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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lorne who wrote (744)	12/2/2004 7:11:01 PM
From: lorne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224648

Bush links UN funding to oil-for-food investigation By Mark Turner at the United Nations Published: December 2 2004 news.ft.com President George W. Bush on Thursday linked future US funding of the United Nations to clear accounting of what went on under the multi-billion dollar oil-for-food programme in Iraq. “In order for the taxpayers of the United States to feel comfortable about supporting the United Nations, there has to be an open accounting, and I look forward to that process going forward,” he told journalists. When asked whether Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, should resign over revelations that Saddam Hussein, the ousted Iraqi leader, was able to subvert UN sanctions and raise billions of dollars illicitly, Mr Bush offered less than a ringing defence. “I look forward to the full disclosure of the facts, a good, honest appraisal of that which went on,” he said. “It's important for the integrity of the organisation to have a full and open disclosure of all that took place with the oil-for-food programme.” His comments were made amid a mounting US attack on the UN at a time when the organisation is trying to reform in order to meet new security challenges. A reform package, written by 16 veteran world dignitaries, was made public on Thursday. Mr Annan hopes it will stimulate debate on collective security. He plans to issue his recommendations next March, and a summit will discuss UN reform next September. However, the initiative has been overshadowed by the calls of two senior Republican senators for Mr Annan to resign. Senator Norm Coleman, who chairs the Senate permanent subcommittee investigating the oil-for-food scandal, has said that the UN “cannot root out its own corruption while Mr Annan is in charge”. On Thursday, the New York Post claimed that Kojo Annan, his son, had “used his father's worldwide connections to wheel and deal with heads of state, at UN gatherings”. Fred Eckhard, the UN spokesman, on Thursday would not comment on the article. Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schröder, the leaders of France and Germany, called Mr Annan after an informal summit at Lubeck on Thursday to “send him a message of friendship and support for his work in the service of peace, development and the United Nations reform”, Reuters reported. Senator Carl Levin, a senior Democrat who has worked closely on the UN oil-for-food investigation, said Mr Coleman's call for Mr Annan's resignation was “unwarranted”. “There's no evidence that our subcommittee has seen that shows any impropriety on the part of Kofi Annan,” he said, adding that the US had contributed “very significantly” to the oil-for-food problems. “We knew, for instance, that about $15bn [€11bn, £8bn] in direct oil sales were being made by Iraq to Jordan and to Turkey and to Syria,” Mr Levin said. “Both President Clinton and this President Bush knowingly waived that problem. To lay that as corruption on Kofi Annan's doorstep, it seems to me, is totally unwarranted.”

To: lorne who wrote (744)	12/2/2004 9:02:40 PM
From: Ann Corrigan	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 224648

Lorne, I heard a discussion re a handful of Americans involved in the Oil for Food scandal. I agreed when one person stated that the governments of France, Germany, Russia were taking bribes from Hussein's Oil4Food porridge pot, so it's difficult to compare that to a few greedy American businessmen. Possibly Chirac will have a change of heart re his criticisms of USA: Exiles: Iran Making Missiles That Could Hit Europe Dec 2, 2004 By Madeline Chambers LONDON (Reuters) - Iran is working on long-range missiles capable of hitting European capitals, as well as nuclear and chemical warheads, an exile group said on Thursday. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which has in the past given accurate information on some of Iran's nuclear facilities, said Tehran was working on missiles with a range of 1,600 to 1,900 miles, capable of hitting cities such as Berlin. Iran denies any intention of making long-range ballistic missiles and says its existing medium-range missiles are purely for deterrence. The NCRI told reporters Iran was carrying out research, testing and making the Ghadr 101 and Ghadr 110 missiles, comparable to advanced Scud E missiles, at the Hemmat Missile Industries Complex. Ghadr means value or merit in Farsi and Shab-e Ghadr refers to the night the Koran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. The NCRI is a coalition of exiled opposition groups fiercely opposed to Iran's clerical rulers. The State Department lists the NCRI and its armed wing, the People's Mujahideen, as a terrorist organization. The exiles also said Tehran had in August tested a Shahab-4 missile with a range of 1,200 to 1,900 miles, depending on the weight of the warhead. Shahab means meteor in Farsi. Iran has acknowledged it can make large numbers of medium-range Shahab-3 ballistic missiles, capable of hitting Israel or U.S. bases in the Gulf, but has repeatedly denied Israeli accusations it is developing Shahab-4. "Militarily speaking, by obtaining long-range and medium-range missiles, the clerics are trying to put many regions of the world, including all of Europe, within their range," NCRI's Ali Safavi told reporters. The NCRI acknowledged that the missile programs did not contravene international law. It provided site maps and detailed explanations but had no blueprints of the work. Safavi also said Iran's Shahid Karimi Industrial Group was pursuing nuclear and chemical warheads, but he gave few details. Last month Secretary of State Colin Powell suggested Iran was working to fit missiles with nuclear warheads but Iran says its atomic plants are solely for power generation. Earlier this week the United Nations (news - web sites)' nuclear watchdog decided against referring Iran to the Security Council after Tehran agreed to freeze all activities which could be used to make bomb-grade material.