US knew about Iraqi oil smuggling and did nothing

[donsu]

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/1ea3ae70-6507-11d9-9f8b-00000e2511c8.html


US ignored warning on Iraqi oil smuggling

For months, the US Congress has been investigating activities that violated the United Nations oil-for-food programme and helped Saddam Hussein build secret funds to acquire arms and buy influence.

President George W. Bush has linked future US funding of the international body to a clear account of what went on under the multi-billion dollar programme.

But a joint investigation by the Financial Times and Il Sole 24 Ore, an Italian business daily, shows that a tanker seen at Iraq's Khor al-Amaya terminal by a UN inspector was involved in the single largest and boldest smuggling operation in the oil-for-food programme - and that the operation was conducted with the knowledge of the US government.

"Although the financial beneficiaries were Iraqis and Jordanians, the fact remains that the US government participated in a major conspiracy that violated sanctions and enriched Saddam's cronies," a former UN official said. "That is exactly what many in the US are now accusing other countries of having done. I think it's pretty ironic."

Overall, the operation involved 14 tankers engaged by a Jordanian entity to load at least 7m barrels of oil for a total of no less than $150m of illegal profits. About another $50m went to Mr Hussein's cronies.

In February 2003, when US media first published reports of this smuggling effort, then attributed exclusively to the Iraqis, the US mission to the UN condemned it as "immoral".

However, FT/Il Sole have evidence that US and UK missions to the UN were informed of the smuggling while it was happening and that they reported it to their respective governments, to no avail.
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(just whose side is the King of Jordon on?)

another lie, another scam - oh well

[zbdent]

1. You always hear about France, Germany, and Russia

but people forget about the HUGE amount of money in the form of US $100 bills that they found in one of Saddam's "palaces". Hmm, where could he have gotten so much US cash? Let's ask Dick Cheney, who, through Halliburton, did a lot of oil business with Iraq during the 90s when they were "our enemy".

[mattclearing]

2. I was about to say, wasn't Cheney and Halliburton way in on this?

eom