Love this:
"The head of AMEP, Fakhry Abdelnour, a friend of Sevan, told investigators he paid $160,000 as a kickback to an Iraqi-controlled account in Jordan in October 2001 under one of the oil-for-food schemes under examination."
Followed by this:
"Volcker did not say that Sevan received kickbacks but expressed concern at $160,000 in cash that Sevan said he received from an aunt in his native Cyprus in 1999-2003."
I think one of the funniest things is that everyone's favorite...Fox News broke this story with almost no follow up in the mainstream media. Even some on here went after the messenger rather than the message.
DC10Tim From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2005, 1405 posts, RR: 16 Reply 1, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 2 days 8 hours ago) and read 989 times:
Ah the UN.
That would be the antichrist to about 51% of Americans.
Seriously though, what is the issue here?
Even if there is some corruption within the UN (which it's looking as though there are some irregularities) would this have been major news if it hadn't been for Iraq 2?
Airplay From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 2, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 2 days 8 hours ago) and read 988 times:
The entire oil for food program was risky business right from the start. Considering the circumstances at the time, coordinating efforts to aid Iraq's people required a great deal of international negotiation across several policital and moral lines that someone somewhere would be eventually call into question.
I'm certainly not saying that the players should be immune to such scrutiny or that they shouldn't be held responsible, but any organization who heads a humanitarian effort to aid a country that the US hates, must be prepared to bend the rules somewhat or fail.
Love it.
In my opinion, it's quite pathetic that someone exhibits such glee in the failure of a humanitarian effort overseen by the UN. Is this perhaps some kind of retribution for the dismal failure of the US's efforts in the region?
JamesAg96 From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 2095 posts, RR: 8 Reply 3, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 2 days 8 hours ago) and read 971 times:
"major news if it hadn't been for Iraq 2?"
One could argue that there is STILL an Iraq 2 because of the widespread corruption at the UN.
"In my opinion, it's quite pathetic that someone exhibits such glee in the failure of a humanitarian effort overseen by the UN. Is this perhaps some kind of retribution for the dismal failure of the US's efforts in the region?"
My "love it" comment was aimed at the fact that the much hated Fox News broke this story...which is proving to be true rather than the "normal UN hatred by Fox News" that it was called initially.
As for your comment regarding the humanitarian effort "overseen" by the UN. It was this failure-which is the tip of the iceberg-that emboldened an Iraqi regime to continue to ignore and violate repeated UN resolutions. Why would Saddam worry about the resolutions if he had so many people on the take? Why would he worry about inspections to the point of kicking inspectors out of the country if he wasn't lining the pockets of policy makers?
Dismal failure in the region?
Are you serious?
Like I said...this is just another example as to why the UN can't be trusted and its actions in the past-specifically the last few years-have to be reviewed.
The idea of a humanitarian UN is a good one. That being said there are too many instances where the UN simply failed either because of member state activity (or inactivity-Rwanda), or because of corruption/incompetence at the leadership level.
Yyz717 From Canada, joined Sep 2001, 15989 posts, RR: 59 Reply 5, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 2 days 7 hours ago) and read 959 times:
Like I said...this is just another example as to why the UN can't be trusted and its actions in the past-specifically the last few years-have to be reviewed.
The idea of a humanitarian UN is a good one. That being said there are too many instances where the UN simply failed either because of member state activity (or inactivity-Rwanda), or because of corruption/incompetence at the leadership level.
I agree. The UN has become just one big bureaucracy run by a club of 3rd world dictatorships. I hope all UN initiatives fail. The sooner the UN is disbanded the better.
Panam, TWA, Ansett, Eastern.......AC next? Might be good for Canada.
OYRJA From Denmark, joined Feb 2007, 77 posts, RR: 16 Reply 9, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 18 hours ago) and read 859 times:
Oh yeah... You were surprised eh??
People just need to read the Topic Title and the poster. That should be reason enough to know what this is about.
Another UN bahsing thread from the screwed up Extremists of the holy country of the USofA who never does anything wrong.
OYRJA From Denmark, joined Feb 2007, 77 posts, RR: 16 Reply 12, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 18 hours ago) and read 850 times:
Heheheheh.
I am shocked that you are shocked over the things I write Kirkie. hehehehe
UN isn't corruped. Some Greedy ass members of UN are. So that is not the whole UN.
But I gotta agree though. The EU is horrible. They really know to make the life horrible for us poor people
JamesAg96 From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 2095 posts, RR: 8 Reply 13, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 18 hours ago) and read 840 times:
LOL...you guys are something else. Did you even read the article? Because if you did and still resort to this:
"That should be reason enough to know what this is about.
Another UN bahsing thread from the screwed up Extremists of the holy country of the USofA who never does anything wrong."
and this:
"Ah, right wing conservatives, who look at everyone's dirty laundry but their own." "And maybe this thread didn't go anywhere, because everyone's tired about right-wing bellyaching about the UN."
You guys are sad going through life with blinders on individuals. It's ok for hundreds of threads each week to appear which bash Bush, the US and its' policies...but post a thread that sheds some lights on a SELF INQUIRY at the UN...and it HAS to be rightwing nutjobs crying again.
OYRJA From Denmark, joined Feb 2007, 77 posts, RR: 16 Reply 14, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 18 hours ago) and read 834 times:
but post a thread that sheds some lights on a SELF INQUIRY at the UN...and it HAS to be rightwing nutjobs crying again.
Exactly.. You took the words right out of my mouth.
Yes. We are walking around with blinders. We are the ones that tell the World to go fuck yourself when we don't agree with them.. Hmmmmmm..... Yup we really are sad..
Falcon84 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 15, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 18 hours ago) and read 835 times:
You guys are sad going through life with blinders on individuals.
You're the sad one, James. Why don't you look inside your own party of the government of your hero, and you'll find corruption there (Halliburton ring a bell?), but I don't see you pointing it out. IN fact the GOP is the king of corruption in the US since 1970, with Watergate, Iran-Contra, and the dirty dealings with Halliburton and all their no-bid contracts where the screw over taxpayers. Why don't you start with that, them maybe your whining about the UN would have some merit.
Iakobos From Belgium, joined Aug 2003, 3304 posts, RR: 38 Reply 16, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 18 hours ago) and read 823 times:
JamesAg,
Would not it be wise to wait a few days until Volcker's report is published instead of ballooning over something that does not even appear in the article you referred to ?
I might not know everything, but two names ONLY are consistently mentioned and the two individuals have been suspended (one is retired anyway).
What kind of logic makes you walk (from 2 persons into widespread UN corruption) ?
Further than that, procedural weaknesses have been documented, the culprit has been named: insufficient human resources aka lack of funds.
JamesAg96 From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 2095 posts, RR: 8 Reply 17, posted (8 years 3 months 1 week 16 hours ago) and read 801 times:
"but I don't see you pointing it out."
That is because you have made it your life's work to do so...no need for me to help.
"them maybe your whining about the UN would have some merit."
You can read...right? You do know I am not "whining" about the UN...what I did was post a link to an article accompanied with quotes from said article that talks about what the UN is doing.
"What kind of logic makes you walk (from 2 persons into widespread UN corruption) ?"
Like I have said before, I think what we are seeing here is just the tip of the iceberg. Remember this was a non-story a few months ago that was dismissed as just more right wing propoganda fashioned by the Republican media machine at Fox News.
And...this has been going on for sometime:
"But Benon Sevan denied the internal auditors' request to hire a consultant to examine his office in May 2001 -- an act top investigators of the program are now calling into question."
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