More than 4,500 companies took part in the United Nations oil-for-food program and more than half of them paid illegal surcharges and kickbacks to Saddam Hussein, according to the independent committee investigating the program.I wonder if Georgie Galloway offered his story? Nah, probably not. He's likely still claiming it's an Iraqi frame-up.
The country with the most companies involved in the program was Russia, followed by France, the committee says in a report to be released Thursday.
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The new report studies the people outside Iraq who profited illicitly and how they did it. It will identify companies and individuals who took part, both deliberately and inadvertently, and will chronicle in detail the experience of 30 to 40 of them, the investigators said.
The committee said some companies had complained that the evidence against them was gathered in Iraq and was therefore not trustworthy. But a lead investigator said that in those cases where corroborating evidence was available, the Iraqi information turned out to be sound.Kinda like the Georgie's wife's bank account, I guess. So what does it all mean?
In an interview, Mr. Volcker said that while he knew the naming of companies and the exposure of international "machinations" would draw attention, he hoped it would not obscure his committee's purpose in keeping the focus of their work on the need for United Nations reform.Or a hearty flush. Considering that this was a UN sponsored investigation, the true story was likely much worse.
"In my mind," he said, "this part of our investigation, looking at the manipulation of the program outside the U.N., strongly reinforces the case that the U.N. itself carries a large part of this responsibility and needs reform.
"Even though we are looking at it from the outside, it kind of screams out at you, 'Why didn't somebody blow a whistle?' The central point is that it all adds up to the same story. You need some pretty thoroughgoing reforms at the U.N."
Meanwhile, in related news - UN Debates Meaning of 'Wipe' Israel from Map:
The United Nations Security Council today took up discussion on what Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad might have meant when he called for Israel to be "wiped out from the map".It's ScrappleFace, but it's hard to tell, isn't it?
Secretary General Kofi Annan said Iran, as a member of the U.N., must be given the benefit of the doubt that the phrase was intended to encourage peaceful diplomacy.
"'Wiped' is a word that can denote cleanliness," said Mr. Annan. "The Iranian president may have simply meant that the map should be cleaned so Israel's legitmate borders are easier to see."
Mr. Ahmadinejad's remarks came during the month-long 'World without Zionism' celebration, and echoed the Ayatollah Khomeini's previous comments about map hygiene.
