The "story" behind the story of the so-called "oil for food" scandal

[kentuck]

It is somewhat odd that the US is the only country pushing this "scandal" story. As we know, Saddam was trading oil to Jordan, Syria, and Turkey for profit, and he was doing it with our blessing. But, France and Germany and Russia were also buying oil on the sly, it seems?

So, why is "someone" in the US pushing the scandal story? Who is affected and who stands to profit from such a story? Is it the CIA? The White House? The conservative media? Or all of the above?

Why? Because it is expected that the elections in Iraq will take place at the end of January, legitimate or not, they will take place. Soon thereafter, a trial will be scheduled for the ex-dictator, Saddam Hussein. In order to have some legitimate charges against him in a "perceived" court of law in the new democracy, this is a story that has been set up solely for the prosecution of Saddam Hussein, in this writer's humble opinion. And the whole "scandal" story is political invention of the US and perhaps, Britain, to legitimize hteir own illegal and criminal invasion of a sovereign country. Only by the prosecution of Saddam Hussein will they be legitimized.

[hlthe2b]

1. Oh, perhaps, but I think Bush* is content simply to smear the UN

with the added benefit of taking down Kofi Anan, if successful... Revenge for standing in the way of the Boy King, pure and simple...

[kentuck]

2. I'm sure that is an added incentive for Bush....

He has Kofi on his shit list since Kofi did not support his criminal enterprise.

[ooglymoogly]

7. the story behind the story behind the story behind the story

bush is an incompetent vengeful, wrathfull sob

[gWbush is Mabus]

3. great point - the fraudulent Iraqi elections are so that Saddam can be

executed as soon as possible.

before he starts blabbing about Reagan/ Bush giving him chemical weapons and before he can talk about Cheney/ Halliburton business deals gone bad

[madrchsod]

4. wait a minute---we were buying iraqi oil

and didn`t cheney want the sanctions lifted?

[kentuck]

5. Are you suggesting that Bush is working behind the scenes to remove Cheney

Because he doesn't want to be over-shadowed anymore by the "real" president?? :)

[Loki]

6. I think is it wise to remember who has been involved with this

from it's beginnings and that is none other than Ahmed Chalabi. The names of the high profile people in the UN and countries now involved were coming from the Oil Ministry files provided by Chalabi, but which Bremer and others were never allowed to see. When his office was raided, Bremer obtained some of the files, but not all and lo and behold, we find out through Mr. Chalabi that his computer hard drive and files with the remaining information were mysteriously hacked and wiped clean. Does else smell a foul odor coming from this? Just do a Google on Chalabi and the UN Oil for Food scandal. Our conservative propaganda network, Faux has been pushing this story from it's beginnings.

[RafterMan]

8. Nah.

The vast majority of Iraqis really did hate him, had real reasons to hate him, and will have no trouble coming up with a long list of crimes with which to charge him.

The purpose of the story is to cast doubt on France, Germany and Russia's motives for opposing the war, thus defusing the "everyone was against it" argument.

[noonwitch]

9. It's an attempt by Bush to legitimize the war and besmirch the critics

He wants to be the savior of Iraq from Saddam. If he can prove that the main three countries who were against the war (France, Germany, Russia)were benefitting from trade with Saddam, he can cast doubts on their objections to the war.

[kentuck]

11. So you believe Bush is behind the story ?

Or are others involved also?

[wtmusic]

10. Just another character assassination

Methinks the possibility of future war crimes judgements against the US weigh heavier than Hussein, who has little chance of surviving the next five years with/without a trial.

[EC]

12. If you read about it in the foreign newspapers

they also list the American companies involved. The American papers will not name them because of Privacy laws.

[Sparkle]

13. Faux News is doing their job in spreading it, that's for sure.

The bushies must pay well.

[cally]

14. I think it's a smokescreen

used to hide all the illegal actions by American companies....Haliburton. The press picks up on Kofi Annan and misses the big picture of the involvement of American corporations.

[kentuck]

15. There's certainly a story that the press is not uncovering???

and it's probably right before their eyes...?

[hughee99]

16. I'm confused

So the "story" behind the "so-called oil-for-food scandal" is that the * administration has created the "scandal" as a "political invention" in order to have a reason to charge Hussein? Can no one find anything else this man has done wrong?

When something doesn't go the way we want, why do so many people ask "who's going to profit from X" and then blame them? It's good to be skeptical of the news, and you should ask who's going to profit, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're the mastermind behind it. Sometimes our trust in certain people or institutions is genuinely misplaced.

IMHO, This is a LEGITIMATE scandal. Unfortunately, it looks very much like people in the UN and in many countries (including our own) in a position of public trust have betrayed that trust for money. More unfortunately, those people turned out to not all be repukes or * backers. The press may be playing it up for more than it's worth, and those pushing the scandal are doing so for political reasons, but something bad really did happen here. It SHOULD at least be investigated and discussed to some degree. It is not just a simple "political invention".

[kentuck]

17. So you're confused ? Welcome.

So do you believe what FOX and the media are saying? We are only trying to explore the rest of the story. Most of us simply do not trust what this Administration says or what the right-wing media says, even about this so-called "scandal". I would be more inclined ot believe and trust Kofi Annan, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, than I would George W Bush. Just my own personal opinion. You say, "..but something bad really did happen here. It SHOULD at least be investigated and discussed to some degree.." What do you think happened? We are open to all opinions.

[hughee99]

18. Should we trust Kofi Annan?

Didn't he agree to have someone come in and investigate this at the UN? I think this shows that he at least thinks something improper may have happened. The investigation is ongoing, and I'll wait for the results but there is certainly the appearance that something has gone wrong here. Does anyone believe that all of the money from the oil for food program has gone to where it was intended, the Iraqi people? Should this be ignored? Should we NOT investigate it JUST because we trust that nothing bad could happen on Annan's watch? I think there is something going on here, I'm not accusing anyone yet, nor am I calling for anyone's head before the facts are in. Even though the media is over reporting this issue, I still believe that there are questions that need to be answered. Just because the * people are trying to use this for political gain doesn't mean that there was no scandal.