Oil-for-food update

U.N. investigators have released the names of some 4,500 firms that did business with the former regime in Baghdad. The investigators were quick to point out that simply being on the list does not imply guilt, however there are some interesting points raised in the article. For example:

• What happened to the $64.2 billion Saddam received over the past 10 years selling oil?
• Will this report get more media play than the Doelfer report?
• When will we hear something from the various other investigations being conducted by the US Dept. of Justice and Congress?
• Who runs the French bank through which the funds were flowing? Did the French government ever audit this bank?
• Will Benan Sevan and Kojo Annan be tried in a criminla court for their involvement in the scam?
• Will the UN suffer major credibility losses due to it's apparent implicit support for Saddam Hussein's human rights violating regime?

Apparently, the final report isn't due until next summer, so we'll have to wait and see what happens...