Annan pushes independent inquiry into Oil for Food corruption.
Kofi Annan has sent a proposal to the UN Security Council asking for an independent inquiry into the UN–Iraq Oil for Food program. (*) Millions or even billions of dollars may have been siphoned off in corrupt transactions and bribes. (†) The probe will look into entities outside the UN. (‡)
Some have made charges that France and Russia were motivated by oil contracts and bribes to oppose what would have been the eighteenth UN Security Council resolution on Iraq (often misleadlingly (§) called the “second resolution” by the media).
The strategic implications of the inquiry’s findings could be large. If the primary champion of the antiwar cause, France, is seen to have been motivated by money to oppose the liberation of Iraq, the side of freedom will gain an opportunity to increase the coherence of its side against appeasement.