Gulf oil spill; Hypocrisy showing

reply to post by JBA2848


JBA2848 - where do you read that there is an intent to lay blame on the US?

Perhaps individual posters may feel this is the case, but this thread topic (in broad terms) is asking what parties are to be held responsible in either oil spill situation and why this is or is not happening. Is there anywhere that the US was singled out any more than any other contributing party? In fact, the contributing parties are still up for debate.

The comparison, which you may be confusing as blame, does take into account the actions displayed in the Gulf with the actions displayed in the Delta.

The point is and has always been - what accounts for the inconsistencies?

[edit on 1-7-2010 by LadySkadi]

The point is and has always been - what accounts for the inconsistencies?

I think the answer to that would be the governments involed in protecting there people. Nigeriia Delta doesn't the United States does. The US doesn't do enough for according to some and to much according to others.
If the UN was not a joke maybe they would step in when countries like Nigeria become so corrupt but that a different topic.

reply to post by JBA2848

Agreed. I think a lot of lessons can be extrapolated from the two situations and those lessons have profound consequences for everyone involved. Who gets what? How? and Why?

... and the world keeps turning ...

reply to post by JBA2848


Domestic or foreign oil interests, it is all the same, it is oil and profits.

Over the environment, period.

If the corporation moves the corporate headquarters, due to a lack of oversight, or a lack of ability to prosecute because of a change of venue, due to corrupt corporate practices, it sure sounds like the laws is to blame too.

My meaning is that this is tied lock, stock, and oil barrel to those in Congress.

The oil conglomerates, whether domestic or foreign, whether polluting in Nigeria, or our own back yard, need to be held accountable, unfortunately, there is far too much money being pumped into Congress and Senate.

Faster and more thickly than the oil not being pumped out of Nigeria or the Gulf.

Yes, Nigeria's Government is responsible for Nigeria, and yes, the United Nations is a joke, but we can hold ourselves accountable when we do it.

And so should those idiots in the oil conglomerations.

If not for idiocy like the Oil For Food Scam in Iraq, the United Nations might be a viable option to seek justice, but unfortunately, the entire structure of the United Nations is worse than a sieve.

The U.N. Exposed: How the United Nations Sabotages America's Security and Fails the World

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/3b995d1a6106.jpg[/atsimg]

Amazon Review :

A scorching indictment of the U.N. by a journalist who has done as much to expose the puffed-up incompetents and frauds of Turtle Bay as anyone. -- Rich Lowry, editor, National Review

Eric Shawn has been brave enough to wield one of the first shovels among the ruins of the status quo. -- Christopher Hitchens

Eric Shawn has written a superb book that objectively lays out [the U.N.’s] many faults and failures—a desperately needed step in the right direction. -- Edward I. Koch, former mayor of New York City

Eric Shawn makes a persuasive case that the U.N.... has drifted dangerously astray. -- Rudolph W. Giuliani, former mayor of New York City

Eric Shawn’s explosive book breaks open the world of the diplomatic elite, shows what really goes on behind closed doors and reveals how the international bureaucrats on New York’s East River are an even bigger problem than we ever imagined. -- Sean Hannity

Eric Shawn’s new book is a blistering attack on the world body’s corruption, hypocrisies, greed, ineptitude, scandals and crimes against humanity — and it delivers knockout punches on every page. -- Newsmax.com

If any journalist can expose the U.N. with wit, style, and common sense, it’s Eric Shawn. He’s a pit bull with a pen! -- Ann Coulter

The United Nations is supposed to be a guardian of peace and goodwill. Instead, it has degenerated into a corrupt and cowardly organization. How did that happen? The U.N. Exposed will tell you It is the best investigative work on the U.N. in print. -- Bill O’Reilly

If any journalist can expose the U.N. with wit, style, and common sense, it’s Eric Shawn. He’s a pit bull with a pen! (Ann Coulter)

The United Nations is supposed to be a guardian of peace and goodwill. Instead, it has degenerated into a corrupt and cowardly organization. How did that happen? The U.N. Exposed will tell you It is the best investigative work on the U.N. in print. (Bill O’Reilly)

