proven you full of crap on this topic, why dont you go out and get more substantive info on the existence of a liberal media?
November 16, 200421 yr why doesnt CNN cover this http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/11/15/...l.ap/index.html pwned Its in the news. CBS mentioned it. So did CNN. So maybe youre the one with the premature allegations of liberal media. But since Ive proven you full of crap on this topic, why dont you go out and get more substantive info on the existence of a liberal media? 615463[/snapback] good job ! Now why not tell the rest of the libbies on this board that this isnt some FOX news conspiracy
November 16, 200421 yr For whatever reason F_M youve had a hardon for me since that lawyer bit that I said, mostly tongue and cheek, than you had to persist, and continue and not quit on it, stop being so trivial, and analyze things for what they are worth, stop being such a psuedo-inteligent douche 615462[/snapback] Tongue in cheek? You didnt say that at the time. You pushed it with all seriousness. And I dont care when someone expresses their views. Im sick of the liberal bashing that people do. If youre gonna bash liberals then prepare to get a response. Ive responded to your posts the same way Ive done with tonyi, chewbacca, cape, and others.
November 16, 200421 yr For whatever reason F_M youve had a hardon for me since that lawyer bit that I said, mostly tongue and cheek, than you had to persist, and continue and not quit on it, stop being so trivial, and analyze things for what they are worth, stop being such a psuedo-inteligent douche 615462[/snapback] Tongue in cheek? You didnt say that at the time. You pushed it with all seriousness. And I dont care when someone expresses their views. Im sick of the liberal bashing that people do. If youre gonna bash liberals then prepare to get a response. Ive responded to your posts the same way Ive done with tonyi, chewbacca, cape, and others. 615466[/snapback] Yeah because you just wouldnt quit, you dont know how to leave **it alone, "i hate all lawyers" yeah thats not a tongue and cheek statement, my favorite uncle was a lawyer, who died in a plane crash, I loved this guy, my distain for the lawyer profession is what I was trying to relay, ofcourse you to take everything to a T, im sick of bickering from libbes, jesusland, evangelicals, yeah thats everyone who voted for Bush, I dont like religion, I feel the church is a scam for money, I could careless about amoral people getting abortions, yet I am part of jesusland and "red" states, no republican bashing ever goes on, just like the other day you say "india's 35 million abortions, 'are you gonna pay for all the children', " yeah thats not a statement you take a little too literally, this is the internet, you can not sense emotion, because your interpretation of emotion, is how YOU read it in your head.
November 16, 200421 yr why doesnt CNN cover this http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/11/15/...l.ap/index.html pwned Its in the news. CBS mentioned it. So did CNN. So maybe youre the one with the premature allegations of liberal media. But since Ive proven you full of crap on this topic, why dont you go out and get more substantive info on the existence of a liberal media? 615463[/snapback] good job ! Now why not tell the rest of the libbies on this board that this isnt some FOX news conspiracy 615465[/snapback] Fox News conspiracy! :o
November 16, 200421 yr Oh, nice, conveniently lumping in everyone who disagrees with you with terrorists. Why don't I just include the International Jewish Conspiracy©?
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