Iraq, the U.N. and oil-for-food

Found this:

May 4, 2004 -- WASHINGTON - The United Nations yesterday threw up a stone wall in the oil-for-food scandal, insisting that contracts between the world body and private companies should not be turned over to investigators.
In a defiant move that has infuriated probers, Secretary-General Kofi Annan threw his support behind a letter from former oil-for-food head Benon Sevan to officials of a Dutch company that inspected Iraqi oil shipments. The letter directed the company not to hand over documents to congressional committees and other "governmental authorities."

U.N. BIGS 'SEAL' THE OIL DEALS

UN is amounting to a freakin' world criminal organization.
I wonder what Mr. Kerry has to say on this matter? Seems he is wanting to put the US under the leadership of the UN, and then has the nerve to call the Republicans "liars and crooks"? Let us hear what you have to say about this Mr. Kerry.
The UN stonewalled the US and 'company' when they wanted to liberate Iraq and remove Saddam. The UN is stonewalling now. Papers have come up missing and now this? Riigghhttt!



seekerof

Couldn't it be just 'food-for-life" ? I don't understand the way the world works. Somebody needs to get a great big spanner.

Originally posted by Seekerof

In a defiant move that has infuriated probers, Secretary-General Kofi Annan threw his support behind a letter from former oil-for-food head Benon Sevan to officials of a Dutch company that inspected Iraqi oil shipments. The letter directed the company not to hand over documents to congressional committees and other "governmental authorities."

HAH!! Please note the bottom of the quote: Volker doesn't even have subpeona power. Will this "investigation" uncover anything?
Exerpt's from the interivew with Russert, linke on bottom of page two ^^^:

"MR. RUSSERT: But NBC News has obtained this letter that was sent on his stationery on April 14. ...
So Mr. Sevan, who's being investigated, is telling a company that's also being investigated, "Don't cooperate with government authorities unless you clear it with me." Why is he still involved in the investigation?

SEC'Y-GEN. ANNAN: Right. No, I wasn't aware of this confess for--Benon has worked with the U.N. for several decades, and I will be surprised if he's guilty of these accusations. But what I think is not important. What is important is that the team led by Mr. Volker gets to the bottom of this.

I'm not sure if it was Benon who signed this--sent this message to Saybolt. But what we have done is we are protecting all the material for the investigation that's been handed over to the Volker Group. And Mr. Volker is very keen to safeguard all the documentation, not on only from the U.N. and the staff, but also some of the agents and contractors for them to cooperate. And so that sort of message may have gone from one of the--either our own internal services in assistance and at the request of the Volker Commission. I do not see why Benon would be involved sending a message like this. And, of course, as I said, this is news to me. And we will have to talk to him about it.

MR. RUSSERT: The commission you have looking into this headed by Paul Volker, former head of the Federal Reserve, does not have subpoena power.

SEC'Y-GEN. ANNAN: No."

[Edited on 4-5-2004 by DontTreadOnMe]

Please mods! Get this topic out of the light of day and in the back of some dark closet lest it be proved that collaboration between a corrupt organization and a dictator be somehow linked to the war on terrorism!

Seriously, though:

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe
France hasn't been much of an ally with us for quite awhile, it's not just the recent oil-for-food thing. Some thing France would like to see the US on its knees.
And, didn't France NOT allow us to fly over their airspace when we invaded Afghanistan?

Going back a little further, France refused to allow us to fly over their airspace on our way to bomb Libya in 1986.

Non, merci!


From the article:

Asked about anti-French feelings in the United States, Villepin said, "We've known that in the past. I've known that in the past. I was in the French embassy [in Washington] in '86 when happened the crisis of Libya." Thank you, Mr. Minister, for reminding us that in 1986 France, true to form, tried to encumber one of the most effective blows ever struck against terrorism -- the bombing raid President Ronald Reagan ordered in response to Libyan involvement in a terrorist bombing targeting Americans in Berlin. France denied U.S. planes flyover rights.

I always thought it was funny that we "accidentally" bombed the French embassy in Libya during that episode. It must've been because our pilots were so tired from having to take the long road to Libya.