We live in times when stonewalling is almost chic. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you do it in pursuit of an enemy who is supposedly worse than you are. Anything is fair game. Anchormen slide by in hundred thousand dollar limousines telling us that black is white. Newspapers report forty year old drug deals that may or may have happened and then repeat again that they may or may not have happened just to be sure you never missed the allegation against their adversary in the first place. College students receive emails warning them they might be drafted when their chances of being drafted are about as great as being hit by an asteroid. In yet more serious, far more grave, matters, men go half way across the planet to help others and end up with their heads, quite literally, on a platter.
Meanwhile, astride this world upside down, sits the Lord of Stonewalls, the slick king of the United Nations whose silver tongue and elegant manners mask a deviousness perhaps unknown even to him. We are in an era when lying to the self about the self has reached global proportions and takes place on a global stage. This man, Mr. Annan, who so many of us revered not so many years ago, now condemns the US action in Iraq while desperately hiding from view the complicitness of the organization he leads, the United Nations, in the horrors of that very dictatorship. Thankfully, Claudia Rosett is here to remind us of The Real World. Too bad more people aren’t paying attention to the Oil-for-Food scandal, because it is the center of it all, the beating heart of global corruption.
Ms. Rosett’s latest report… on the exploitation of baby formula for totalitarian profit… is perhaps her most blood-curdling:
And within that Oil-for-Food sample shopping spree, the baby formula deals were estimated to be even more egregiously overpriced than the average contract for most other staples. Compared to the hundreds of baby food and milk contracts in the overall program (many of those with France and Russia) the Pentagon sample was small. The study looked at four baby formula contracts, two originating in Egypt, one in Tunisia and one in Vietnam–totaling $43 million (which in any normal relief program might actually rank not as a small sample, but as a lot of money). But it seems telling that every single one of those four baby-formula contracts appeared “potentially overpriced” by about 26%, for a total of $11 million in potential overpayments. On the biggest of these sample contracts, a $26 million deal between Saddam and a Vietnamese dairy company–approved by the U.N. in October 2002, in the thick of the U.N. debate over going to war to remove Saddam–the estimated overpricing of 26% worked out to well over $5 million on that contract alone.
Translation: In late 2002, while Mr. Annan was lobbying against U.S.-led removal of Saddam, he was running a U.N. program in which money meant for baby formula, among other goods, was very likely flowing into the pockets of Saddam and his sons and cronies.
And from there who knows where? Al Qaeda?
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18 Comments
1. Morgan:I see no reason that the UN (which is, after all, a publicly funded entity) should be allowed to keep its records secret. I don’t even know why they would want to, if they are the paragon of virtue they claim to be.
Here’s an idea for Kofi and friends: scan all the documents and release all the electronic records related to Oil-for-Food, post it all to the web, and give the multi-million man mind a crack at them. It would be a real money saver.
Sep 22, 2004 - 7:07 am 2. richard mcenroe:Roger ó You are doing good works keeping this story alive. This election will be over in a few weeks, and once the 47 lawsuits by the Democrats are thrown out, perhaps the MSM will start to pick up on it in a serious way…
Sep 22, 2004 - 7:15 am 3. David Thomson:ìToo bad more people aren’t paying attention to the Oil-for-Food scandal, because it is the center of it all, the beating heart of global corruption.î
They aren’t paying attention because the MSM downplays the scandal. Media consultants will warn you that most people will not become aware of a particular problem until numerous news stories have focussed on it. Well, thatís just not happening with the oil for food scandal. Far more Americans know about Dick Cheneyís relationship to Halliburton. Itís real simple: the liberal media ignore stories which do not harm George W. Bush.
This election is not over. Today Zogby is reporting that the presidential election is once again a dead heat!:
http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews868.html
I personally suspect that Zogby is oversampling Democratic voters. Still, itís a wake up call for those inclined towards complacency.
Sep 22, 2004 - 7:19 am 4. Fausta:Just now France2 news was saying (my translation)
Profound respect he shows for children’s lives, indeed.
