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UN condemns US
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Topic Started: May 22 2005, 10:42 AM (763 Views)
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Dr. Noah
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May 23 2005, 12:40 PM
Post #46
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Sistertrek's Asian Correspondant
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I agree that they should be investigated and prosecuted, but if one government body lost legitimacy due to sexual abuse, shouldn't that same rule apply all government bodies?
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Admiralbill_gomec
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May 23 2005, 12:42 PM
Post #47
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UberAdmiral
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- Dr. Noah
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I agree that they should be investigated and prosecuted, but if one government body lost legitimacy due to sexual abuse, shouldn't that same rule apply all government bodies?
We have not lost any legitimacy. Why? BECAUSE WE DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Your UN, on the other hand, has.
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24thcenstfan
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May 23 2005, 12:50 PM
Post #48
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Something Wicked This Fae Comes
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"Your UN"?
As long as the US foots the bill for a good percentage of the costs to run the UN and we remain a MEMBER nation, it will remain "our UN" or "all of our UN."
We have a vested interest in making sure the UN succeeds. We should not perpetuate this us vs. them attitude. It only makes negotiating and cooperation all that more difficult.
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Dr. Noah
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May 23 2005, 12:51 PM
Post #49
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Sistertrek's Asian Correspondant
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2005Jan10.html
U.N. Audits Detail Oil-for-Food Overpayments
By Colum Lynch and Justin Blum Washington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, January 11, 2005; Page A11
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 10 -- Failures in U.N. management of the Iraq oil-for-food program may have permitted excess payments of hundreds of millions of dollars to governments and companies, according to 55 internal audits of the humanitarian program. The excess payments were made even as then-President Saddam Hussein was stealing billions from the program.
Republican lawmakers and congressional staff members investigating the program said yesterday that the audits, released Sunday night by a U.N.-appointed investigative committee, reflect the need for further investigation. They said the audits underscore the need for greater accountability in an organization that is helping to oversee elections in Iraq and handling the disbursement of billions in aid to victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami. Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which also is investigating allegations of corruption in the oil-for-food program, said in a statement that a review of the audits "only underscores my long-held concern about the fraud, mismanagement and lack of adequate oversight" at the program.
In an effort to address concerns about its ability to manage large assistance funds, the United Nations announced Monday that it has hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to track the spending of billions of dollars for tsunami survivors.
The committee that released the audits and other internal U.N. documents is headed by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul A. Volcker. It is investigating allegations of corruption in the $64 billion program, which oversaw the sale of Iraqi oil for the purchase of humanitarian goods while the nation was under U.N. economic sanctions.
In a 35-page briefing paper, the Volcker committee said the audits highlighted the "wholesale failure of normal management and controls" over some of the program's operations. It also faulted the United Nations' internal auditors for failing to scrutinize areas of the program that were most vulnerable to corruption: the sale and purchase of oil and humanitarian goods.
Volcker, who is to release his initial findings at the end of the month, said last week that he found no hard evidence of fraud or corruption in the audits. But he is investigating whether the selection of audit targets "was subject to inappropriate management influence" by senior officials at the U.N. oil-for-food program, according to the briefing paper.
U.S. lawmakers had pressed for copies of the audits for months.
Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), in a statement, questioned why U.N. auditors did not investigate the program's most scandal-plagued aspects. "How was the U.N. internal watchdog effectively neutered?" asked Shays, chairman of the Government Reform Committee's subcommittee on national security, emerging threats and international relations. "Why were key recommendations never implemented?"
Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), ranking Democrat on the subcommittee on investigations, said, "The audit reports appear to add little new information about the extent to which Saddam Hussein misused the oil-for-food program or the allegations made against particular U.N. officials." He said the United Nations' "overdue" release of the audits "sets a healthy precedent."
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric acknowledged "deficiencies" in the program's management but added: "Let's not forget that the oil-for-food program did fulfill its main objective by providing humanitarian relief to 27 million Iraqis, and thereby helping to maintain political support for the sanctions, which, in turn, prevented Saddam Hussein's regime from acquiring weapons of mass destruction."
