Oil For Influence: How Saddam Used Oil to Reward Politicians Under the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program

The May 17th hearing was the third hearing the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has held on the United Nations’ Oil-for-Food Program (“OFF Program”). The Subcommittee’s first hearing on the OFF Program laid the foundation for future hearings by describing how the OFF Program was exploited by Saddam Hussein. A second hearing examined the operations of the independent inspection agents retained by the United Nations in the OFF Program and examined issues related to inadequate management, audit, and procurement oversight. The hearing also examined issues related to why the U.S. and U.N. did not interfere with Iraq’s open exports of oil to Jordan and Turkey, in violation of U.N. sanctions. The May 17th hearing detailed how Saddam Hussein manipulated the OFF Program to win influence and reward friends in order to undermine sanctions. In particular, this hearing presented evidence detailing how Saddam rewarded foreign officials with lucrative oil allocations that could be converted to money. The hearing also examined the illegal surcharges paid on Iraqi oil sales, using examples involving the recently indicted U.S. company, Bayoil. In addition, more detailed information will be provided on the nature and extent of the 2003 Khor al-Amaya incident in which oil tankers loaded a large amount of Iraqi oil circumventing U.N. sanctions.

PANEL THREE WITNESSES DID NOT TESTIFY BUT WERE RESCHEDULED TO APPEAR AT A LATER DATE.

The following 4 Subcommittee Staff Reports were issued in conjuction with this hearing.  All reports are available in the final Printed Hearing Record which can be accessed via the link at top left of this webpage.

Report on Oil Allocations Granted To Charles Pasqua and George Galloway (Joint Report of the Majority and Minority PSI Staffs – Report appears on p. 84 of the May 17, 2005 hearing record);

Report on Oil Allocations Granted to Vladimir Zhirinovsky (Joint Report of the Majority and Minority PSI Staffs – Report appears on p. 180 of the May 17, 2005 hearing record);

Report on Oil Allocations Granted to The Russian Presidential Council (Joint Report of the Majority and Minority PSI Staffs – Report appears on p. 459 of the May 17, 2005 hearing record); and

Report on Illegal Surcharges on Oil-for-Food Contracts and Illegal Oil Shipments From Khor al-Amaya (Report of the PSI Minority Staff – Report appears on p. 836 of the May 17, 2005 hearing record)