Sep 22, 2004 - 7:22 am 5. Mikey:The dream is dead. There is no collective security unless you are willing to round up the participants on your own. Nations act in their own self-interest,and if the nation is a dictatorship, a monarchy, or a one-party state, that self-interest will be identical to the ruler’s. The hypocrisy of the UN is so glaringly obvious that you must have the pretentions of an intellectual to explain it away. And yet the US remains the evil actor for exposing the hypocrisy.
I guess taking a dream away from a man, overturning his idol, is the one guaranteed way to get him to turn and try to rend you. Perhaps that is why the MSM, the glitteratti, and academe turn so hard on the US. All I know for sure is that I am tired of it, I am fed up with it, and I want to turn and rend right back at them.
A cycle of violence? Perhaps, but perhaps it is needed and nothing clean will come about without it.
Sep 22, 2004 - 7:46 am 6. Percy Dovetonsils:I’m not optimistic about Kofi and Krew getting their just desserts (in this life, at least), but I think there are enough people mad about these crimes that will keep hammering at the pedestal of the U.N.
Enough blows, and it will eventually crack.
Of course, it would help if we had our own Thomas Nast to match wits with this global Tammany Hall. Roger, can you draw, too?
Sep 22, 2004 - 7:49 am 7. chriss:I got physically sick to my stomache yesterday, when Kofi Annan can stand there and tell the world that the invasion of Iraq was illegal… the man who presided over genocide in Rwanda and is willing to watch it happen again in Darfur… the man who presided over the Oil For Food scandal… standing there and telling the world that our action to liberate 27 million people was illegal. Worse yet was Kerry, who has been blasting the president for being unilateral, minutes after that president gives a brilliant and stirring speech at the UN to rally support, stands and calls and calls the president a liar in front of the whole world. For Annan it’s business as usual. For Kerry it’s 1971 all over again. They are two of a kind, and both unfit.
Sep 22, 2004 - 7:52 am 8. ricpic:They continue to SAW OUR HEADS OFF.
We continue to NOT RESPOND.
This makes me seriously think that we could lose this thing.
It’s time, way past time, to respond.
How about we start by FLATTENING FALLUJAH.
And then wait for the scum to SAW OFF ANOTHER HEAD.
And then we FLATTEN ANOTHER CITY, any city; and then another, and another.
Until they get it.
And that’s how we’ll win this thing.
Sep 22, 2004 - 7:59 am 9. Former Belgian/Ancien Belge:The UN needs a new Oliver Cromwell, to speak to it the immortal words with which he dissolved the Long Parliament — and which would be repeated in 1940 to Neville Chamberlain:
You have been here too long for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say; and let us have done with you. In the name of G-d, go!
Sep 22, 2004 - 8:05 am 10. jedrury:At least with this president, America gets an administration which mouths a respect for multi-lateralism, then acts unilaterally in case of need and urgency. Its capacity for patience with the niceties and phoniness of UN diplomacy has its limits.
A Kerry Administration will pay total allegiance to UN multilateralism and the inaction and policy statsis attendant to it. These times do not merit that type of an ineffective and perilous foreign policy.
For all the debate and trouble caused by Iraq,
it is better for America to act unilaterally or with a new set of allies.
Last night, Chris Patten, the EU minister for external affairs, was on the Charlie Rose talk show. He earned his media credentials as the last governor of Hong Kong. Bright, honored by the European media, he’s the perfect Charlie Rose TV guest, urbane, discerningly troubled and full of diplomatic hot air. One can easily imagine him as the prototype of the UN diplomat and UN diplomacy; evasive, ineffective, loved by the Christine Amanpours of the media and bloviating about the nothingness of UN policy. He obviously does not get it on with the Texas swagger of this administration. And rightly so !!
Sep 22, 2004 - 8:21 am 11. mrp:To add to a thread involving Iran, Iraq, the UN, terrorism, and feckless, appeasing “Western” leaders, I offer a BBC report on Zappy’s latest contribution to world peace (via Lucianne.com).
From the BBC article:
Mr Zapatero said he had asked the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, to set up a high level group to study the creation of an alliance of civilisations.
Speaking on the fringes of the UN meeting in New York, Mr Zapatero said: “This alliance would have as its fundamental objective to deepen political, cultural and education relations between those who represent the so-called Western world and, in this historic moment, the area of Arab and Muslim countries.”
