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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (680822)	4/27/2005 1:47:38 AM
From: Raymond Duray	Respond to of 769670

Chris Nelson's Latest Take on Bolton Politics: Where are Those NSA Intercepts? April 26, 2005 thewashingtonnote.com The original blogger, before there were blogs, was Chris Nelson with his Nelson Report. The only difference in what he does today is that he sends his uber-insider zingers to high-paying readers, whereas most of us just do all this posting for fun or an occasional turkey sandwich. Nelson's latest on Bolton: Bolton gossip. . .comity on Senate Foreign Relations is a potential casualty of the "war" so far. Note the ill-feelings generated Friday when Republican staff wouldn't let Democratic staff sit in on the "debrief" of former Amb to Seoul Tom Hubbard, despite the Dem's role in bringing Hubbard forward to contradict claims that he "cleared" a controversial Bolton speech on N. Korea. A meeting late yesterday was aimed at restoring cooperation, and we've not heard if it was black or white smoke which flowed out the window. But for today, at least, it looks like nothing except a provable charge of criminal behavior is likely to defeat Bolton IF a Floor vote is scheduled. So all eyes remain on Lincoln Chafee, the Republican moderate who has flirted with voting "no" in Committee, which would theoretically doom the nomination. The White House is putting "huge pressure" on everyone concerned, and Chairman Lugar is known to remain very displeased with being, as he sees it, sandbagged at last week's meeting. So Dems and other Bolton opponents are pinning their hopes on the calendar. . .May 12 is a long time in politics, and "something may turn up". . .but if that "something" is a recess appointment, it's not clear how the Senate will react. I just spoke to Chris Nelson and encouraged him to take another look -- particularly at the brewing battle between the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Condi Rice over THE STILL WITHHELD NSA INTERCEPTS that John Bolton requested during his tenure. I think that the NSA intercepts are turning out to be the 900 lb. guerilla in this battle -- and inquiring minds would like to know what the administration is trying to hide. -- Steve Clemons Posted by steve at April 26, 2005 06:38 PM

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (680822)	4/27/2005 10:03:09 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Annan not exonerated: UN scandal probe chief Web posted at: 4/27/2005 11:7:27 Source ::: AFP UNITED NATIONS: Oil-for-food investigator Paul Volcker yesterday denied UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s claim that he had been cleared of wrongdoing by Volcker’s enquiry into the scandal-ridden programme. The embattled Annan, facing calls for his resignation over a string of scandals that have badly damaged the UN’s image, said last month that an interim report from Volcker’s commission had “exonerated” him. “I thought we criticised him rather severely. I would not call that an exoneration,” Volcker told US network Fox News in an interview broadcast yesterday. “I would not have used that word,” Volcker said. Asked directly if he thought Annan had been cleared, Volcker replied: “No.” Fox also reported that Volcker, the former head of the US federal reserve banking system, said that he could ask for time to keep investigating the mounting allegations of fraud and corruption. It said the probe was “still wide open” regarding Benon Sevan, the Cypriot national who headed oil-for-food and was already found by Volcker to have steered Iraqi oil to an acquaintance in a serious conflict of interest. Annan’s claim to have been cleared has been part of the UN strategy to try to turn the page on the oil-for-food scandal, amid initial reports that Volcker would wrap up the investigation in the coming months. Revelations about wrongdoing in the $64bn programme, which oversaw oil sales by the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein between 1996 and 2003, have led to repeated calls for Annan’s resignation. “Hell no!” Annan said when asked if he would resign hours after Volcker’s latest report in March found that the UN chief had carried out an “inadequate” look into a possible conflict of interest regarding his son Kojo. The report said there was “not sufficient evidence” that Annan had used his influence to award a lucrative contract to Cotecna, the Swiss company that employed Kojo. But it did find that the UN boss’s then chief-of-staff shredded three years of internal documents, covering the time when the company first won the contract, just one day after the formal order for Volcker’s probe was given. It also found that Kojo Annan, after leaving the firm, continued to receive hidden payments for years. “When he found out that his son was employed by Cotecna, and continued to be employed, there was no real investigation,” Volcker told Fox. Within hours of Volcker’s last report in late March, Annan said: “This exoneration by the independent enquiry obviously comes as a great relief.” The Volcker enquiry itself has lately become embroiled in scandal after two top investigators resigned, reportedly because they believed the report had been too soft on the secretary general. But in his interview with Fox, Volcker denied that was the case. “We are not meant to be soft or hard. We are out to get the facts, and I’ve said from the beginning our responsibility is to follow the facts wherever they lead,” he said. “There should not be and has not been any question as to whether the report itself reviewed all the investigative leads in some considerable detail,” he said. The UN chief has insisted he will not step down and, in an interview with New York magazine this week, said he was the victim of a “lynch mob” out to “destroy” him. thepeninsulaqatar.com