Moonage Political Webdream

Sheez, where do I even begin with this one? Let’s start with just a little rudimentary background.

August 2, 1990 - Iraq invades Kuwait over oil disputes.

August 6, 1990 - The United Nations imposes trade sanctions against Iraq.

1991 - 2002 - Hussein repeatedly violates terms of the cease-fire, therefore keeping the sanctions in place.

1995 - The United Nations enacts the Oil For Food program for humanitarian relief in Iraq.

From 1995 - 2002 Hussein skimmed off a reported $10 billion from the Oil For Food program. Practically none of it has been recovered.

A lot of people were complaining that something wasn’t right in Iraq. Iraq’s commerce had been sut down since 1991. Both their northern and southern 1/3’s of the country were under no-fly enforcement by the UN since 1992. But yet, Hussein was building palaces? "And almost as expensive. A 1999 State Department study reported Saddam’s regime had spent $2.2 billion building about 48 palaces since the 1991 Gulf War. Some estimates put the total number of palaces between 70 and 80."

OK, earth to Bill Clinton and Kofi Annan. how can an impoverished country, under economic sanctions and foreign military enforcement, be spending BILLIONS on palaces?

A lot of people were speculating then that Hussein was skimming the Oil for Food program. But Clinton didn’t seem too concerned. Annan didn’t seem too concerned.

In 1996 The Sudan expelled Osama Bin Laden and seized most of his assets. His family had already pretty much disowned him for his militaristic activities. He relocated to Afghanistan, an impoverished country under the rule of the Taliban. He issued his fatwah against the United States in 1998. Also in 1998, Al Qaeda, Bin Laden’s army, attacked the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Bin Laden was spending money to the tune of about $30 million in his attacks against US interests. In 2001, Bin Laden coordinated his biggest attack yet, attacking the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The 9/11 Commission cited a lack of imagination, but makes no efforts to connect the dots. Hussein was at war with the US, Bin Laden was at war with the US. Hussein was skimming billions from the Oil For Food program. Bin Laden needed chump change to attack the US. It doesn’t take much imagination to connect those dots. In 2002 the US invaded Iraq. Bin Laden’s not been seen since.

At the onset of the Oil For Food program. Marc Rich signed on as a oil trader. He had been in serious trouble in the US for trading oil with Iran during the US’s Iran oil embargo. At the time Marc Rich was approved to be a trader with the Oil For Food program, he was a fugitive from the US justice system because of those deals with Iran, he had been for over a decade. Obviously, the UN was not screening who was allowed to profit from the Oil For Food program. Marc Rich donated heavily to Isreali interests, and the Clintons as well, while being a fugitive from justice. However, the whole issue became moot January 20, 2001. Clinton gave Rich a pardon. Rather than investigating the obvious failures of the United Nations, Clinton chose to ignore them and protect those involved. Apparently anyone could get money from the Oil For Food program, if Marc Rich could.

Now, after all the damage has been done, and people have complained for nearly a decade, some media and some politicians, are claiming that the Oil for Food program helped fund Bin Laden.

Duh. I guess bloggers are going to have to carry the load for this insight as well. Here it is in a nutshell:

The UN’s sloppy oversight of the Oil For Food program allowed Hussein to skim approximately $10 billion from illegal oil sales, of which Marc Rich was an accomplice. Hussein spent some of the money funding Bin Laden, who had the mutual goal of destruction of the United States. Foxnews has an even more expansive article on this topic, it’s a MUST READ!

Which leads us to, and I’ve said this for years on other boards, Bush invading Iraq is tantamount to the war on terror, is justified by enough evidence, and does have a REAL impact on the security of the United States.

Kerry can say what he wants now, but as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee during the Oil For Food program and the Iran and Iraq oil embargos, he failed to protect the US interests by not even questioning Marc Rich’s involvement or Clinton’s pardon of Rich. And for that reason, among many others, he is unfit for command. He now is claiming he would have handled Iraq differently, that scares me. Clinton handled Iraq differently as well, look what it got us.

Technorati Tags: International Politics

Tags: International Politics

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