The media can no longer ignore U.N. policies

I am absolutely shocked by the lack of attention given to the United Nation’s Oil-for-Food… I am absolutely shocked by the lack of attention given to the United Nation’s Oil-for-Food scandal by the American media.

Based on an April 7, 2004, report by the Government Accounting Office titled “United Nations — Observations on the Oil for Food program.” If the media was at all responsible, it would go after stories like this.

Some highly partisan members of the national media also want to avoid any evidence that strengthens President George W. Bush’s case to invade Iraq.

Former president George H.W. Bush successfully defeated Saddam Hussein in the First Gulf War in 1991. The global coalition made a mistake by not eradicating him then and there. Instead, he was allowed to exist within the vacuum of U.N. sanctions. In 1996, the Oil-for-Food program was established to allow Saddam to get food from the international community in exchange for Iraq’s large reserves of oil. Saddam sold more than $60 billion worth of contracts from companies around the world, mainly in countries such as France, Germany and Russia. What an interesting choice of countries …

The GAO subsequently found that Saddam skimmed at least $10 billion worth of revenue from this United Nations-run program from 1996 to 2002 through illegal commissions. The responsibility for overseeing this program fell directly on the Secretariat of the United Nations, headed by Secretary General Kofi Annan. Guess who he selected to run the Oil-for-Food program? It’s Kojo Annan. Guess who that is? His son. Kofi has stonewalled for months and continues to refuse to allow the U.N. Oil-for-Food files to be viewed by US Congressional investigators.

I wonder why Annan and his cohorts in the United Nations were so adamantly against the United State’s liberation of Iraq and destruction of Saddam’s government. Was it really for humanitarian grounds or was it just to cover their own backsides? What made Annan go as far as calling the invasion “illegal” last week?

A lot of binding resolutions of the U.N. Security Council threatened Iraq with drastic repercussions if he didn’t allow full weapons inspections. Is Annan denying the legitimacy of his own organization? Why did France, Germany and Russia so vehemently oppose the Iraq invasion? Until more investigation is done, we cannot conclusively answer these questions. It is clear that there are many “smoking guns” in this scandal.

Kojo Annan is under direct investigation for bribing and taking illegal contributions. The sheer weight of evidence has forced Kofi Annan to approve an “independent investigation” recently after he denied all knowledge. He gave Saddam carte blanche to pick the contractors he wanted and was negligent in his role to oversee the Oil-for-Food program vigilantly.

If there is nothing to hide, he should allow congressional investigators to fully investigate how Saddam Hussein — a war criminal — was allowed to manipulate a supposedly humanitarian U.N. program for a $10-billion profit.

His suspicious behavior following allegations of his negligence indicates that there is more to the scandal than meets the eye. France was a key investor in Iraq and has had unnervingly close links with Saddam over the years. I just wonder why the media has neglected this type of information.

Sadly, people are suffering and dying because of the disgraceful actions of the United Nations, including American troops and Iraqi civilians. Reports show that there are numerous links between the Oil-for-Food program contractors and organizations that support terrorism. Where could that $10 billion have gone?

If investigative journalists search the paper trails of these transactions, I have no doubt that evidence unearthed will show Iraq had close connections with Al-Qaida. The current insurgency in Iraq must at least have partial support from Saddam’s Oil-for-Food billion-dollar earnings.

Journalists need to be responsible in their quest for truth and should not be so liberally biased in picking the stories they investigate.

Before taking the moral high ground regarding the war in Iraq, the United Nations should look at itself and see what it has done to compound the suffering of the Iraqi people.

Rhajiv Ratnatunga is a columnist for the Pitt News. Please email him at rhajiv@gmail.com for comments or Gmail invitations.