http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/oilforfood/ en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:44:58 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417342/posts Keying off an article in the UK Times Online about Northwest Airlines flight 253 bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab organizing an antiwar seminar called "War on Terror Week", I did some quick research before the links get scrubbed.From the Times:According to isocnews.com, an online magazine for Muslim students, War on Terror Week at University College London was one of the events of the year in 2007. There was a slick video advertisement for the event, an eye-catching poster and packed lecture theatres for five days of discussions about Guantánamo Bay, allegations of torture and the subject of “Jihad v Terrorism”. The... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417342/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:44:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410023/posts As the Copenhagen climate conference staggers toward the finish line of a star-studded plenary of political leaders on Friday, a number of influential countries — including France and Britain — have been calling for the creation of a new, global regulator to act as the world's environmental steward, equipped with still unspecified powers. Similar discussions, it appears, have also been taking place for several months inside the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), the world's current environmental watchdog. According to documents obtained by Fox News, a high-level group of dignitaries from 38 countries, including a bevy of environment ministers and other... Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410023/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:11:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2402521/posts World Agenda: Oil-for-Food scandal 'a warning for all at Hopenhagen'December 7, 2009 Delegates to the climate change conference in Copenhagen should remember the dread words “Oil-for-Food”. World leaders plan to design global “Cap-and-Trade” system — which could grow to $2 trillion (£1.22 trillion) — to limit greenhouse gas emissions in a last-gasp bid to reverse global warming. Environmental critics such as James Hansen, the Nasa scientist considered the “grandfather of global warming”, have made conceptual objections to Cap-and-Trade, which they dismiss as ineffectual. But even if the system is created, there are enormous pitfalls. Key parts of Cap-and-Trade have a... Times Online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2402521/posts#comment Tue, 8 Dec 2009 02:00:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2388577/posts 2nd Circuit to Civil Rights Lawyer Lynne Stewart: Go Directly to Jail A federal appeals court says bail for civil rights lawyer Lynne Stewart should be revoked and she should begin serving her sentence “forthwith” for passing messages from an imprisoned terrorist to his followers. The New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Stewart’s conviction in an opinion (PDF) released today, rejecting her argument that the First Amendment protected her release of statements by an imprisoned sheik. Stewart was convicted in 2005 of providing material support to terrorists by passing messages from Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman to... ABA Journal via WSJ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2388577/posts#comment Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:50:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2374403/posts PARIS — A judicial official says former French President Jacques Chirac has been ordered to stand trial in an alleged corruption scandal dating back to his 1977-1995 tenure as Paris mayor. The prosecutor had asked the court to drop the case. But a magistrate ordered Chirac to stand trial for "misuse of public funds" and "breach of trust." The judicial official spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing. A judge has been investigating whether people in Chirac's circle were given sham jobs as advisers and paid by Paris City Hall, even though they weren't working for... Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2374403/posts#comment Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:55:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2215650/posts SNIPPET: "For all his public activity, Bray has rarely, if ever, discussed his life story in detail. His own MAS biography offers vague descriptions of his work as "a long time civil and human rights advocate." A charismatic African-American convert to Islam, Bray spent this entire decade working for Islamist organizations. Prior to joining MAS, Bray was political director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). Those jobs have helped him build a growing public profile and given him access to politicians and policy makers. And that may explain his reluctance to discuss his life before political activism. The Investigative... IPT News - An IPT Investigation http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2215650/posts#comment Thu, 26 Mar 2009 22:34:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2250010/posts Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk has agreed to pay a $9 million fine for giving kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's government through the United Nations oil-for-food program. The Justice Department says Novo admits that it paid $1.4 million to the Iraqi government between 2001 and 2003 to get contracts to provide insulin and other medicines. As part of the scheme outlined in a filing Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington, Novo covered the costs by inflating the price of the contracts by 10 percent before submitting them to the United Nations. Novo then falsely recorded the kickback payments as "commissions"... