Condi deep in Iraq Oil for Food Scandal

[TOVisitor]

For many conservatives, the U.N.’s oil-for-food scandal was an assault on all that is good and holy. In a nutshell, Saddam Hussein took advantage of a U.N. program in which Iraq would sell oil and use the revenue for food, medicine, and humanitarian goods, as exceptions to a trade embargo imposed after the first Gulf War. Saddam, however, received illegal kickbacks on the oil sales, which he transferred to private accounts.

And who was giving Saddam the illegal kickbacks? According to a New York Times report, Chevron is poised to announce that it should have known about the kickbacks that were being paid to Saddam.

If only Chevron had some kind of internal policy committee, as part of the company’s board of directors, with a knowledgeable expert responsible for looking out for these kinds of problems. Oh wait, it did — and it was led by Condoleezza Rice.

According to the Volcker report, surcharges on Iraqi oil exports were introduced in August 2000 by the Iraqi state oil company, the State Oil Marketing Organization. At the time, Condoleezza Rice, now secretary of state, was a member of Chevron’s board and led its public policy committee, which oversaw areas of potential political concerns for the company.

Ms. Rice resigned from Chevron’s board on Jan. 16, 2001, after being named national security advisor by President Bush.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/05/09/a-side-of-rice-in-the-oil-for-food-scandal/

Another blogger comments:

Our show will take you back in time to a world where the entire political and media establishment rose up in horror at the merest rumor of impropriety among the president's advisors and cabinet --- to a time when editorial writers would have thundered about the unacceptability of a former National Security Advisor and current Secretary of State having even been remotely associated with such illegality and malfeasance. Indeed, in that era, it would have been considered inconceivable that someone under such a cloud could possibly be allowed to continue to represent the nation abroad in times of such great peril. Calls for resignation would be loud and boisterous.

<SNIP>

I fully expect the press to stop chuckling once a Democrat is in the white house, however. They will take stock and realize that they need to provide the kind of skeptical, muckraking coverage they used to before the Bush administration came in. The mea culpas and promises to do better will abound --- they will have "learned from their mistakes" and will pursue even the slightest appearance of impropriety going forward. And the Right Wing Noise Machine will be there to help them with the foot work. They make quite a team.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/too-busy-laughing-by-digby-hullabaloo.html

 

[Aardvark154]

I breathlessly await your appointment to a senior position in a future Democratic administration.

 

[TOVisitor]

Don't like the message, vark? Attack the messenger. Nice.

 

[papasmerf]

So TOV why do you work so hard to discredit the country you left??????


You left because you would be arrested???????