The Blog from the Core - Monday, April 19, 2004

Core: noun, the most important part of a thing, the essence; from the Latin cor, meaning heart.

		The Weblog at The View from the Core - Monday, April 19, 2004

Oil-for-Food Scam Also Oil-for-Terrorism?

Claudia Rosett writes at NRO, yesterday:

Beyond the billions in graft, smuggling, and lavish living for Saddam Hussein that were the hallmarks of the United Nations Oil-for-Food program in Iraq, there is one more penny yet to drop.

It's time to talk about Oil-for-Terror.

Especially with the U.N.'s own investigation into Oil-for-Food now taking shape, and more congressional hearings in the works, it is high time to focus on the likelihood that Saddam may have fiddled Oil-for-Food contracts not only to pad his own pockets, buy pals, and acquire clandestine arms — but also to fund terrorist groups, quite possibly including al Qaeda....

She cites her article at Commentary, May 2004:

For years, the United Nations Oil-for-Food program was just one more blip on the multilateral landscape: a relief program for Iraq, a way to feed hungry children in a far-off land until the world had settled its quarrels with Saddam Hussein. Last May, after the fall of Saddam, the UN Security Council voted to lift sanctions on Iraq, end Oil-for-Food later in the year, and turn over any remaining business to the U.S.-led authority in Baghdad. On November 20, with some ceremony, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan lauded the program’s many accomplishments, praising in particular its long-serving executive director, Benon Sevan. The next day, Oil-for-Food came to an end.

But it has not ended. Suddenly, Oil-for-Food is with us again, this time splashed all over the news as the subject of scandal at the UN: bribes, kickbacks, fraud, smuggling; stories of graft involving tens of billions of dollars and countless barrels of oil, and implicating big business and high officials in dozens of countries; allegations that the head of the program himself was on the take. In February, having at first denied any wrongdoing, Sevan stopped giving interviews and was then reported to be on vacation, heading into retirement. By March, the U.S. Congress was preparing to hold hearings into Oil-for-Food. Kofi Annan, having denied any knowledge of misdeeds by UN staff, finally bowed to demands for an independent inquiry into the UN program, saying, "I don’t think we need to have our reputation impugned." ....

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Mon. 04/19/04 07:54:49 PM
Categorized as International.

Two Down: How Many to Go?

Another Spawn of Satan becomes unexpected recipient of militant action.

As you have surely heard by now, Abdel Aziz Rantisi was summarily executed by the Israeli military for his leadership of the Innocents Killing Organization known as Hamas:

.... Rantisi was the newly-appointed head of the militant group in Gaza, following Yassin's assassination. He was one of the most hardline members of the militant movement, which rejects all compromise with Israel and calls for the destruction of the Jewish state....

Whoa, Nelly. I thought Yassin had been the "spiritual" leader of Hamas. Wasn't that how he was universally acknowledged a month ago when he was quite suddenly sent to enjoy his everlasting reward? And wouldn't that make his successor Rantisi also a spiritual leader? Or isn't the truth, rather, that there was nothing "spiritual" about Yassin's leadership?