Eric Shawn’s explosive book breaks open the world of the diplomatic elite, shows what really goes on behind closed doors and reveals how the international bureaucrats on New York’s East River are an even bigger problem than we ever imagined. (Sean Hannity)

Eric Shawn makes a persuasive case that the U.N.... has drifted dangerously astray. (Rudolph W. Giuliani, former mayor of New York City)

Eric Shawn has been brave enough to wield one of the first shovels among the ruins of the status quo. (Christopher Hitchens)

A scorching indictment of the U.N. by a journalist who has done as much to expose the puffed-up incompetents and frauds of Turtle Bay as anyone. (Rich Lowry, editor, National Review)

Eric Shawn has written a superb book that objectively lays out [the U.N.’s] many faults and failures—a desperately needed step in the right direction. (Edward I. Koch, former mayor of New York City)

Eric Shawn’s new book is a blistering attack on the world body’s corruption, hypocrisies, greed, ineptitude, scandals and crimes against humanity — and it delivers knockout punches on every page. (Newsmax.com)

Unfortunately, the majority of American's are lazy, and pay no political attention to this until it is on C.N.N. or C-Span, instead of being politically aware at all times.

Quote from : Wikipedia : Oil For Food Programme : Abuse

In addition to criticism of the basic approach, the programme suffered from widespread corruption and abuse.

Throughout its existence, the programme was dogged by accusations that some of its profits were unlawfully diverted to the government of Iraq and to UN officials.

These accusations were made in many countries, including the US and Norway.

Benon Sevan of Cyprus, who headed the programme, defended it, claiming that it had only a 2.2% administrative cost and that it was subject to more than 100 audits (internal and external), blaming restrictions from the Security Council for making the situation difficult.

He also claimed that 90% of Iraq's population relied on the programme for its monthly food basket.

While Benon Sevan was in charge of the programme, he stonewalled efforts to review and investigate the programme.

He ordered his staff that complaints about illegal payoffs should be formally filed with the whistleblower's country, making them public and allowing Iraq to bar any whistleblowers.

In 2000, Dileep Nair, the UN corruption watchdog, wanted to determine the programme's level of vulnerability. Sevan, along with UN Deputy Secretary-General, Louise Frechette, rejected any such investigation, claiming that it would be too expensive to be worthwhile.

Sevan ordered the shredding of years' worth of documents concerning the programme.

In response to these criticisms, and to evidence acquired after the United States invasion of Iraq, UN Secretary-General accusations were made that skimmed profits were being used to buy influence at the UN and with Kofi Annan himself.

According to an interim report released on February 3, 2005 by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker's commission (see #Investigations below), much of the food aid supplied under the programme "was unfit for human consumption".

The report concluded that Sevan had accepted nearly $150,000 in bribes over the course of the programme, and in 2005 he was suspended from his position at the United Nations as a result of the investigation of fraud in the programme.

Peter van Walsum, the now-retired Ambassador of the Netherlands to the United Nations and chairman of the Iraq Sanctions Committee from 1999 to 2000, speculated in a recent book that Iraq deliberately divided the Security Council by awarding contracts to France, Russia, and China but not to the United Kingdom and the United States.

He also stated he encountered a number of cases in which he felt the lack of Iraqi cooperation was designed to exacerbate the suffering of its own people.

He also claimed that it was his opinion that the sanctions were not an effective deterrent.

Until 2001, the money for the Oil-for-Food Programme transited through the BNP Paribas bank, whose main private share-holder is Iraqi-born Nadhmi Auchi, a man estimated to be worth about $1 billion according to Forbes, and ranks 13th in Britain according to The Guardian.

Auchi received a 15-month suspended sentence for his involvement in the Elf scandal, which has been qualified by the British newspaper as "the biggest fraud inquiry in Europe since the Second World War.

Elf became a private bank for its executives who spent £200 million on political favours, mistresses, jewellery, fine art, villas and apartments".

Elf, an oil company, merged with TotalFina to become Total S.A. in 2003.

And this is only the stuff we know about as there's much more still not uncovered.

It is such a shame our country is in the crapper because of political idiocy.

Whether we are speaking of those with Congress and Senate or American homes.

But alas, American Idol, Survivor, and "The Real World" are much more important.

Apparently.

[edit on 1-7-2010 by SpartanKingLeonidas]