UN and the Oil for Food program

Read this article on the Oil for food program.

The UN turned a blind eye to signs that Saddam was bribing cronies at home and abroad with black market oil vouchers, and was skimming billions from funds meant for food and medicine, demanding secret, 10 per cent "kickbacks" on humanitarian contracts. The UN recently claimed it "learned of the 10 per cent kickback scheme only after the end of major combat operations" in 2003. A lie, said Mr Soussan, recalling the hapless Swedish company that called in 2000, seeking UN help after being asked to pay kickbacks. The Swedes' plea was quickly lost in red tape and inter-office turf wars. After a "Kafka-esque" flurry of internal memos, the Swedes were told to complain to their own government. ... "The oil-for-food programme was a deal with the devil. The problem is, that we didn't act as if this was the devil, we acted as if this was a legitimate regime," he said.

In my opinion, this scandal strikes directly to the heart of the United Nations. The only true authority the U.N. has is moral authority. Scandals like this directly harm that authority. If the U.N. acted in a moral manner, it could be a force for good. via Roger Simon