UN- same old , same old

"U.N. officials deny that either of two internal investigations exonerated Bahel but acknowledged that their first probe was not "thorough enough."
A second investigation by a newly created procurement task force produced an 86-page dossier on complex transactions involving at least two Indian-owned companies and was forwarded to the federal prosecutor's office for the Southern District of New York.
Inga-Britt Ahlenius, head of the U.N. watchdog office, was hard-pressed to explain why the first investigation did not point to any wrongdoing in Bahel's unit."

UNSCAM

........"the far more significant issues and real news of this scandal. To wit:

• The $67 billion oil-for-food program — set up in 1996 five years after the Gulf War to buy food and medicine for suffering Iraqis — was run by the U.N.

• It was under this U.N. supervision that the program became a massive bribery scheme in which Saddam Hussein awarded oil vouchers to favored politicians, journalists and other influential figures who could resell the oil at a profit.

• The U.N.'s assistant secretary-general, Benon Sevan, administered the program and is now accused of being not just an enabler but an active participant in the corruption.

• Secretary-General Kofi Annan himself is linked to the scandal through his son Kojo.

Despite what the quarrelsome Galloway or anyone else says about the U.S., or how often Bayoil USA of Texas is charged with being a collaborator in the scheme, or how loud anyone asserts that the Bush White House knew about the bribery but looked the other way, one fact cannot be escaped:

The United Nations failed to use proceeds placed in its trust from the sale of Iraqi crude to provide relief for the Iraqi people. Worse, U.N. leaders exploited the program, apparently by diverting cash intended as aid to the sick and hungry. What could be more depraved?

A terrorist bomb? Yes. But terrorists don't often pose, as Sevan did, as concerned humanitarians. Investigators believe Sevan pocketed perhaps as much as $1.6 million from the scheme.

The real money, though, is at the institutional level. The U.N. apparently helped itself to nearly $1 billion by skimming 2.2% off the top of each barrel of oil sold. Just how does that square with the mission outlined in the U.N. charter?

It doesn't, of course. But unfortunately, it is consistent with the U.N.'s increasingly dismal performance. This is an organization that can't stop genocide (and doesn't even try), won't challenge dictators, coddles terrorist regimes, stands by while crooked leaders loot nations and blames it all on the West, especially the U.S.

As the information flows out, we're more convinced than ever the world body is in dire need of change from the top down."

UNSCAM

"The subcommittee concluded that Mr. Galloway was granted oil allocations as part of a complex series of oil transactions aimed at concealing the source of ill-gotten gain. (Last year, the CIA's Iraq Survey Group concluded that Saddam gave Mr. Galloway 20 million barrels of oil.)
"Galloway appeared to use a charity for children's leukemia to conceal payments associated with at least one such allocation ... according to senior officials [from Saddam's government], the oil allocations were granted by Iraq because of Galloway's support for the Hussein regime and his opposition to U.N. sanctions," the panel report said.
The report also raises serious questions about the conduct of Mr. Pasqua. It uncovered internal documents from the Iraqi Ministry of Oil suggesting that Mr. Pasqua received 11 million barrels of oil from the Ba'athist regime. Former aides to Saddam told the Senate subcommittee in interviews that former top Kremlin aide Alexander Voloshin and Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a Russian ultranationalist and an outspoken supporter of Saddam, also earned millions in oil deals.
Things are becoming increasingly uncomfortable for some of Saddam Hussein's staunchest supporters. "

UNSCAM- senate hearing live

UNSCAM-hearing at 9:30- this is just one report

IX. CONCLUSION
Despite Galloway’s denials, the evidence obtained by the Subcommittee, including
Hussein-era documents from the Ministry of Oil and testimony from senior Hussein officials,
shows that Iraq granted George Galloway allocations for millions of barrels of oil under the Oil
for Food Program. Moreover, some evidence indicates that Galloway appeared to use a charity
for children’s leukemia to conceal payments associated with at least one such allocation. Lastly,
according to senior Hussein officials, the oil allocations were granted by Iraq because of
Galloway’s support for the Hussein regime and his opposition to U.N. sanctions.

The UN threatens to move if it doesn't get its way ?

Spectator-UNSCAM

Rosett re: UNSCAM

UNSCAM

Instapundit.com points to a Senate report on UNSCAM

Interesting bit from footnote 5 of the Senate Report: "Terrorist individuals and entities who received allocations include the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Abu Abbas, and the Mujahedeen-e Khalq." (Via Power Line, which has much more).

UNSCAM

Seems like the UN should be cleaning up it's own house and not go after Bloggers like Roger L Simon

Rwanda, UN sexcapades in the Congo,the deaths in Darfur that they talk about but do nothing about

How many died in Darfur? Lots- what's been done about it ?- nothing

"Is the death toll between 60,000 and 160,000, as Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick said during a recent trip to the region? Or is it closer to the roughly 400,000 dead reported last week by the Coalition for International Justice, a Washington-based nongovernmental organization that was hired by the United States Agency for International Development to try to determine whether the killing amounts to genocide?"

WMD Mystery- Christopher Brown

"Whether or not al Qaeda is already in possession of a crude WMD capability, after all we have been warned that it is only a matter of time before a terrorist acquires and attempts to use such weapons, it is more important that we be willing to honestly examine connections such as those mentioned above and then act on that knowledge in order to prevent any such attack."

UNSCAM- from PJ Media - more on the oil-for-food scam

A letter from Adrian Gonzalez-Maltes to Paul Volcker, chairman of the Independent Inquiry Committee on the Oil-For-Food program.

UNSCAM-this doesn't pass the smell test

They could have it in camera if they were concerned,but it appears the UN doesn't want the dirty linen in public. His commission had no subpoena powers so how thorough could it be?


Paul Volcker, the head of the U.N.-appointed panel probing the oil-for-food scandal, yesterday asked Congress to drop its efforts to force an investigator who resigned from the panel to testify about any top-level corruption at the world body.
Mr. Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman, warned the integrity of his investigation and the safety of witnesses interviewed by the committee both could be at stake if U.S. lawmakers follow through on subpoenas for Robert Parton's appearance.