BECAUSE SOME LIVES MATTER MORE THAN OTHERS?:

Firms accused of bribing Saddam to be investigated by fraud office (David Leigh and Rob Evans, February 14, 2007, The Guardian)

The Serious Fraud Office has launched an investigation into allegations that a number of major UK-based firms paid bribes to Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. The firms being targeted include the drug giants GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly. The international oil traders and UK bridge-builders Mabey and Johnson are also to be investigated.

They are on a long list of international companies accused in a UN report of paying kickbacks under the discredited oil-for-food sanctions regime, which enabled Saddam to illicitly amass an estimated $1.8bn. Ministers have agreed to fund the investigation with £22m over three years.

Revealing to compare the continuing outrage at companies that helped the Nazis 70 years ago with the quietude surrounding those who helped keep Saddam in power for thirty years as he butchered Kurds and Shi'a.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 14, 2007 12:00 AM