uh oh - did little georgie approve "OIL SMUGGLING" from Iraq ???

[welshTerrier2]

oh, this doesn't look good at all ... wasn't the US supposed to make sure Saddam didn't sell an ounce of oil and, if he did, it had to be used to benefit the Iraqi people? the entire "UN Oil-for-Food" program was designed to ensure that sanctions against Saddam did not cause suffering on a humanitarian level ...

and now we get this report (see below) that describes the illicit sale of Iraqi oil apparently with US GOVERNMENT APPROVAL ... somebody made millions on this deal that saw Iraqi oil being illegally sold at a ridiculous price of just $7 a barrel ... somebody made millions and the US Government knew all about it and looked the other way ... somebody made millions ... hundreds of millions ... who could it be? Carlyle? Halliburton? Exxon-Mobil?

well, low price or not, $7 a barrel or not, somebody paid Saddam for his oil in direct violation of UN sanctions ... and the US Government knew it and said nothing ... 7.7 Million barrels of oil ...

and when did this happen with the US Government's knowledge? when did this smuggling that directly violated UN sanctions occur? During February and March of 2003 - just weeks before the US invaded Iraq because Saddam was NOT in compliance with UN sanctions ... talk about a tangled web ... the hypocrisy boggles the mind ... hello, Democrats ???

source: http://www.news.com.au/story/print/0,10119,16532126,00.html

The largest oil consignment smuggled out of Iraq took place with US approval just weeks before the April 2003 invasion, according to a United Nations report. <skip>

The report blamed UN officials and the Security Council for mismanagement that allowed former leader Saddam Hussein to divert more than $10 billion from kickbacks and smuggling. But it also faulted the United States and other Security Council members for ignoring violations of UN sanctions. All funds raised from the sale of the oil was supposed to be used to buy humanitarian goods. <skip>

The 1,000-page report showed shipping records from a tanker included instructions for the ship's captain saying the US Navy was "already aware about your passage and itinerary."

The investigation said the smuggling in early 2003 was "the single largest episode of oil smuggling" under the oil-for-food program and occurred "with the approval of the United States government."

"The governments of Jordan and the United States have declined the Committee's requests for interviews and information concerning the smuggling of oil from Khor al-Amaya," the report said.

[Clark2008]

1. Yeah, but will this story see the light of day in the states?

This is from an Aussie newspaper, non?

[cyberpj]

14. No. Did THIS one?

The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) today exposed internal oil company memos that show how the industry intentionally reduced domestic refining capacity to drive up profits, RAW STORY has learned.

The three internal memos from Mobil, Chevron and Texaco illustrate how the oil juggernauts reduced refining capacity and drove independent refiners out of business in an effort to increase prices. The highly confidential memos reveal a nationwide effort by American Petroleum Institute, the lobbying and research arm of the oil industry, to encourage major refiners to close their refineries in the mid-1990s.

more...
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Group_Internal_memos_show_oil_companies_limited_refineries_to_drive_up__0907.html

[welshTerrier2]

15. great find, cyberpj ...

you should post this in its own thread !!

and do me a favor and ask the very fundamental whether we can expect "leading" Democrats to take this to the MSM ...

the Democrats' push for alternative energy policies is meaningless if they don't have the guts to take on Big Oil ...

[cyberpj]

17. It was originally posted here at DU by Raw Story I think.

I've already mailed my congresspeople but one is Biden and he's already bought and paid for by corporate lobbies so I'm not holding my breath.

You know, this is one big problem with US news - it's been Katrina 24/7 every day and not much else can get though even if they wanted it to!

[struggle4progress]

16. Censored!

<snip> That's just one of the big stories the mainstream news media ignored, blacked out, or underreported over the past year, according to Project Censored, a media watchdog group based at California's Sonoma State University. <snip>

6. The real oil-for-food scam
... According to the GAO, Hussein smuggled $6 billion worth of oil out of Iraq -- most of it through the Persian Gulf. Yet the U.N. fleet charged with intercepting any such smugglers was under direct command of American officers, and consisted overwhelmingly of U.S. Navy ships. In 2001, for example, 90 of its vessels belonged to the United States, while Britain contributed only four, Joy Gordon wrote in a December article for Harper's magazine. <snip>

"It has been estimated that 80 percent of the oil illegally smuggled out of Iraq under 'oil for food' ended up in the United States," Ritter wrote in the U.K. Independent.

