More On The Biggest Black Eye In UN History...
A press release was issued yesterday from Sen. Norm Coleman and Sen. Carl Levin regarding the UN’s OFF scandal. Hat-tip to PowerLine, and Scott Johnson.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/
Today Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Carl Levin (D-MI), Chairman and Ranking Member respectively of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), issued a joint staff report disclosing evidence that the former French Minister of Interior Charles Pasqua and recently reelected member of the British Parliament George Galloway were granted lucrative oil allocations under the United Nations Oil for Food Program (OFF).
The program was designed to permit Iraq to sell its oil and use those proceeds to purchase food, medicines, and other humanitarian goods for its people. As PSI’s year-long investigation has demonstrated, Saddam Hussein quickly devised multiple abuses of the OFF Program in an effort to undermine UN sanctions and obtain illicit income. PSI's report and exhibits regarding Pasqua and Galloway’s activities can be found in the attached PDF files.
One of the Hussein regime’s chief methods of manipulating the OFF Program was through "oil allocations." The attached report shows that Pasqua received 11 million barrels in oil allocations, while Galloway received allocations of 20 million barrels of oil. The Iraqi government distributed its oil by selling the right to buy a set number of barrels – an "allocation" – to prospective buyers. Under the OFF Program, Iraq was permitted to sell oil to whomever it wanted. The Hussein regime awarded these oil contracts to influential foreign officials, among others, in an effort to maximize Iraq’s influence around the world. These allocation holders -- essentially gatekeepers to Iraqi oil – would sell their right to buy under-priced Iraqi crude to traditional oil producers and in turn received a "commission," which typically ranged from 3 to 30 cents per barrel.
The staff report presents numerous documents from the Hussein-era Ministry of Oil that expressly identify Charles Pasqua and George Galloway as allocation recipients. In addition, the evidence shows that Pasqua sought to conceal these transactions because he "feared political scandals." The evidence also indicates that George Galloway may have used a children's cancer foundation in connection with at least one of his allocations.
"The Subcommittee's report presents detailed evidence -- including numerous documents created by Saddam Hussein's Ministry of Oil and testimony of senior Hussein regime officials -- that former French Minister of Interior Charles Pasqua and recently reelected Member of the British Parliament George Galloway received lucrative oil allocations under the Oil for Food Program," said Coleman.
"This report exposes how Saddam Hussein turned the Oil for Food Program on its head and used the Program to reward his political allies like Pasqua and Galloway. The report includes evidence that Saddam Hussein personally approved allocations to Charles Pasqua, and that Pasqua ‘fear[ed] political scandals’ because of these secret allocations. The report also shows that Galloway was granted allocations for a whopping 20 million barrels of oil. All told, this report paint a disturbing picture of the dark under-side of the Oil for Food Program."
"While, according to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, U.N. sanctions on Iraq successfully prevented Iraq from acquiring weapons of mass destruction, the sanctions program had some weaknesses as well," said Levin. "The Pasqua and Galloway oil allocations show how Saddam Hussein misused the Oil for Food program to reward people he hoped would work against U.N. sanctions. The United States and other U.N. Security Council members made a fundamental mistake in allowing Saddam Hussein to award Oil for Food contracts and issue oil allocations."
New evidence regarding oil allocations and other matters surrounding the misuse of the Oil for Food scandal will be presented at a hearing Tuesday, May 17, entitled Oil For Influence: How Saddam Used Oil to Reward Politicians and Terrorist Entities Under the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program. The hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. in Room 562 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
The May 17th hearing will be the third hearing the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has held on the UN’s OFF Program. It will detail how Saddam Hussein manipulated the OFF Program to win influence and reward friends in order to undermine sanctions. In particular, this hearing will present evidence detailing how Saddam rewarded foreign officials with lucrative oil allocations that could be converted to money. The hearing will also examine the illegal surcharges paid on Iraqi oil sales, using examples involving the recently indicted U.S. company, Bayoil.
For all those UN defenders out there, have you guys realized that you’re backing the wrong horse? This organization is awash in scandals right now—from the Oil-For-Food scandal to the sexual assaults in the Congo by peacekeepers—and because they are, their effectiveness and relevance in the world is seriously in question. If anything shows that we’re better off without this organization, this is it. They allowed Saddam to use his money to influence politicians against the UN sanctions. He used his money to finance and supply his terrorist allies.
