October 9, 2004
BETTER BOUGHT THAN BLIND:
Tough questions for 270 named in Iraqi documents (David Rennie, 23/04/2004, Daily Telegraph)
To the outsider, it is hard to see what could link the former French interior minister, Charles Pasqua, with President Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia, the Russian nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovksy and Benon Sevan, the United Nations official in charge of the oil-for-food programme.According to testimony presented to the House of Representatives committee on government reform this week, here is one link for starters: they appear on a list of 270 individuals and entities named in Iraqi oil ministry files as receiving vouchers allowing them to buy millions of barrels of oil. [...]
The list is an extraordinary collection of names, stretching from Paris to Moscow, from the Vatican to the Far East.
In France, those named include friends of President Jacques Chirac, among them M Pasqua, and Patrick Maugein, the head of the French oil firm Soco International. M Pasqua has denied illicit oil trading.
M Maugein has confirmed that he traded with Iraq under the programme, but said "none of it was illegal".
A former French ambassador to the UN, Jean-Bernard Merimee, is listed as receiving vouchers totalling 11 million barrels. Also on the list is a vocal friend of Iraq, Gilles Munier, of the Franco-Iraqi Friendship Association.
At the Vatican, Fr Jean Marie Benjamin - a French priest who reportedly arranged a meeting between the Pope and Tariq Aziz, the former deputy prime minister of Iraq - is listed as receiving the rights to sell 4.5 million barrels.
But the list is dominated by a huge number of Russian citizens and organisations. In addition to Mr Zhirinovsky, the list names the former Soviet prime minister Nikolai Ryzhkov, the Russian Orthodox Church, the "office of the Russian president", President Vladimir Putin's Peace and Unity Party, and companies linked to the Communist Party.
In Indonesia, the list is headed by Mrs Megawati, whose spokesman has said she is "aware of the allegations".
At least all these folks were bought--John Kerry says Saddam deserved to oppress Iraq on the merits. Posted by Orrin Judd at October 9, 2004 1:05 PM
Not just that, but they are "honest politicans"— it seems they've stayed bought.
Posted by: Raoul Ortega at October 9, 2004 1:39 PMIs this John Kerry's coalition of the bribed?
Posted by: jd watson at October 9, 2004 2:55 PMAny of these names connected to the Plames?
Posted by: carter at October 9, 2004 4:19 PMSome people don't need to be bribed - Kerry, Kennedy, and Chris Dodd come to mind.
And whatever happened to Galloway over in England? He was apparently being paid directly by Saddam.
Posted by: jim hamlen at October 9, 2004 9:38 PMMr. Hamlen;
Galloway is busy destroying and bankrupting what remains of the far Left in the UK. Check out Harry's Place for updates.
Posted by: Annoying Old Guy at October 10, 2004 1:41 PM