Sources: "The UN Is Us: Exposing Saddam Hussein's Silent Partner," Joy Gordon, Harper's, December 2004; "The Oil for Food 'Scandal' Is a Cynical Smokescreen," Scott Ritter, UK Independent, Dec. 12, 2004. <snip>

http://www.athensnews.com/issue/article.php3?story_id=21489

[knowbody0]

2. yep

the logic of it all.
ameriKa! we're number 1 !

[NoFederales]

3. Was John Bolton suppose to suppress this report?

NoFederales

[OregonBlue]

4. Copy this report and keep sending, sending, sending to MSM until it

starts getting reported!!

[cyberpj]

18. include this one too -

The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) today exposed internal oil company memos that show how the industry intentionally reduced domestic refining capacity to drive up profits, RAW STORY has learned.

The three internal memos from Mobil, Chevron and Texaco illustrate how the oil juggernauts reduced refining capacity and drove independent refiners out of business in an effort to increase prices. The highly confidential memos reveal a nationwide effort by American Petroleum Institute, the lobbying and research arm of the oil industry, to encourage major refiners to close their refineries in the mid-1990s.

more...
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Group_Internal_memos_show_oil_companies_limited_refineries_to_drive_up__0907.html

[OregonBlue]

23. Sent to Feinstein? Don't care for her but she is pissed about the

rip off of California. Wyden is also working hard on this issue.

[Roland99]

7. That would be a safe bet.

[kansasblue]

5. that would be interesting because the admin used....

that 'corruption' argument as one of the reason to invade.

[emcguffie]

6. Norm Coleman at UN just now --

Bolton brought him in, and at the Security Council stakeout he called for Annan's resignation.

[welshTerrier2]

8. for this important story ,,,

an evening kick ...

[SpiralHawk]

9. Move along now. Nothing to see here.

We have always been at war with Terra.

Choco-rations will probably go up 2 mg. per citizen-consumer unit next quarter.

Do not kick or recommend this thread.

Negligence is compassion.

Big BushCo loves you.

[tom_paine]

10. Well, how else are the Busheviks going to steal their loot

You want them to REPORT what their stealing?

that would be like the Mafia keeping record-books of their kickback and payola.

[Lecky]

11. My country's hypocrisy makes me want to vomit at times

Why in the hell isn't this all over the news? It really should be!

The sales were arranged by a businessman in Jordan named "Mr Shaheen" who told an Iraqi official he had "the Pentagon in one pocket and the CIA in the other."

The oil was bought at a heavily discounted price of around $7 a barrel, the report said.

If it had been sold at fair market value within the oil-for-food program, it could have earned $200 million to buy humanitarian goods.

...

[dflprincess]

12. Gee, I wonder if Normie Coleman will stop investigating

Kofi Anan and look into this.

[ClayZ]

13. kicked...for THIEF in Chief catching!

:kick:

[rucky]

19. Even $7 is too high when you can invade and steal it. n/t

[Lecky]

20. Kick n/t

[julianer]

21. This is what Galloway talked about

at the Senate hearing - his and others' condemnation being 'the mother of all smokescreens'

He also talked about an unknown amount of unmetered oil sold for cash and shipped through the blockade with US government knowledge.

Didn't the Democrats on the committee also present a pretty comprehensive account of who stole what and when?

[aion]

22. Unethical, but likely legal

That's the story with the pigs. You can argue the ethics of this until you're blue in the face. If Bush did plunder another economy for the sake of even a few of his miscreant B'Ashy Nazi friends, that still translates into helping 'murica. They argue backwards from their own conclusions, utilizing a sort of fractal logic ad infinitum. You have to figure a way outside of that system in order to see what is wrong with their thinking. They can justify anything...and they do. And they love their paper-shredders.