And for all those that are truly interested in reading the full report, you can follow the link below. The BBC put it up in PDF format. It is interesting, to say the least.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/11_05_05_psi_report.pdf
Publius II
A press release was issued yesterday from Sen. Norm Coleman and Sen. Carl Levin regarding the UN’s OFF scandal. Hat-tip to PowerLine, and Scott Johnson.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/
Today Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Carl Levin (D-MI), Chairman and Ranking Member respectively of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), issued a joint staff report disclosing evidence that the former French Minister of Interior Charles Pasqua and recently reelected member of the British Parliament George Galloway were granted lucrative oil allocations under the United Nations Oil for Food Program (OFF).
The program was designed to permit Iraq to sell its oil and use those proceeds to purchase food, medicines, and other humanitarian goods for its people. As PSI’s year-long investigation has demonstrated, Saddam Hussein quickly devised multiple abuses of the OFF Program in an effort to undermine UN sanctions and obtain illicit income. PSI's report and exhibits regarding Pasqua and Galloway’s activities can be found in the attached PDF files.
One of the Hussein regime’s chief methods of manipulating the OFF Program was through "oil allocations." The attached report shows that Pasqua received 11 million barrels in oil allocations, while Galloway received allocations of 20 million barrels of oil. The Iraqi government distributed its oil by selling the right to buy a set number of barrels – an "allocation" – to prospective buyers. Under the OFF Program, Iraq was permitted to sell oil to whomever it wanted. The Hussein regime awarded these oil contracts to influential foreign officials, among others, in an effort to maximize Iraq’s influence around the world. These allocation holders -- essentially gatekeepers to Iraqi oil – would sell their right to buy under-priced Iraqi crude to traditional oil producers and in turn received a "commission," which typically ranged from 3 to 30 cents per barrel.
The staff report presents numerous documents from the Hussein-era Ministry of Oil that expressly identify Charles Pasqua and George Galloway as allocation recipients. In addition, the evidence shows that Pasqua sought to conceal these transactions because he "feared political scandals." The evidence also indicates that George Galloway may have used a children's cancer foundation in connection with at least one of his allocations.
"The Subcommittee's report presents detailed evidence -- including numerous documents created by Saddam Hussein's Ministry of Oil and testimony of senior Hussein regime officials -- that former French Minister of Interior Charles Pasqua and recently reelected Member of the British Parliament George Galloway received lucrative oil allocations under the Oil for Food Program," said Coleman.
"This report exposes how Saddam Hussein turned the Oil for Food Program on its head and used the Program to reward his political allies like Pasqua and Galloway. The report includes evidence that Saddam Hussein personally approved allocations to Charles Pasqua, and that Pasqua ‘fear[ed] political scandals’ because of these secret allocations. The report also shows that Galloway was granted allocations for a whopping 20 million barrels of oil. All told, this report paint a disturbing picture of the dark under-side of the Oil for Food Program."
"While, according to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, U.N. sanctions on Iraq successfully prevented Iraq from acquiring weapons of mass destruction, the sanctions program had some weaknesses as well," said Levin. "The Pasqua and Galloway oil allocations show how Saddam Hussein misused the Oil for Food program to reward people he hoped would work against U.N. sanctions. The United States and other U.N. Security Council members made a fundamental mistake in allowing Saddam Hussein to award Oil for Food contracts and issue oil allocations."
New evidence regarding oil allocations and other matters surrounding the misuse of the Oil for Food scandal will be presented at a hearing Tuesday, May 17, entitled Oil For Influence: How Saddam Used Oil to Reward Politicians and Terrorist Entities Under the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program. The hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. in Room 562 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
The May 17th hearing will be the third hearing the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has held on the UN’s OFF Program. It will detail how Saddam Hussein manipulated the OFF Program to win influence and reward friends in order to undermine sanctions. In particular, this hearing will present evidence detailing how Saddam rewarded foreign officials with lucrative oil allocations that could be converted to money. The hearing will also examine the illegal surcharges paid on Iraqi oil sales, using examples involving the recently indicted U.S. company, Bayoil.
For all those UN defenders out there, have you guys realized that you’re backing the wrong horse? This organization is awash in scandals right now—from the Oil-For-Food scandal to the sexual assaults in the Congo by peacekeepers—and because they are, their effectiveness and relevance in the world is seriously in question. If anything shows that we’re better off without this organization, this is it. They allowed Saddam to use his money to influence politicians against the UN sanctions. He used his money to finance and supply his terrorist allies.
And for all those that are truly interested in reading the full report, you can follow the link below. The BBC put it up in PDF format. It is interesting, to say the least.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/11_05_05_psi_report.pdf
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 8:55 AM
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