One internal audit alleged that the U.N. Compensation Commission "overcompensated certain parties by approximately $557 million."
The Geneva-based agency is responsible for using Iraqi oil revenues to compensate governments and companies that suffered financial losses during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. A separate audit alleged that the commission might have saved as much as $2.2 billion by setting currency exchange rates on the date an award was paid instead of the date a claimant suffered a loss.
Joseph Sills, a spokesman for the commission, disputed the findings. He said the U.N. auditors had no authority to challenge decisions the commission's panel made on the amount of compensation awards. "They don't have any say there," he said. "We don't feel there have been overpayments."
The audits also cited $5 million in potential losses due to "inadequate control and poor judgment." A review of the U.N. Habitat resettlement program in northern Iraq describes "a situation of mismanagement" that led to the loss of more than $2 million. In one instance, the agency made $500,000 per year in cash payments to building inspectors "who do not provide any services."
The audits also documented alleged overpayments of $1.4 million to three companies that monitored imports of humanitarian goods and to Saybolt Eastern Hemisphere, a Dutch firm that monitors Iraqi oil exports.
Jan Heinsbroek, president of Saybolt, said the company addressed the issues that the audits raised when the audits were conducted. "We were successful in explaining each point brought forward," Heinsbroek said. U.N. officials "accepted all of our explanations."
Cotecna, one of the import monitors, was never given copies of the audits by the United Nations, according to company spokesman Seth Goldschlager. Evelyn Suarez, a Washington lawyer for the Geneva-based company, said: "Cotecna is confident that a full consideration of the facts in proper context will demonstrate that Cotecna performed its function with due diligence and utmost professionalism." **********************************************************
It appears that the UN is investigating the scandal, unlike the 9 billion dollars unaccounted for by the US.
Also, I agree with 24. We need to work with the rest of the world due to the nature of the world's interdependency. It only causes more problems to work against them.
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Admiralbill_gomec
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May 23 2005, 03:59 PM
Post #50
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UberAdmiral
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- 24thcenstfan
- May 23 2005, 11:50 AM
"Your UN"?
As long as the US foots the bill for a good percentage of the costs to run the UN and we remain a MEMBER nation, it will remain "our UN" or "all of our UN."
We have a vested interest in making sure the UN succeeds. We should not perpetuate this us vs. them attitude. It only makes negotiating and cooperation all that more difficult.
Actually, we don't have a vested interest in making an organization run by third world lackeys succeed.
You see, with cooperation there has to be give and take. I'm sick and tired of giving to these pissants.
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Admiralbill_gomec
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May 23 2005, 04:01 PM
Post #51
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UberAdmiral
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- Dr. Noah
- May 23 2005, 11:51 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2005Jan10.htmlU.N. Audits Detail Oil-for-Food Overpayments By Colum Lynch and Justin Blum Washington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, January 11, 2005; Page A11 UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 10 -- Failures in U.N. management of the Iraq oil-for-food program may have permitted excess payments of hundreds of millions of dollars to governments and companies, according to 55 internal audits of the humanitarian program. The excess payments were made even as then-President Saddam Hussein was stealing billions from the program. Republican lawmakers and congressional staff members investigating the program said yesterday that the audits, released Sunday night by a U.N.-appointed investigative committee, reflect the need for further investigation. They said the audits underscore the need for greater accountability in an organization that is helping to oversee elections in Iraq and handling the disbursement of billions in aid to victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami. Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which also is investigating allegations of corruption in the oil-for-food program, said in a statement that a review of the audits "only underscores my long-held concern about the fraud, mismanagement and lack of adequate oversight" at the program. In an effort to address concerns about its ability to manage large assistance funds, the United Nations announced Monday that it has hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to track the spending of billions of dollars for tsunami survivors. The committee that released the audits and other internal U.N. documents is headed by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul A. Volcker. It is investigating allegations of corruption in the $64 billion program, which oversaw the sale of Iraqi oil for the purchase of humanitarian goods while the nation was under U.N. economic sanctions. In a 35-page briefing paper, the Volcker committee said the audits highlighted the "wholesale failure of normal management and controls" over some of the program's operations. It also faulted the United Nations' internal auditors for failing to scrutinize areas of the program that were most vulnerable to corruption: the sale and purchase of oil and humanitarian goods. Volcker, who is to release his initial findings at the end of the month, said last week that he found no hard evidence of fraud or corruption in the audits. But he is investigating whether the selection of audit targets "was subject to inappropriate management influence" by senior officials at the U.N. oil-for-food program, according to the briefing paper. U.S. lawmakers had pressed for copies of the audits for months. Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), in a statement, questioned why U.N. auditors did not investigate the program's most scandal-plagued aspects. "How was the U.N. internal watchdog effectively neutered?" asked Shays, chairman of the Government Reform Committee's subcommittee on national security, emerging threats and international relations. "Why were key recommendations never implemented?" Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), ranking Democrat on the subcommittee on investigations, said, "The audit reports appear to add little new information about the extent to which Saddam Hussein misused the oil-for-food program or the allegations made against particular U.N. officials." He said the United Nations' "overdue" release of the audits "sets a healthy precedent." U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric acknowledged "deficiencies" in the program's management but added: "Let's not forget that the oil-for-food program did fulfill its main objective by providing humanitarian relief to 27 million Iraqis, and thereby helping to maintain political support for the sanctions, which, in turn, prevented Saddam Hussein's regime from acquiring weapons of mass destruction." One internal audit alleged that the U.N. Compensation Commission "overcompensated certain parties by approximately $557 million." The Geneva-based agency is responsible for using Iraqi oil revenues to compensate governments and companies that suffered financial losses during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. A separate audit alleged that the commission might have saved as much as $2.2 billion by setting currency exchange rates on the date an award was paid instead of the date a claimant suffered a loss. Joseph Sills, a spokesman for the commission, disputed the findings. He said the U.N. auditors had no authority to challenge decisions the commission's panel made on the amount of compensation awards. "They don't have any say there," he said. "We don't feel there have been overpayments." The audits also cited $5 million in potential losses due to "inadequate control and poor judgment." A review of the U.N. Habitat resettlement program in northern Iraq describes "a situation of mismanagement" that led to the loss of more than $2 million. In one instance, the agency made $500,000 per year in cash payments to building inspectors "who do not provide any services." The audits also documented alleged overpayments of $1.4 million to three companies that monitored imports of humanitarian goods and to Saybolt Eastern Hemisphere, a Dutch firm that monitors Iraqi oil exports. Jan Heinsbroek, president of Saybolt, said the company addressed the issues that the audits raised when the audits were conducted. "We were successful in explaining each point brought forward," Heinsbroek said. U.N. officials "accepted all of our explanations." Cotecna, one of the import monitors, was never given copies of the audits by the United Nations, according to company spokesman Seth Goldschlager. Evelyn Suarez, a Washington lawyer for the Geneva-based company, said: "Cotecna is confident that a full consideration of the facts in proper context will demonstrate that Cotecna performed its function with due diligence and utmost professionalism." ********************************************************** It appears that the UN is investigating the scandal, unlike the 9 billion dollars unaccounted for by the US. Also, I agree with 24. We need to work with the rest of the world due to the nature of the world's interdependency. It only causes more problems to work against them.
You still live in this moral equivalence world, don't you?
Pity that you can't take off the blinders of hatred to the current administration to see the truth about this so-called "united nations" organization you revere and adore. Not very "tolerant" of you, is it. The UN is crooked from one end to the other and deserve nothing less than to be dissolved.
REMEMBER RWANDA!!
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Dr. Noah
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May 23 2005, 04:14 PM
Post #52
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Sistertrek's Asian Correspondant
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Corruption exists in all levels of government. Just ask Tom DeLay.
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Admiralbill_gomec
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May 23 2005, 04:37 PM
Post #53
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UberAdmiral
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- Dr. Noah
- May 23 2005, 03:14 PM
Corruption exists in all levels of government. Just ask Tom DeLay.
Oh so anxious to convict someone who hasn't done anything wrong. On the other hand, I'm sure you could call Nancy Pelosi and talk to her about corruption...
