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| Volcker Explains His Rejection of Senate Interference in His Investigation |
| 2004-11-19 |
| From National Review On Line, an excerpt from an article by Jed Babbin, author of Inside the Asylum: Why the UN and Old Europe are Worse than You Think. .... On November 9, [Senator Norm] Coleman [chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations [PSI]] and ranking minority member Carl Levin sent a letter to Kofi Annan asking for access to the documents in U.N. possession on Oil-for-Food (including some 55 internal audit reports) and interviews of key U.N. staffers. Among the staffers listed in the request were Benon Sevan, head of the Oil-for-Food program; John Almstrom, chief of its contracts-processing section; and Stephanie Scheer, who had been Sevan's deputy. That letter followed Annan's refusal of a similar request last September. On Tuesday, [Paul Clouseau] Volcker [chief of the UN's independent committee investigating the Food-for-Oil Program] replied for Annan [in fact Volcker replied for himself], turning Coleman and the PSI down flat. Volcker said that the U.N. wouldn't release any of its papers or make its people available to the Senate, effectively blocking Coleman's investigation. In a letter to Coleman, Volcker said, "The clear purpose is to avoid potentially misleading and incomplete information that could impair ongoing investigation, distort public perceptions and violate simple concerns of due process." He objected to U.N. officials' appearing before the Senate committee, writing, "For a U.N. official to appear before the subcommittee in the current highly charged environment would plainly risk ending prospects for their cooperation with our committee and with subsequent potential criminal investigations." The UN Spokesman's explanation is here. |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |
| #9 The UN is going to stonewall this one, so for better or worse, it has become political. This one will not be swept under the rug. Senator Coleman's committee is the only stick that we have to beat the UN with. BTW, RWV does have it down cold. Great analysis and proposal RWV! God! I love Rantburg! |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-11-19 7:25:08 PM |
| #8 Right on RWV. What kind of immunity does UN have in regard to civil lawsuits and for criminal matters. The visual of thousands of questionalbe lawsuits brought by thousands of seamy lawyers all over the country being defended by UN makes me feel warm and fuzzy. Although the individual diplomats do have certain diplomatic immunity, I believe that UN is "RICO-able." It may be just a fantasy, but it will make my weekend. |
| Posted by: Sgt.D.T. 2004-11-19 7:16:52 PM |
| #7 thanks for the clear rationalization Mikey |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-11-19 6:59:06 PM |
| #6 I guess simple senility or Alzheimer's could be considered The Dark Side. Beyond that, RWV has it down cold. *kudos* I wish I had laid it out so clearly, lol! Standing in line behind the least transparent organization / process imaginable is not acceptable - especially given Annon's recently uttered stupidities and dereliction of duty (Darfur, Internal "investigations", etc.)... The UN is perfectly inept in actual practice and all status, representative authority, and privileges should be forfeit. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-11-19 6:34:21 PM |
| #5 The only way for this to come to a head would be for the Iraqi government to disavow all debt to countries implicated in the Oil for Food rip-off, notably France, Russia, China, Germany, et al, and for the US to cut off all contributions to the UN pending full and complete disclosure, prosecution of all guilty parties, and full restituion to the Iraqi people. Failing that, we should look to revoke the diplomatic status of the UN staff and try out the RICO statutes on them. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-11-19 6:21:52 PM |
| #4 That's what I thought. A tired old ex-bureaucrat with no subpoena power: what better choice to run a massive investigation of the biggest financial scandal in history? |
| Posted by: lex 2004-11-19 1:02:56 PM |
| #3 How old is Volcker? I think when Volker slew the Carteresque inflation tiger in 1983 he was around 60, maybe older. |
| Posted by: badanov 2004-11-19 12:56:04 PM |
| #2 How old is Volcker? |
| Posted by: lex 2004-11-19 12:45:25 PM |
| #1 Better to have remained silent and be thought a fool than to have opened his mouth and removed all doubt. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-11-19 12:42:40 PM |