Washington, D.C.
Congressional investigators reported this week that France, Russia, and China repeatedly blocked investigations of corruption in the oil-for-food program in Iraq. The program aimed to help ordinary Iraqis survive sanctions imposed after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990. It allowed Iraq to sell oil to buy food and other essentials, but U.N. officials allegedly looked the other way as Hussein pocketed $10 billion. In a report to House members holding hearings on U.N. corruption, investigators said France, Russia, and China foiled every effort to rein in the program. “Their businesses made billions of dollars through their involvement with the Hussein regime,” the document said.
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