April 27, 2005

Oil-for-food probe has not cleared Annan, Volcker says

Former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker says his investigation into the scandal-plagued oil-for-food program has not cleared U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan of wrongdoing, despite Mr. Annan's claims to the contrary.
[But being the media animal™ he is, Kofi thinks that if he claims he's been cleared on camera, that that's all that matters.--Jen]

In an interview aired yesterday with Fox News, Mr. Volcker took direct issue with Mr. Annan's insistence that he had been exonerated by investigators probing both his role in overseeing the Iraq aid program and conflicts of interest involving a key contract awarded to a Swiss firm that employed Mr. Annan's son.
    
"I thought we criticized [Mr. Annan] rather severely," Mr. Volcker said of his panel's interim report, released March 29. "I would not call that an exoneration."

 Asked point-blank whether Mr. Annan had been cleared of wrongdoing in the $10 billion scandal, Mr. Volcker replied, "No."
[...]
Mr. Annan, who has fiercely resisted calls that he step down, immediately claimed vindication after the Volcker panel reported on March 29 that it had found "no evidence" that the secretary-general had used his influence to help Cotecna win the contract.
[...]
Asked whether he was considering resigning from his post before his term ends next year, Mr. Annan answered emphatically, "Hell no."
[Not just "No" but "Hell, no?" What nerve!
This grifter isn't getting off the gravy train until it's proven that he's crooked--which may not be far off.--Jen]
[...]
Mr. Volcker's panel, which was commissioned by Mr. Annan last year, has come under fire with the recent resignation of two of the panel's lead investigators, Robert Parton and Miranda Duncan, who left reportedly because they thought the reports released to date had gone too easy on Mr. Annan.

I *knew* in my gut a long time ago that Kofi and many of his fellow travelers and pals in the U.N. were in on the take, but if you're one of those people who likes all the evidence lined up or you just love watching this soap opera as it unfolds, skip on over to Roger Simon's blog; he's all over the U.N. scandal like white on rice, but his journo friend Claudia Rossett OWNS the story--check out her latest column for the New York Sun here.
(I got a subscription to the NYSun online just to read Claudia's column but there's a heap of factual reporting and intelligent analysis there by others, too. NYTimes beware! You've got competition.)