igloo Posted November 15 Report Share Posted November 15 Officials Double Saddam's Oil-for-Food TheftMonday, 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mursa Posted November 15 Report Share Posted November 15 ..Oh my goodness !!!! ....i guess now this totally justifies the war ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igloo Posted November 16 Author Report Share Posted November 16 ..Oh my goodness !!!! ....i guess now this totally justifies the war ! Add this to your long, long, long list of idiotic responses and moronic vomit. Keep up the good work mental midget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRIANC1046 Posted November 16 Report Share Posted November 16 does Bush have any blame for this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris817 Posted November 16 Report Share Posted November 16 How come it does not mention the american companies that took part in this?Exxon Mobil Corp., ChevronTexaco Corp. and Valero Energy Corp, halliburtonHow quick we are to judge other countires Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mursa Posted November 16 Report Share Posted November 16 How come it does not mention the american companies that took part in this?Exxon Mobil Corp., ChevronTexaco Corp. and Valero Energy Corp, halliburtonHow quick we are to judge other countiresor how about the kick-backs and favors the Bush family has obtained by shady dealings with energy companies .....its laughable , really . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mursa Posted November 16 Report Share Posted November 16 Add this to your long, long, long list of idiotic responses and moronic vomit. Keep up the good work mental midget.curiously , i've stopped counting yours on the list.....your a waste of ink . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igloo Posted November 16 Author Report Share Posted November 16 Unreal that some of you are looking to "justify" or diminish the Oil for Food scam by saying "can we blame Bush" or "what about U.S. companies"......This was a repulsive international disaster ......through the United Nations....period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igloo Posted November 16 Author Report Share Posted November 16 or how about the kick-backs and favors the Bush family has obtained by shady dealings with energy companies .....its laughable , really .What is laughable is how dumb you are, and your lack of concern for how dumb you are.......Seriously Michael Moore MinnieMe, I don't say this to be insulting or mean...just stating the obviious....you are really, really stupid. And there is no escaping that FACT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mursa Posted November 16 Report Share Posted November 16 What is laughable is how dumb you are, and your lack of concern for how dumb you are.......Seriously Michael Moore MinnieMe, I don't say this to be insulting or mean...just stating the obviious....you are really, really stupid. And there is no escaping that FACT. Stop hurting my feelings ! , you internet bully you ! ps.... Fact is your a sheep ....now now , go back to your desk job and masterbate to the drudgereport will ya ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igloo Posted November 16 Author Report Share Posted November 16 Stop hurting my feelings ! , you internet bully you ! ps.... Fact is your a sheep ....now now , go back to your desk job and masterbate to the drudgereport will ya !It is bad enough that you are painfully dumb.....and dumb is not a strong enough word......but you tired sheep reference is lame coming from someone who aspires to be a Michael Moore shit. You should be embarassed.Mursa...seriously, ask for help. Show some self-respect. I know there are obvious signs that you have mental defects, but perhaps with professional training, you can one day get off the "special" bus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mursa Posted November 16 Report Share Posted November 16 It is bad enough that you are painfully dumb.....and dumb is not a strong enough word......but you tired sheep reference is lame coming from someone who aspires to be a Michael Moore shit. You should be embarassed.Mursa...seriously, ask for help. Show some self-respect. I know there are obvious signs that you have mental defects, but perhaps with professional training, you can one day get off the "special" bus.Ok , i give up !!! ...im getting teary eyed ! sheeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppppp , be proud of your genetic bloodline ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igloo Posted November 16 Author Report Share Posted November 16 Ok , i give up !!! ...im getting teary eyed ! sheeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppppp , be proud of your genetic bloodline ! Nerdboy, just blow away............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtk4 Posted November 16 Report Share Posted November 16 I think the point is we can not be outraged at other countries if our country was invovled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siceone Posted November 16 Report Share Posted November 16 I think the point is we can not be outraged at other countries if our country was invovled.right now the only american companies that did business with iraq were humanitarian companies. no oil companies did business with iraq that were US based. in order to do business with iraq you had to get a permit fromthe federal gov't Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtk4 Posted November 16 Report Share Posted November 16 well if thats the case shame on them, but if a company such as texaco has subsidary companies that are based in the uk and did this shit, who is to blame? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tres-b Posted November 16 Report Share Posted November 16 In a nutshell, everything the UN touches turns to shit. There is so much sleeze and corruption in that organization it is unreal. Why is the UN even around anymore? It is a joke in the modern world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtk4 Posted November 16 Report Share Posted November 16 well now that is just silly. The UN has provided aid and security to a shit load of countries. IS there corruption yes, has there been corruption in every major country's government since the beginning of time. Yes. So lets not discount all the good shit that the UN has done and maybe will do just because they were involved in this. I am sure if we knew the truth about most things, halliburton-Iran for example, it would be enough for us to kill ourselves. The question is has the UN done more good then bad? I would say yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris817 Posted November 16 Report Share Posted November 16 Unreal that some of you are looking to "justify" or diminish the Oil for Food scam by saying "can we blame Bush" or "what about U.S. companies"......This was a repulsive international disaster ......through the United Nations....period.I'm not justifing or diminishing this in the least. If we are going to look at this disaster we need to include ourselves in the conversation. Not make it seem like we had nothing to do with this at all; especially when our VP was head of a company doing business with these countries. I liked the article i just felt we should be in it alsoWho is blaming bush? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siceone Posted November 16 Report Share Posted November 16 well now that is just silly. The UN has provided aid and security to a shit load of countries. IS there corruption yes, has there been corruption in every major country's government since the beginning of time. Yes. So lets not discount all the good shit that the UN has done and maybe will do just because they were involved in this. I am sure if we knew the truth about most things, halliburton-Iran for example, it would be enough for us to kill ourselves. The question is has the UN done more good then bad? I would say yes.WHAT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtk4 Posted November 16 Report Share Posted November 16 WHAT?what?do you disagree and if you do with what points specifically and i will explain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siceone Posted November 16 Report Share Posted November 16 I disagree with your statement the UN has done more good than bad. I think everything the UN has put it's fingers in has turned out as fucked up as it was or not even close to decent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtk4 Posted November 16 Report Share Posted November 16 What besides this iraq oil fiasco have they fucked up.Now they have provided economic aid to countries,provided doctors to countries, have helped womans rights around the globe, ect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siceone Posted November 17 Report Share Posted November 17 cambodia, somalia, Rwanda, Congo, Sudan, Isreal-palestine and that's just off the top of my head Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtk4 Posted November 17 Report Share Posted November 17 How are they the blame for any of that. They can tell the world all the bad shit that goes on but they really can not do anything about it. There can be sanctions but other countries do what they like. They are not powerful enough to be a police force, it is not like they have turned a cold shoulder on these countries. They have told all of us what is going on in these places, they have sent doctors and food aid. What else would you want them to do?Unless the us provides the army they are useless when it comes to that. But helping people in other countries they have done alot.LIke i said the UN has done more good then bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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