A new memo suggests that Kofi Annan may have known more about the U.N. Oil-For-Food contract that was awarded to the company that employed his son as a "consultant" than he initially revealed to investigators. Pardon me while I stifle a yawn.
While I suppose it's good that some hard evidence exists that may prove what has been widely assumed by people with their eyes open, I remain amazed that so much attention has been paid to this small time cronyism/nepotism issue as "Exhibit A" of wrongdoing by Kofi Annan.
Meanwhile, the elephant in the living room is the fact that Annan set up and presided over the whole massively corrupt enterprise for years, fully aware that Saddam was abusing the program, demanding kickbacks and paying bribes, while Annan raked over a billion dollars off the top for the U.N.'s administrative expenses. The man the program was set up to punish and restrain was ripping off billions in dollars meant to feed Iraqi citizens, using it to build palaces, pay off families of Palestinian suicide bombers, and whatever else he damn well pleased. Kofi Annan said he could "do business with this man". And did he ever.
Annan held off complaints about the corrupt practices from the U.S. and Great Britain in 2001, personally reviewed and renewed the corrupt program every six months, ignored the corruption-by-bribe of two veto-wielding Security Council members and members of his own U.N. staff, and then while swimming in Saddam's cash, had the gall to posture as the head of the only body capable of granting "legitimacy" to any effort to hold Saddam accountable.
Kofi Annan built and then rode the Oil-For-Food gravy train, presiding over the largest fraud in the history of international aid, complicit in the theft of billions of dollars that belonged to the people of Iraq. He then proceeded to lecture the United States on the "legality" of our action to remove Saddam's boot from the neck of the Iraqi people.
And we're making a big fuss about some penny ante influence peddling and nepotism leading to a $10 million contract?
Posted by dan at June 14, 2005 04:00 PM