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24thcenstfan
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May 23 2005, 06:46 PM
Post #54
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Something Wicked This Fae Comes
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- Admiralbill_gomec
- May 23 2005, 04:59 PM
- 24thcenstfan
- May 23 2005, 11:50 AM
"Your UN"?
As long as the US foots the bill for a good percentage of the costs to run the UN and we remain a MEMBER nation, it will remain "our UN" or "all of our UN."
We have a vested interest in making sure the UN succeeds. We should not perpetuate this us vs. them attitude. It only makes negotiating and cooperation all that more difficult.
Actually, we don't have a vested interest in making an organization run by third world lackeys succeed. You see, with cooperation there has to be give and take. I'm sick and tired of giving to these pissants.
Reformation not dissolution...that is the answer.
No man is an island AB. No country is an island (figuratively speaking that is). We (our countries) are interdependent in so many ways. Trade being the primary example.
Because of that, there needs to be a centralized international body that will act as an intermediary between countries and a place to peacefully resolve differences.
A part of this reform must include more stringent requirements for gaining membership. Everything from type of gov't (citizen participation) to human rights records should be taken into consideration before a country is allowed to join. This would have to include a review of all current member nations as well to see if they meet the standards. I think this would weed out some of the "third world lackeys."
With a lot of reform, the UN can be a good international body...fairly benefiting all the members.
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psyfi
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May 23 2005, 07:27 PM
Post #55
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psyfi
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- 24thcenstfan
- May 23 2005, 06:46 PM
- Admiralbill_gomec
- May 23 2005, 04:59 PM
- 24thcenstfan
- May 23 2005, 11:50 AM
"Your UN"?
As long as the US foots the bill for a good percentage of the costs to run the UN and we remain a MEMBER nation, it will remain "our UN" or "all of our UN."
We have a vested interest in making sure the UN succeeds. We should not perpetuate this us vs. them attitude. It only makes negotiating and cooperation all that more difficult.
Actually, we don't have a vested interest in making an organization run by third world lackeys succeed. You see, with cooperation there has to be give and take. I'm sick and tired of giving to these pissants.
Reformation not dissolution...that is the answer. No man is an island AB. No country is an island (figuratively speaking that is). We (our countries) are interdependent in so many ways. Trade being the primary example. Because of that, there needs to be a centralized international body that will act as an intermediary between countries and a place to peacefully resolve differences. A part of this reform must include more stringent requirements for gaining membership. Everything from type of gov't (citizen participation) to human rights records should be taken into consideration before a country is allowed to join. This would have to include a review of all current member nations as well to see if they meet the standards. I think this would weed out some of the "third world lackeys." With a lot of reform, the UN can be a good international body...fairly benefiting all the members.
Well these would be welcome reforms indeed but can you really see them happening? Maybe the UN ought to be kicked out of America and a new organization started, one that implements the reforms you have stated. That is the only way I can see what you envision coming to pass.
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Wichita
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May 23 2005, 07:49 PM
Post #56
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The Adminstrator wRench
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I think an international body of nations is a good idea. At best, it would be a difficult one to maintain.
When the UN Secretary General's son can benefit personally from the actions of one specific company, the UN whitewash that company's involvement (as noted in the article Noah posted) and people still claim the UN is "investigating" the issue, then I think the UN just may be irretrievably broken.
Volkers committee NEVER had suponea powers, the UN refuses to allow its own vendors to talk to its own committee and two of its three lead investigators resigned in protest of the lack of follow-through on their findings.
Like I said ... at best, its a difficult thing to maintain. With such a history, I don't think the UN as a body can recover - especially under Kofi Annan.