….
Our [BBC] correspondent says the idea resembles a previous initiative calling for a dialogue between civilisations, launched by Iranian President Mohammed Khatami in 1998, which resulted in little obvious success.
Madness.
Sep 22, 2004 - 8:21 am 12. jedrury:MRP:
Intriguing post.
You forgot a descriptive modifier.
total madness
complete madness
no on reflection “madness” is suffient.
thanks
Sep 22, 2004 - 8:37 am 13. Dirty Dingus:As I said at the end of my blog entry on this article: http://www.di2.nu/blog.htm?20040922c Surely this is a story crying out for the attention of CBS and 60 minutes?
Sep 22, 2004 - 8:45 am 14. Sandy P:–scan all the documents and release all the electronic records related to Oil-for-Food, post it all to the web, and give the multi-million man mind a crack at them. It would be a real money saver.–
The shredders were working overtime.
Do we really think there’s a lot of documents left?
Sep 22, 2004 - 9:03 am 15. PeterArgus:Dave Thompson:
The Zogby poll you mentioned needs more analysis. First it is an “interactive poll” – I am not exactly sure what that means (web-based? but can’t find definition on Zogby site) but it is a methodology that has received criticism. But even if you believe it, the news is very bad for Kerry. What the poll shows over time is that since August 3, Bush’s electoral votes have been increasing (then – 215 now – 241) while Kerry’s has been slipping (then – 291 now – 264) In fact this is the first time since the interactive polling started (May 23) that Kerry has less than the required 270 electoral votes. This prompted Zogby to state that “The race for President of the United States continued to tighten during the last two weeks, as President Bush continued his long, hard slog back toward parity with Democratic challenger John Kerry, throwing the race into a virtual dead heat, the latest package of polls by Zogby Interactive shows.”
The last traditional poll that Zogby did was published Sept 19 and shows Bush with a 3 % pt lead. This lead has essentially held in previous Zogby polls going back to 8/14 when he had Kerry up by 7.
I do agree with your conclusion that this is not a time for complacency. But still from a trend point of view the arrows are pointing up for Bush.
Sep 22, 2004 - 9:08 am 16. beebop:When the history of this era is written I hope someone will hold the intelligencia to account for the crimes they have let slide because it was not fashionable to focus on them. I’ve spent the morning looking at a few blogs and am totally discusted with what the MSM and punditocracy think is important. They compete with each other in criticising the US for jaywalking while running across the street to stop a rape.
Sep 22, 2004 - 9:09 am 17. Terrye:I can remember a time not so long ago when I actually had some respect for the UN.
No more. Those days, like my youth, are over.
Who is Kofi Annan to decide what is legal and what is not? It seems that liberating a nation from a dictator is wrong, but stealing from hungry children is not.
Since the US went into Iraq we have vaccinated millions of children, is that a crime? Could or would Kofi have done the same?
For years conservatives in this country have questioned the viability of the UN. Remarks such as Annan’s will only make more Americans feel the same. Considering the fact that the UN depends on the American taxpayer for their existence perhaps they should find a more equitable way of paying the bills because the day may came when the American people tell them to hit the road and don’t let the door in you in the ass on way out.
Sep 22, 2004 - 4:58 pm 18. Swopa:The shredders were working overtime.
Do we really think there’s a lot of documents left?
Ahh, but there’s all that evidence Claude Hankes-Driesma accumulated! The evidence he had backed up on a separate disk when nefarious scoundrels magically wiped his computer’s hard drive clean, remember?
Claudia Rosett and Roger assured us this was so! And they’re too honest to simply drop the subject if it turns out they were wrong.
Um…. aren’t they?
Roger, what did ever happen in that mysterious matter of Hankes-Driesma’s backup data?
Come to think of it, what about that mysterious CD of Iraq WMD evidence that you claimed some dissident in France had? Remember me informing you that it didn’t exist, and you haughtily telling me not to be so sure, because after all, you could read French? Did that backup CD ever turn up?
I mean, you would be honest enough to tell your readers if you’d been flat-out hoodwinked, wouldn’t you?
Sep 23, 2004 - 9:34 pm