Monday, October 01, 2007

Person from same state as Bush pleads guilty . . .

Although I'm not sure that his state of residence belongs in the lead paragraph, it is good to see some this man and others being held to account for crimes against America.("In Surprise, Oilman Admits Iraq Kickbacks" - New York Times):
"Oscar S. Wyatt Jr., the Texas oilman accused of cheating the United Nations oil-for-food program, pleaded guilty yesterday to paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s government in 2001 to gain access to lucrative Iraqi oil contracts."
I sure hope he gets the maximum sentence of 24 months (he could've received 70 years if he had not entered a plea agreement).

But the phrasing of the first paragraph is odd because from all indications the United Nations (as an organization) was up to its elbows in the criminal activity. And speaking of tangled webs, I came across this report of another American businessman who paid Saddam for oil contracts:("The Sanctions: Report Cites U.S. Profits in Sale of Iraqi Oil Under Hussein"):
"Mr. Khafaji financed a controversial film about Iraq by Scott Ritter, the former United Nations arms inspector who opposed the American-led invasion of Iraq."

2 comments:

William said...

Sounds familiar.

The first oil company receiving permission to drill in Northern Iraq is the Hunt Oil Company of Dallas headed by Ray Lee Hunt - the "Bush Pioneer" whom President Bush appointed to the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.

Still think we're fighting for freedom and democracy?

ned said...

Yeah, familiar . . . but completely different. If we could just get you guys to use your superhuman dot-connecting abilities on anyone other than Dubya, we might get somewhere.

Indeed, if you read that article (and the post, frankly), you should note that the people who were inveighing the loudest against invading Iraq were indeed disinterested in freedom and democracy.