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somerled
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May 23 2005, 11:03 PM
Post #57
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Admiral MacDonald RN
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- Admiralbill_gomec
- May 23 2005, 04:01 PM
- Dr. Noah
- May 23 2005, 11:51 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2005Jan10.htmlU.N. Audits Detail Oil-for-Food Overpayments By Colum Lynch and Justin Blum Washington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, January 11, 2005; Page A11 UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 10 -- Failures in U.N. management of the Iraq oil-for-food program may have permitted excess payments of hundreds of millions of dollars to governments and companies, according to 55 internal audits of the humanitarian program. The excess payments were made even as then-President Saddam Hussein was stealing billions from the program. Republican lawmakers and congressional staff members investigating the program said yesterday that the audits, released Sunday night by a U.N.-appointed investigative committee, reflect the need for further investigation. They said the audits underscore the need for greater accountability in an organization that is helping to oversee elections in Iraq and handling the disbursement of billions in aid to victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami. Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which also is investigating allegations of corruption in the oil-for-food program, said in a statement that a review of the audits "only underscores my long-held concern about the fraud, mismanagement and lack of adequate oversight" at the program. In an effort to address concerns about its ability to manage large assistance funds, the United Nations announced Monday that it has hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to track the spending of billions of dollars for tsunami survivors. The committee that released the audits and other internal U.N. documents is headed by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul A. Volcker. It is investigating allegations of corruption in the $64 billion program, which oversaw the sale of Iraqi oil for the purchase of humanitarian goods while the nation was under U.N. economic sanctions. In a 35-page briefing paper, the Volcker committee said the audits highlighted the "wholesale failure of normal management and controls" over some of the program's operations. It also faulted the United Nations' internal auditors for failing to scrutinize areas of the program that were most vulnerable to corruption: the sale and purchase of oil and humanitarian goods. Volcker, who is to release his initial findings at the end of the month, said last week that he found no hard evidence of fraud or corruption in the audits. But he is investigating whether the selection of audit targets "was subject to inappropriate management influence" by senior officials at the U.N. oil-for-food program, according to the briefing paper. U.S. lawmakers had pressed for copies of the audits for months. Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), in a statement, questioned why U.N. auditors did not investigate the program's most scandal-plagued aspects. "How was the U.N. internal watchdog effectively neutered?" asked Shays, chairman of the Government Reform Committee's subcommittee on national security, emerging threats and international relations. "Why were key recommendations never implemented?" Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), ranking Democrat on the subcommittee on investigations, said, "The audit reports appear to add little new information about the extent to which Saddam Hussein misused the oil-for-food program or the allegations made against particular U.N. officials." He said the United Nations' "overdue" release of the audits "sets a healthy precedent." U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric acknowledged "deficiencies" in the program's management but added: "Let's not forget that the oil-for-food program did fulfill its main objective by providing humanitarian relief to 27 million Iraqis, and thereby helping to maintain political support for the sanctions, which, in turn, prevented Saddam Hussein's regime from acquiring weapons of mass destruction." One internal audit alleged that the U.N. Compensation Commission "overcompensated certain parties by approximately $557 million." The Geneva-based agency is responsible for using Iraqi oil revenues to compensate governments and companies that suffered financial losses during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. A separate audit alleged that the commission might have saved as much as $2.2 billion by setting currency exchange rates on the date an award was paid instead of the date a claimant suffered a loss. Joseph Sills, a spokesman for the commission, disputed the findings. He said the U.N. auditors had no authority to challenge decisions the commission's panel made on the amount of compensation awards. "They don't have any say there," he said. "We don't feel there have been overpayments." The audits also cited $5 million in potential losses due to "inadequate control and poor judgment." A review of the U.N. Habitat resettlement program in northern Iraq describes "a situation of mismanagement" that led to the loss of more than $2 million. In one instance, the agency made $500,000 per year in cash payments to building inspectors "who do not provide any services." The audits also documented alleged overpayments of $1.4 million to three companies that monitored imports of humanitarian goods and to Saybolt Eastern Hemisphere, a Dutch firm that monitors Iraqi oil exports. Jan Heinsbroek, president of Saybolt, said the company addressed the issues that the audits raised when the audits were conducted. "We were successful in explaining each point brought forward," Heinsbroek said. U.N. officials "accepted all of our explanations." Cotecna, one of the import monitors, was never given copies of the audits by the United Nations, according to company spokesman Seth Goldschlager. Evelyn Suarez, a Washington lawyer for the Geneva-based company, said: "Cotecna is confident that a full consideration of the facts in proper context will demonstrate that Cotecna performed its function with due diligence and utmost professionalism." ********************************************************** It appears that the UN is investigating the scandal, unlike the 9 billion dollars unaccounted for by the US. Also, I agree with 24. We need to work with the rest of the world due to the nature of the world's interdependency. It only causes more problems to work against them.
