Sir-Irate wrote:
Maybe they should check with the UN, as I read they were supposedly (the UN) in control of Iraq oil money for quite some time?
That is a much abused myth. In practicality, the UN was never in "control" of Iraq's oil. And, of course, they have not been involved in Iraq at all since the invasion. Most of the violations of UN sanctions were committed by US oil companies, who were buying Iraqi oil outside of the UN Oil for Food program. If US companies were involved in illicit purchases when the UN was supposedly in control of Iraq's oil, imagine what they are up to now that the Bush administration is in charge of Iraqi oil!
Link: US 'backed illegal Iraqi oil deals'
Report claims blind eye was turned to sanctions busting by American firms
The United States administration turned a blind eye to extensive sanctions-busting in the prewar sale of Iraqi oil, according to a new Senate investigation.
A report released last night by Democratic staff on a Senate investigations committee presents documentary evidence that the Bush administration was made aware of illegal oil sales and kickbacks paid to the Saddam Hussein regime but did nothing to stop them.
The scale of the shipments involved dwarfs those previously alleged by the Senate committee against UN staff and European politicians like the British MP, George Galloway, and the former French minister, Charles Pasqua.
In fact, the Senate report found that US oil purchases accounted for 52% of the kickbacks paid to the regime in return for sales of cheap oil - more than the rest of the world put together.
"The United States was not only aware of Iraqi oil sales which violated UN sanctions and provided the bulk of the illicit money Saddam Hussein obtained from circumventing UN sanctions," the report said. "On occasion, the United States actually facilitated the illicit oil sales.
