US Ignored Warning on Iraqi Oil Smuggling

Bush Regime an Accomplice to Pre-War Iraqi Oil Smuggling
For months, the US Congress has been investigating activities that violated the United Nations oil-for-food programme and helped Saddam Hussein build secret funds to acquire arms and buy influence. President George W. Bush has linked future US funding of the international body to a clear account of what went on under the multi-billion dollar programme. But a joint investigation by the Financial Times and Il Sole 24 Ore, the Italian business daily, shows that the single largest and boldest smuggling operation in the oil-for-food programme was conducted with the knowledge of the US government. "Although the financial beneficiaries were Iraqis and Jordanians, the fact remains that the US government participated in a major conspiracy that violated sanctions and enriched Saddam's cronies," a former UN official said. "That is exactly what many in the US are now accusing other countries of having done. I think it's pretty ironic."
Financial Times - January 14, 2005

This is a pretty Big Deal. Here's the comment I wrote for my web site:
Bush, the radical Republicans, and the warmongers have tried to use the 'Oil-for-Food' program as a vehicle to bash the United Nations and countries opposed to the unprovoked U.S. attack on Iraq. But as you would expect from this gang of liars and hypocrites, the Bush White House was just as involved in the alleged wrong-doing as the people it castigates.