Oil-for-Food Scandal Key to CIA Report
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The U.N. Oil-for-Food program — already the subject of federal, congressional and United Nations financial abuse probes — took a fresh hit with an explosive new report that said Saddam Hussein was using the program to fund his ambitions.
The report by Charles Duelfer — the special CIA adviser looking into whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction — found that Saddam was able to "subvert" the $60 billion U.N. program to generate an estimated $1.7 billion in revenue outside U.N. control from 1997-2003.
In light of the report, FOX News presents another hour-long special investigating the biggest financial scam in modern history.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Learn more about the Duelfer report by reading it for yourself through the links below:
• Click here to read the report's key findings (pdf).
• Click here to read Vol. 1 of the report (pdf).
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}• Click here to read Vol. 2 (pdf).
• Click here to read Vol. 3 (pdf).
For details about how the program operated as well as the investigations taking place to determine what happened to the money, read through this series of recent FOXNews.com articles.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Click on the highlighted headlines below to read the full stories.
Oil-for-Food Scandal Draws Scrutiny to U.N.
The roots of the Oil-for-Food scandal date back to 1991, when a U.N.-backed and U.S.-led coalition expelled Saddam from Kuwait following his hostile takeover of the neighboring country. Although Saddam lost the war, he walked away with important victories — he got to stay in power in Iraq and he ultimately got to pocket millions, if not billions, of dollars.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Read more here.
Early Warning Not Heeded on Oil-for-Food
The United Nations first tried a series of sanctions to make Saddam bend to its will following the successful 1991 war to oust him from Kuwait. Then it attempted to find a way for Iraqi citizens to get needed medicine and other supplies through the sale of Iraqi oil — an approach that failed.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Read more here.
Possible Saddam-Al Qaeda Link Seen in Oil-for-Food
Buried in some of the United Nations' own confidential documents are clues that a link could have existed between Saddam and the Al Qaeda terror group — clues leading to a locked door in a Swiss lakeside resort.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Read more here.
Did Terrorists Benefit From Oil-for-Food?
U.S. Treasury officials have already identified 11 front companies and nearly 200 Iraqi-controlled firms that they suspect were part of Saddam's secret and illegal network. They say that's only the tip of the iceberg.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Read more here.
Iraqi People Suffered Under Oil-for-Food
In the Saddam era, Baghdad's Al Rashid Hotel was the main stop on the Oil-for-Food tour. Regime-friendly types would stay there when visiting Baghdad. They'd stop and say hello to Saddam or a crony, snag a voucher good for a load of Iraqi crude and, conveniently enough, there were oil traders in the lobby of that hotel who could turn those vouchers into cash.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Read more here.
Watching the U.N. Oil-for-Food Watchdog
The Al Mada weekly in Iraq published a list of the names of some 270 people and organizations that purportedly received Oil-for-Food vouchers from Saddam. One of those names was the same as the last name of the U.N. official who ran the Oil-for-Food program.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Read more here.
Some of the above stories were originally seen on FOX News' "Breaking Point."