Oil-For-Food: Boutros-Ghali and France
The central contract in all of the Oil-for-Food (O-F-F) program was the Escrow Account contract that ulitmately went to Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) in 1996, when the UN was under the leadership of Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
According to the Interim Report of the UN's Independent Inquiry Committee on O-F-F, BNP was not one of the banks on the "long list" of 16 eligible banks prepared by UN Controller Yukio Takasu. But Boutros-Ghali met secretly with the French ambassador, who advised him of three French banks, including BNP, that the Iraqis would accept.
Takasu's short list included five banks, but not BNP. The bank "did not meet Treasury's criteria, but it nonetheless was included because of Iraq's response to the long list," the report states. The US nixed the highest-ranking bank, Credit Suisse, because Swiss bank laws are insufficiently transparent and Switzerland is not a UN member.
Studying the short list, Boutros-Ghali did what any independent leader of a global organization should do: He picked up the phone and dialed Iraq. "Apparently," the report states, "the Government of Iraq indicated a preference for BNP, and the Secretary-General acquiesced."
No surprise. The French/Iraq connection was deep and sick. WMDs, nuclear technology, having the Secretary-General of the UN in your pocket, stealing money from starving children -- all were within the realm of this alliance. France was, indeed, in the filthy spider hole with Saddam, at least figuratively.
According to the Interim Report of the UN's Independent Inquiry Committee on O-F-F, BNP was not one of the banks on the "long list" of 16 eligible banks prepared by UN Controller Yukio Takasu. But Boutros-Ghali met secretly with the French ambassador, who advised him of three French banks, including BNP, that the Iraqis would accept.
Takasu's short list included five banks, but not BNP. The bank "did not meet Treasury's criteria, but it nonetheless was included because of Iraq's response to the long list," the report states. The US nixed the highest-ranking bank, Credit Suisse, because Swiss bank laws are insufficiently transparent and Switzerland is not a UN member.
Studying the short list, Boutros-Ghali did what any independent leader of a global organization should do: He picked up the phone and dialed Iraq. "Apparently," the report states, "the Government of Iraq indicated a preference for BNP, and the Secretary-General acquiesced."
No surprise. The French/Iraq connection was deep and sick. WMDs, nuclear technology, having the Secretary-General of the UN in your pocket, stealing money from starving children -- all were within the realm of this alliance. France was, indeed, in the filthy spider hole with Saddam, at least figuratively.
posted by Laer at 1:22 AM
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