How Saddam Hussein Abused the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program

The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations’ first hearing on the Oil-for-Food Program (“OFF Program”) laid the foundation for future hearings on how the OFF Program was exploited by Saddam Hussein. The Subcommittee heard from Charles A. Duelfer, author of The Comprehensive Report of the Special Advisor to the DCI on Iraq’s WMD. Mr. Duelfer testified as to how Saddam Hussein manipulated the OFF Program to erode United Nations sanctions, generate billions of dollars of illicit funds, and procure conventional weapons. Also testifying was Juan Carlos Zarate, the Assistant Secretary of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes at the Department of the Treasury. Mr. Zarate discussed, among other things, the extent to which funds illicitly procured under the OFF Program may have been used by Saddam Hussein for illicit purposes, including whether monies pilfered from the OFF Program are being used to fund the Iraqi insurgency or terrorist groups. The Subcommittee hearing also examined specific transactions in which the former Iraqi regime procured illicit funds and peddled influence by granting vouchers for oil deals, demanding kickbacks on contracts for humanitarian goods and exacting surcharges on oil sales.