You still live in this moral equivalence world, don't you? Pity that you can't take off the blinders of hatred to the current administration to see the truth about this so-called "united nations" organization you revere and adore. Not very "tolerant" of you, is it. The UN is crooked from one end to the other and deserve nothing less than to be dissolved. REMEMBER RWANDA!!
We didn't see the USA sending the 1st Airborn Div to stop it dead in it's tracks either ... despite having the resources to do so virtually overnight (something the UN doesn't have , but should) .... what's that say about the USA ?
If I remember correctly the USA mobilised a rapid response force - but only to evacuate it's nationals , and then left (abandoned) the place to it's own devices , and we all know what happened.
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psyfi
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May 24 2005, 12:18 AM
Post #58
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psyfi
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- somerled
- May 23 2005, 11:18 AM
- psyfi
- May 23 2005, 10:03 AM
- Dr. Noah
- May 23 2005, 09:52 AM
It's important to me because in an incresingly interdependent world we must learn to work together rather than impose our will.
The name is from an episode of DS9, don't you watch Star Trek?
I never stated by opinion is more valid than anyone elses. Where did you get that idea?
It is important, and I think it always has been, that people learn to work together. I don't think anybody would deny that. But the UN's way of "working together" is despicable. It isn't about teaching that lesson. It's a bunch of mostly corrupt people out for themselves and theirs. Why should we allow them to impose their will when they haven't learned the lesson that we all agree must be taught?
Isn't that exactly what the USA is all about the UN , ie their own national interest at the cost of all others.
It is, to varying extents, what every country is about. The UK is not going to let its citizens go down in order that those in Bulgaria might live, nor is the US going to fail to protect its citizens so that the Sudan may flourish. That's life. It is like this because the tendency to protect one's own, even if it costs others, is, to a large extent, what people are about. Overcoming it is a lesson that we all need to learn. However, when independent countries are doing it, at least there is some sort of balance. When you have a large collective of countries that is doing it and pretending that they are somehow a global voice for the good of humanity and people are believing that swill---well then the world is in more trouble that it can imagine.
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Admiralbill_gomec
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May 24 2005, 10:22 AM
Post #59
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UberAdmiral
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- somerled
- May 23 2005, 10:03 PM
- Admiralbill_gomec
- May 23 2005, 04:01 PM
- Dr. Noah
- May 23 2005, 11:51 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2005Jan10.htmlU.N. Audits Detail Oil-for-Food Overpayments By Colum Lynch and Justin Blum Washington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, January 11, 2005; Page A11 UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 10 -- Failures in U.N. management of the Iraq oil-for-food program may have permitted excess payments of hundreds of millions of dollars to governments and companies, according to 55 internal audits of the humanitarian program. The excess payments were made even as then-President Saddam Hussein was stealing billions from the program. Republican lawmakers and congressional staff members investigating the program said yesterday that the audits, released Sunday night by a U.N.-appointed investigative committee, reflect the need for further investigation. They said the audits underscore the need for greater accountability in an organization that is helping to oversee elections in Iraq and handling the disbursement of billions in aid to victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami. Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which also is investigating allegations of corruption in the oil-for-food program, said in a statement that a review of the audits "only underscores my long-held concern about the fraud, mismanagement and lack of adequate oversight" at the program. In an effort to address concerns about its ability to manage large assistance funds, the United Nations announced Monday that it has hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to track the spending of billions of dollars for tsunami survivors. The committee that released the audits and other internal U.N. documents is headed by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul A. Volcker. It is investigating allegations of corruption in the $64 billion program, which oversaw the sale of Iraqi oil for the purchase of humanitarian goods while the nation was under U.N. economic sanctions. In a 35-page briefing paper, the Volcker committee said the audits highlighted the "wholesale failure of normal management and controls" over some of the program's operations. It also faulted the United Nations' internal auditors for failing to scrutinize areas of the program that were most vulnerable to corruption: the sale and purchase of oil and humanitarian goods. Volcker, who is to release his initial findings at the end of the month, said last week that he found no hard evidence of fraud or corruption in the audits. But he is investigating whether the selection of audit targets "was subject to inappropriate management influence" by senior officials at the U.N. oil-for-food program, according to the briefing paper. U.S. lawmakers had pressed for copies of the audits for months. Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), in a statement, questioned why U.N. auditors did not investigate the program's most scandal-plagued aspects. "How was the U.N. internal watchdog effectively neutered?" asked Shays, chairman of the Government Reform Committee's subcommittee on national security, emerging threats and international relations. "Why were key recommendations never implemented?" Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), ranking Democrat on the subcommittee on investigations, said, "The audit reports appear to add little new information about the extent to which Saddam Hussein misused the oil-for-food program or the allegations made against particular U.N. officials." He said the United Nations' "overdue" release of the audits "sets a healthy precedent." U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric acknowledged "deficiencies" in the program's management but added: "Let's not forget that the oil-for-food program did fulfill its main objective by providing humanitarian relief to 27 million Iraqis, and thereby helping to maintain political support for the sanctions, which, in turn, prevented Saddam Hussein's regime from acquiring weapons of mass destruction." One internal audit alleged that the U.N. Compensation Commission "overcompensated certain parties by approximately $557 million." The Geneva-based agency is responsible for using Iraqi oil revenues to compensate governments and companies that suffered financial losses during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. A separate audit alleged that the commission might have saved as much as $2.2 billion by setting currency exchange rates on the date an award was paid instead of the date a claimant suffered a loss. Joseph Sills, a spokesman for the commission, disputed the findings. He said the U.N. auditors had no authority to challenge decisions the commission's panel made on the amount of compensation awards. "They don't have any say there," he said. "We don't feel there have been overpayments." The audits also cited $5 million in potential losses due to "inadequate control and poor judgment." A review of the U.N. Habitat resettlement program in northern Iraq describes "a situation of mismanagement" that led to the loss of more than $2 million. In one instance, the agency made $500,000 per year in cash payments to building inspectors "who do not provide any services." The audits also documented alleged overpayments of $1.4 million to three companies that monitored imports of humanitarian goods and to Saybolt Eastern Hemisphere, a Dutch firm that monitors Iraqi oil exports. Jan Heinsbroek, president of Saybolt, said the company addressed the issues that the audits raised when the audits were conducted. "We were successful in explaining each point brought forward," Heinsbroek said. U.N. officials "accepted all of our explanations." Cotecna, one of the import monitors, was never given copies of the audits by the United Nations, according to company spokesman Seth Goldschlager. Evelyn Suarez, a Washington lawyer for the Geneva-based company, said: "Cotecna is confident that a full consideration of the facts in proper context will demonstrate that Cotecna performed its function with due diligence and utmost professionalism." ********************************************************** It appears that the UN is investigating the scandal, unlike the 9 billion dollars unaccounted for by the US. Also, I agree with 24. We need to work with the rest of the world due to the nature of the world's interdependency. It only causes more problems to work against them.
You still live in this moral equivalence world, don't you? Pity that you can't take off the blinders of hatred to the current administration to see the truth about this so-called "united nations" organization you revere and adore. Not very "tolerant" of you, is it. The UN is crooked from one end to the other and deserve nothing less than to be dissolved. REMEMBER RWANDA!!
We didn't see the USA sending the 1st Airborn Div to stop it dead in it's tracks either ... despite having the resources to do so virtually overnight (something the UN doesn't have , but should) .... what's that say about the USA ? If I remember correctly the USA mobilised a rapid response force - but only to evacuate it's nationals , and then left (abandoned) the place to it's own devices , and we all know what happened.
Ask Bill Clinton. He was president during the Rwanda genocide.
Sorry to disappoint you.
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Minuet
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May 24 2005, 10:26 AM
Post #60
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Fleet Admiral Assistant wRench, Chief Supper Officer
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AB - just as an aside.
Noah is a member of the Green Party. I am sure he would be just as happy critisizing Democrats as he is critisizing Republicans.
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