This was the most glaring scandal of all

UN sanctions destroyed Iraq but no one will be tried for the crime

Alain Gresh
Friday August 19, 2005
The Guardian

The US Congress is incensed about a scandal. From 1996 to 2003 the UN's oil-for-food programme allegedly enabled Saddam Hussein to misappropriate hundreds of millions of dollars. Certain UN officials - particularly Benon Sevan, the man in charge of the programme - are alleged to have pocketed large kickbacks. It is also claimed that foreign politicians took similar advantage of the system. These are serious accusations that warrant detailed investigation.

But one thing needs to be said at the outset: there is a wealth of documentation on the oil-for-food programme since 1996. It contains all the relevant information, including lists of all items supplied to Iraq. Those lists, like all details of Iraqi transactions, were drawn up meticulously by the UN security council's sanctions committee, which consisted of security council representatives and operated by consensus.