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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Elsewhere who wrote (130467)	4/29/2004 12:06:15 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Volcker ought to be helpful during the investigation, as a former Fed Chairman he probably knows how to trace financial transactions. One would certainly hope so.. But the question is what jurisdiction will be used to prosecute those who embezzled money from those transactions.. I don't know of any international statute that would govern it.. But we certainly can publicize these transactions broadly.. How are these allegations being viewed in Germany? Hawk

To: Elsewhere who wrote (130467)	4/29/2004 12:22:30 PM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

But without subpoena power, what will they be able to do? See article below. Volcker ought to be helpful during the investigation, as a former Fed Chairman he probably knows how to trace financial transactions. April 25, 2004, 9:24PM U.N. OIL SCAM Subpoena power needed as much as cooperation Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle chron.com Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker is unquestionably a most capable man, having served five previous presidents with distinction. Unfortunately, without subpoena power his probe of alleged kickbacks and other corruption associated with the United Nation's oil-for-food program in Iraq under Saddam Hussein's rule is severely handicapped. Volcker and the two other members of his independent investigative panel, Swiss law professor Mark Pieth and South African Judge Richard Goldstone, a Balkan war crimes prosecutor, will depend on the willing cooperation of countries that may have been involved. Such cooperation might not be forthcoming. The U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing Volcker's investigation calls on the 191 U.N. member countries, the Iraqis and the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq "to cooperate fully by all appropriate means with the inquiry." Definitions of "cooperate fully" and "appropriate means" provide plenty of wiggle room for those nations mentioned in the scam, and there are more than 40, to hide behind should they choose. Rumors of corruption and kickbacks in the oil-for-food program have been around for years. The U.N. program was begun in 1996 to allow Saddam to sell oil in order to buy his people needed food and medicine. Overseen by U.N. officials, the oil money was to be spent only on humanitarian needs and not on weapons or presidential palaces. Last January an Iraqi newspaper reported that some 270 former Iraqi officials, plus activists and journalists from 46 countries, profited from oil-for-food sales. The suspects also include some U.N. personnel who monitored the contracts. The former head of the program, Benon Sevan, denies taking bribes. Since then Congress' General Accounting Office says high-placed Iraqis stole $4.4 billion from the U.N.-regulated oil sales. An additional $5.7 billion in oil apparently was smuggled out of Iraq under the U.N.'s nose. Members of Congress are understandably burned up about the U.N. operation, since the United States is the world body's primary financial contributor. The fear of losing profits from the oil-for-food program or being implicated in the ensuing scandal might have been a factor in opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq last year by France (the oil program's banker) and Russia (the primary oil buyer). Volcker's probe, if it receives the full cooperation necessary, can put such questions to rest and restore the United Nations' tattered credibility. Without credibility, the United Nations' utility, always limited, would dangerously diminish.

To: Elsewhere who wrote (130467)	4/29/2004 12:27:34 PM
From: carranza2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

There were at least two Congressional investigations into the Rich pardon and a NY state investigation, too. All prompted by his wife (or ex-wife's), ah, financial generosity to the Democratic party and to the Clintons. I don't know what may have happened to the investigations, but I doubt they went anywhere. Clinton now "regrets" the pardon. But he isn't giving the moolah back, so the regret is one of the many Clinton has had whenever he is confronted with an ethically-challenged act on his part. cbn.org I doubt that Rich's involvement with Iraq is legal; he may face charges yet again. Rich might have to escape to Switzerland again to avoid prosecution since, obviously, the pardon won't affect any corrupt deals he made with Saddam. I don't think this will help the Democrats in the upcoming election. They can think of Rich as one of Clinton's chickens coming home to roost. Barbara Olson, one of the victims of the hijacked jet that crashed in Pa. on 9/11, wrote a scathing book on the Clintons' cupidity in the last days of their Administration. amazon.com