Companies Said Paid Illegal Surcharges to Iraq

[Barrett808]

Cos. Said Paid Illegal Surcharges to Iraq
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
15 minutes ago

UNITED NATIONS - About 2,200 companies in the U.N. oil-for-food program, including corporations in France, Germany and Russia, paid a total of $1.8 billion in kickbacks and illicit surcharges to

Saddam Hussein's government, a U.N.-backed investigation said in a report released Thursday.

The report from the committee probing claims of wrongdoing in the $64 billion program said prominent politicians also made money from extensive manipulation of the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq.

The investigators reported that companies and individuals from 66 countries paid illegal kickbacks using a variety of ways, and those paying illegal oil surcharges came from, or were registered in, 40 countries.

Germany-based automaker DaimlerChrysler, meanwhile, appears to have paid just $7,000 on a contract worth $70,000. DaimlerChrysler AG didn't immediately return a call seeking comment from its offices in Stuttgart, Germany.

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051027/ap_on_re_mi_ea/un_oil_for_food

[shraby]

1. Seems they forgot the Corp. that just got

busted for it here in the U.S. Don't have a link, but it just recently made the news.

[madmom]

2. I think they need to post the names of every company...

involved, how many are US company affiliates?

[underpants]

3. So many ways to go with this one

1.8 Billion out of a 80 billion program-the whole thing PALES in comparison to how the same basic program has been administered since the Wunderkind Bushies got control of it.

The UN actually polices itself-we should hope for as much in an investigation of the CPA in IRaq and all funds "spent" in Iraq ;-)

Galloway is mentioned so expect RW and MSM to be all over that in the next week.

They do need to list ( *cough* Dresser) all the companies.