Oil for Food Scandal??

[Bleacher Creature]

Did anyone hear something over the weekend about a potential oil-fo-food scandal involving some of Bush's cronies?

Just curious.

[mchill]

1. Andrea Mitchell

hinted something about something scandelous to come out at the end of Christ Matthew's Show. Something about Texas Oil men. Chris pressed her.."R" or "D"? Andrea "R". That's all I heard.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

2. Exxon and Chevron have received subpoenas in the investigation

An ABC News article of July 20, 2002 reports on the fact that most of Saddam's oil was going to the US:

"...An authoritative Iraqi source says that as much as 90 percent of the actual amount of Iraq's estimated 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) are going to U.S. Gulf coast refineries.

"Most of Iraq's oil exports in July are destined to the U.S., with a few going to Europe," reported the authoritative oil journal Middle East Economic Survey.

There's such demand for Iraqi crude in the United States, the report says, that Saddam is banking on it to mitigate the Bush administration's enmity toward his dictatorship in Iraq, and therefore, any attempts to oust him..."

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/iraq010720_cooley.html



AS OF 2000, ACCORDING TO THE CIA, THE US WAS BY FAR THE SINGLEST BIGGEST IMPORTER OF HUSSEIN'S OIL IN THE OIL-FOR-FOOD PROGRAM:

From the CIA World Fact Book as of 2000:

Iraq Exports before the Iraq war - commodities:
crude oil
Exports - partners:
US 46.2%, Italy 12.2%, France 9.6%, Spain 8.6% (2000)



EXXON AND CHEVRON ARE NOW A FOCUS OF INVESTIGATION OF THE OIL-FOR-FOOD SCANDAL AND SUBPOENAS HAVE BEEN ISSUED:

"...NEW YORK - ExxonMobil Corp. and ChevronTexaco Corp. confirmed that they are among companies receiving a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York investigating alleged improprieties in the United Nation's oil-for-food program in Iraq. A spokeswoman for Exxon, Irving, Texas, said the subpoena from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York requested documents related to the program, and that 'we are responding appropriately.' A ChevronTexaco spokesman in San Ramon, Calif., (Editor: "this explains why Enron/Rockefeller desperately need Arnold Stooge-a-feller to be governor of the Caliph-fornia Reichstag" to burn the evidence!") said the company is cooperating 'to the extent that we are able.

U.S. refiners Valero Energy Corp., San Antonio, and Premcor Inc., Old Greenwich, Conn., which also are big purchasers of Iraqi oil under the U.N. program, said yesterday that they haven't received subpoenas from the U.S. Attorney's office. (Editor: "sorry, the New York Attorney General..the onLY functioning State Attorney General's Office Still Refusing to Comply With Ashcroft's Orders...is just after the "Bush-owned" Oil Giants!)

The criminal investigation adds to a number of probes into allegations that Saddam Hussein siphoned billions of dollars from the humanitarian program through a system of overcharges, bribes and kickbacks.

In 2002, The Wall Street Journal reported on a system of kickbacks established by Saddam Hussein in which intermediaries paid illegal surcharges of 20 cents to 50 cents on each barrel of Iraqi oil sold. The middlemen paid the surcharges directly to Saddam Hussein's regime, and then passed along the fees to the final buyers. U.S. refiners and oil companies purchased the majority of Iraqi oil, which was generally cheaper than other oil on the market, even with the surcharges tacked on..."

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:hY_MhOeGln0J:www.memes.org/modules.php%3Fop%3Dmodload%26name%3DNews%26file%3Darticle%26sid%3D3187+exxon+chevron+kickbacks+iraq&hl=en



EXXON AND CHEVRON WERE AMONG THE LARGEST CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTORS TO THE REPUBLICANS IN BOTH 2000 AND 2004:

Exxon/Mobil and Chevron/Texaco were among the top Republican Party contriburors in 2004:
http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/contrib.asp?Ind=E01

And in 2000, Exxon and Chevron combined contributed about $2.5 million to the Republicans:
http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/contrib.asp?Ind=E01&Cycle=2000

[NVMojo]

3. this just out today

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/10/44f2eed2-6298-4a3a-950d-62a89f540693.html

Monday, 11 October 2004

Analysis: New Evidence Of Corruption In Iraq Oil Voucher Scheme

By Roman Kupchinsky

Two separate reports have recently surfaced describing in greater detail allegations of corruption in the United Nations-administered oil-for-food (OFF) program in Iraq and the so-called "oil voucher" scheme by which various individuals and companies were given gifts of oil by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in return for political support. The main beneficiaries of this scheme, according to these reports, are alleged to have been Russian, French, and Chinese companies and individuals.

The first report was prepared at the behest of the Iraqi interim administration by the auditing firm KPMG and the British law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Labeled "highly confidential," the report was leaked to London's "Sunday Times" on 3 October.

Three days later, on 6 October, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) released a three-volume report by Charles A. Duelfer, head of the Iraq Survey Group. After a detailed investigation, the report concluded that Hussein did not possess weapons of mass destruction at the time of the U.S.-led invasion last year, but it also contained a lengthy description of irregularities in the OFF program and the oil-voucher schemes.
"All oil majors were involved in this.... All companies that took part in Iraq projects were connected to this."

More at link above.

[rocktivity]

4. Yes--which explains the Sinclair story, doesn't it!

:headbang:
rocknation

[DemsUnited]

5. Not surprised.

When the report first came out, Terry McAuliffe was debating can't remember which Republican spokesperson on FOX cable. Now FOX has been pushing the oil for food scandal for weeks, from the perspective of how bad it looks for the UN, France, Germany, etc. So the Fox commentator asked Terry, shouldn't this all be investigated now that it's come up in the Duefler report? And Terry said, absolutely! But if we're going to name foreign company names then we need to name US company names, and some of those names are VERY interesting.

The Repub. spokesman looked like he was about to cry and fumbled pretty badly when the question came to him.

My first reaction was (of course) Halliburton but any company that can be tied to Bush will do!

[exsoccermom]

6. There were American corporations and individual involved

There were 20+ American corporations and/or individuals involved according to the report but they were not named in the report (Privacy Act, in theory, prevented naming people, but that should not cover corporations). There have been articles on it in the Washington Post and other papers. The bush buddies (and Cheney) would be prime suspects. I haven't heard any more since Saturday, but it would seem that someone should be looking for the names.