Saddam Hussein was dead broke, the result of UN penalties. Or so it was thought.
So where did the former Iraqi president find the money to pursue missile technology from North Korea, air defense systems from Belarus and other prohibited military equipment.
The CIA's top weapons inspector in Iraq said Saddam carried out much of that trade with proceeds from illegal oil sales to Syria, one of three Iraqi neighbors that bought oil from Baghdad in defiance of the UN.
Trade with Syria, Jordan and Turkey was the biggest source of illicit funds for Saddam, more so than the much-maligned UN oil-for-food program, according to investigations of Saddam's finances.
Though considered smuggling, most of the trade took place with the knowledge -- and sometimes the tacit consent -- of the US and other nations.
With Republican-led congressional committees investigating allegations of oil-for-food corruption, some Democrats are pressing for answers about why the US did little to stop the smuggling. The issue is part of a series of broader questions these lawmakers have about what US officials knew about Saddam's overall illicit finances.
"I am determined to see to it that our own government's failures and oversights or mistaken judgments and decisions should also be exposed," said Representative Tom Lantos, a California Democrat.
Some Republicans are promising to hold hearings on the matter next year. During the dozen years between the two Iraq wars, Saddam's oil sales were supposed to be limited to those under permitted the UN oil-for-food program. From 1996 to last year, the US$60 billion program allowed Iraq to sell oil and use proceeds to buy food, medicine and other necessities.
That program has come under scrutiny because of allegations that Saddam received kickbacks and bribed UN and foreign government officials. Besides the congressional inquiries, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to head an investigation.
The report by CIA weapons inspector Charles Duelfer found that oil-for-food corruption generated US$1.7 billion for Saddam. It said illegal oil contracts generated about US$8 billion: US$4.4 billion with Jordan, US$2.8 billion with Syria and US$710 million with Turkey. A short-lived agreement with Egypt generated US$33 million. Overall, Saddam had US$10.9 billion in illicit revenue from 1990 to last year, Duelfer said.
The Senate Governmental Affairs investigations subcommittee, using a different methodology, came up with a US$21.3 billion overall estimate, including US$13.7 billion from oil smuggling. The panel did not break that figure down by nation and it includes some smuggling related to the oil-for-food program.
Former State Department officials said the US had little choice but to allow some of these sales to Iraq's neighbors.
Jordan was desperate after the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The UN penalties against Iraq had cost Jordan a major trading partner. Iraq owed Jordan money, but could not repay without selling oil. Jordan needed oil, but could not import from other producers, angry that Jordan supported Iraq in the war.
"We realized that the Jordanian economy and the Jordanian state would collapse" if it didn't get access to oil, said David Mack, deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East Affairs at the time.
The UN formally acknowledged Jordan's oil dealings with Iraq in May 1991, without approving or disapproving of it. Because of that, some people question whether the trade can be considered illicit.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for
Japan scrambled fighter jets after Russian aircraft flew around the archipelago for the first time in five years, Tokyo said yesterday. From Thursday morning to afternoon, the Russian Tu-142 aircraft flew from the sea between Japan and South Korea toward the southern Okinawa region, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said in a statement. They then traveled north over the Pacific Ocean and finished their journey off the northern island of Hokkaido, it added. The planes did not enter Japanese airspace, but flew over an area subject to a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, a ministry official said. “In response, we mobilized Air Self-Defense
CRITICISM: ‘One has to choose the lesser of two evils,’ Pope Francis said, as he criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and Harris’ pro-choice position Pope Francis on Friday accused both former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris of being “against life” as he returned to Rome from a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. The 87-year-old pontiff’s comments on the US presidential hopefuls came as he defied health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore. It was Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago. Despite the marathon visit, he held a long and spirited
China would train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction,” its minister for public security has said. “We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong (王小洪) told an annual global security forum. Wang made the announcement in the eastern city of Lianyungang on Monday in front of law enforcement representatives from 122 countries, regions and international organizations such as Interpol. The forum is part of ongoing