Oil for Food (OFF) Debacle aka UNSCAM
- Lawhawk
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» Lawhawk - Volcker surprises - by releasing documents 3 weeks early
http://www.nysun.com/article/7362Yesterday's decision by Mr. Volcker "is an important act of transparency," a senior Republican House staff member told the Sun. "We have been informed that none of the [in-house audit] reports contain any bombshells. But we have not seen the reports at this point."Until now, the official U.N. position was that after turning all the material over to Mr. Volcker, it is his decision when to release the OIOS audits. Sources in Washington and at the U.N. said yesterday that the pressure might have been behind the latest decision. Some wondered whether it was a preemptive move by Mr. Volcker, perhaps even in accord with Mr. Annan, to allow some leaks to come out before the January 31 release of the official Volcker report.
Thirty-seven audit reports were prepared by the OIOS, which launched an investigation soon after the first allegations of improprieties in the $64 billion program began to appear in the press. The OIOS later dropped its investigation when Mr. Annan, under pressure, named Mr. Volcker to head the independent probe in April 2004.
One of the most interesting documents to Washington investigators is an April 8, 2003, audit on the management of contracts for independent inspection agents in Iraq. Parts of that report were leaked last year in relation to the Swiss company Cotecna, which, as the Sun revealed, continued to pay Mr. Annan's son, Kojo, long after the U.N. had originally admitted, and up until the beginning of last year, when the oil-for-food program officially dissolved.
One U.N. official familiar with the in-house investigation told the Sun that many of the reports are based on a visit to Iraq by an OIOS auditor. The official claimed, however, that later, when an OIOS investigator wanted to follow up on the auditor's findings, the American-led coalition refused to grant him an entry visa.
-- posted by Lawhawk
» Lawhawk - Kofi failed to supervise and oversee OFF
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/intern...An early sampling of 10 reports obtained by The New York Times yesterday chide the United Nations' Office for Iraq Program for permitting the program's major contractors to overcharge the United Nations and understaff posts at ports and borders where oil and goods were supposed to be monitored.Hey Captain, ICEBERG AHEAD.Altogether, the auditors have prepared 58 reports, totaling about 400 pages, many of which criticize how the aid program was administered.
The audits were conducted during several years of the program and have now been collected by Paul A. Volcker, who heads a United Nations-appointed commission that has been investigating charges that billions of dollars were diverted from the program. Mr. Volcker's committee is forwarding copies to member nations.
Copies were sent late on Friday to several Congressional committees that are also investigating the program. Mr. Volcker is to make the audits public on Monday.
Charges of fraud and abuse in program intended to keep Iraq's oil proceeds out of the hands of Saddam Hussein, so they could serve the needs of Iraq's needy, have ignited considerable anger in Washington, and even calls for Mr. Annan to resign. The audits reviewed by The Times, conducted by the United Nations' Office of Internal Oversight Services, do not contain allegations of bribery or corruption. But they do identify problems with all three of the program's main contractors hired to inspect transactions under the oil-for-food program, which was created in 1996 to ease the effect of sanctions on the Iraqi people.
The United Nations, however, denied allegations that the audits showed that the United Nations did not adequately monitor the program. Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for the United Nations, said the audits showed that "this was a highly audited and supervised program."
"But these reports should not be seen as a final conclusion of how the program was run," he said. The oil-for-food program, he added, was a "highly complex program, done in difficult political circumstances." He said Mr. Annan had not seen the audit reports yet.
Still, the audits seem likely to increase pressure on Mr. Annan to respond to Congressional calls for greater accountability and transparency in United Nations programs. Congressional investigators who are now reading the audits say they reinforce questions about poor stewardship by the United Nations played a major role in widespread corruption in the administration of sanctions against Iraq.
Now, watch Capt. Kofi steer the UN ship formerly known as the Titanic right into the path of the iceberg known as UNSCAM. And keep on ramming the UN against that scandal.
-- posted by Lawhawk
» Lawhawk - Did Saddam loot the 1990 Kuwait victim compensation fund?
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists...Among other concerns, it is by now clear that Saddam & Sons saw themselves as entitled to all they could steal from the Iraqi people--the intended beneficiaries-via Oil for Food. Both the U.S. Treasury and the head of the Iraq Survey Group, Charles Duelfer, have documented the use by Saddam and his cronies of front companies, as well as corrupt business partners, to filch billions via kickbacks on other aspects of the program.Read the whole thing.It is possible that Saddam simply overlooked the UNCC pot into which many billions of Iraq's oil flowed--and that he did not send any of his agents or cronies calling with claims for compensation, alongside genuine victims. It is possible that Security Council members Russia, China and France, as well as such rotating members as Syria, did their best to keep spotless this lone (if large) pocket of the program. It is possible that from the roster of quietly selected commissioners came nothing but crisp, clean decisions.
But given that Saddam's illicit gains may be funding murder today, especially in such vital theaters as Iraq; and given the dark seams that ran through Oil for Food--of dirty money, secret arms deals and links to terrorist networks--the United Nations Compensation Commission seems a good place for investigators to log some serious time, and soon.
-- posted by Lawhawk
» Lawhawk - Powell: Annan must be held accountable
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,1441...U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan (search) must be held accountable for mismanagement of the $64 billion Oil-for-Food program, Secretary of State Colin Powell (search) told FOX News.Wow. Someone actually stating the facts and truth of the matter with respect to the UN and Kofi Annan? Powell is certainly going out with a bang, providing this nice little smackdown of Annan and the UN Security Council before he leaves office.But Powell said the responsibility is not just Annan's to bear. The Bush administration's top diplomat also said the entire U.N. membership — particularly the Security Council, which oversaw the day-to-day management of the program — should take on some of the responsibility.
-- posted by Lawhawk
» Lawhawk - <blockquote>The United Nation’s auditors, in a lengthy post-mort
The United Nation’s auditors, in a lengthy post-mortem done months after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, record that during the final two years of the program, from July 31, 2001 on, Sevan abruptly stopped holding regular weekly staff meetings — basically leaving the program in chaos.http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,1445...Apart from a small flurry of staff gatherings in late 2002, Sevan apparently closed his door to sessions with personnel charged with headquarters oversight of the activities and finances of the nine U.N. agencies, 900 international staff, 3,500 Iraqis, assorted contractors and various accounts involved in the program.
Sevan failed to approve procedures to monitor big chunks of his enormous budget, never got around to confirming vital work plans or defining some key areas of responsibility for his on-the-ground overseers, and often did not even answer written messages or policy papers from his staff. This, the auditors plaintively noted, ”exposes the executive director to the risk of not receiving appropriate advice from [the field overseers] and left the [project management] staff feeling ‘left out’ and de-motivated.”
These findings are part of an audit report dated July 28, 2003, looking back post-Saddam on the final years of Oil-for-Food, and burdened with the deceptively dull title: “Review of the Programme Analysis, Monitoring and Support Division of the Office of the Iraq Programme.” To read the audit, click here (pdf required).
That particular division, referred to by the auditors as PAMSD, had responsibility for ensuring the massive Oil-for-Food program developed coherent policies and operated under clear and effective rules on the ground. It was also responsible for framing how well the United Nations was discharging the Oil-for-Food responsibilities given the organization by the U.N. Security council.
The auditors judge that PAMSD “made substantial efforts to discharge its responsibilities.” But according to the auditors, Sevan clearly didn’t.
In the report’s executive summary, the auditors note, with a tone of turgidly bureaucratic despair, that “the lack of an approved work plan, organizational structure and key performance indicators” as well as “inadequate communication” between Sevan, the field and PAMSD resulted in PAMSD “not being able to adequately fulfill its functions.”
That translates into an alarming observation, since PAMSD’s “functions” were to engender critical oversight policies within Oil-for-Food. In doleful detail, running to 26 sections, this particular audit report (#21 of the 55 released by Volcker) recounts that as of 2003, “While the Programme is in its seventh year of operations, major policy directives had not been finalized on a timely basis.” This, suggest the auditors, had the effect of “leaving the program open to criticism.”
-- posted by Lawhawk
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