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2250010/posts#comment Wed, 13 May 2009 15:02:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2248884/posts Note: The following text is a quote: Novo Nordisk Agrees to Pay $9 Million Fine in Connection with Payment of $1.4 Million in Kickbacks Through the United Nations Oil-for-food Program Novo Nordisk A/S (Novo), a Danish corporation based in Bagsvaerd, Denmark, has agreed to pay a $9 million penalty for illegal kickbacks paid to the former Iraqi government. Novo agreed to pay the fine as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department. The matter is part of the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into the U.N. Oil-for-Food program. A criminal information was filed today against Novo in U.S. District... US DOJ.gov/opa - Press Release http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2248884/posts#comment Mon, 11 May 2009 23:52:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2235457/posts NEW YORK – A British oil company employee has admitted his role in a scheme to cheat the United Nations oil-for-food program by paying kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's Iraq regime. Fifty-four-year-old John Irving pleaded guilty in a New York court Tuesday to one charge of aiding and abetting importing merchandise. Under a plea agreement, Irving will face up to six months in prison at his June 5 sentencing... ... The oil-for-food humanitarian program was created to help Iraqi people cope with U.N. sanctions. AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2235457/posts#comment Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:04:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2217842/posts There is a whiff of Fascism emanating from the Obama White House. Reports say that the head of GM is quitting under duress from the Obama administration: American Spectator http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2217842/posts#comment Mon, 30 Mar 2009 04:48:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2183372/posts The U.N.'s highest internal judicial body has ordered the United Nations to pay legal fees to the former chief of its oil-for-food program, who has been accused of accepting money to illegally influence the $64 billion humanitarian program in Iraq. The program was the biggest humanitarian program in U.N. history, but a U.N.-sanctioned investigation found widespread corruption, involving thousands of parties, that bilked the humanitarian program of $1.8 billion. The program chief, Benon Sevan, has been charged with bribery and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for allegedly accepting $160,000 to illegally influence the program. The Administrative Tribunal's judgment, obtained Wednesday... AP, via the Evening Sun http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2183372/posts#comment Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:07:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2171566/posts When Michael Soussan took his dream job at the United Nations in 1997, he was a young, idealistic graduate of Brown University who was intent on helping people. His position with the Oil-for-Food program, the largest humanitarian operation in the UN's history, gave him what he thought was an opportunity to do just that. But he soon discovered that his task was complicated by the intense rivalries and bickering bureaucrats entrusted with the distribution of $64-billion petro-dollars—a figure that dwarfed the UN's own budget—for the 23 million Iraqi civilians suffering due to the devastating sanctions placed on the country after... Embassy Magazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2171566/posts#comment Sun, 25 Jan 2009 22:53:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1640990/posts THE kumbaya crowd which pressed for East Timor's independence must shoulder much of the blame for the failure of its dysfunctional Government. But while the collective of liberation theologists and civil rights lawyers cheered Fretilin's Portugese-educated Marxist guerrilla leaders, the same candle-wavers protested against the toppling of the mass murdering Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein. Yet East Timor, with a population estimated at about one million, whose independence was internationally recognised on May 20, 2002, is now arguably in proportionately worse shape than Iraq, population 26 million, where the first election under its new constitution took place just last December. The... Daily Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1640990/posts#comment Wed, 31 May 2006 04:02:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2161820/posts George Soros is the biggest sugar daddy of the Democratic Party, and naturally wants to ensure that the Democrats have a monopoly of power in America. Recently, I wrote an article for American Thinker on the role that George Soros has played in helping the Democrat Al Franken in his race against the Republican incumbent Norm Coleman for a Senate seat in Minnesota. However, there may be one other reason that Soros was determined that Norm Coleman in particular lose his seat. This was personal. Norm Coleman was the chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and as... American Thinker http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2161820/posts#comment Fri, 9 Jan 2009 22:27:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2169159/posts Now that Hillary Clinton has been confirmed as Secretary of State, the Obama administration will announce Thursday two high-profile appointments -- former senate majority leader George Mitchell (D-Me.) as Middle East envoy and former U.N. ambassador Richard Holbrooke as envoy for Afghanistan, Pakistan "and related matters," sources close to the administration said. Mitchell will be charged with rebuilding the Middle East peace process in the wake of the three weeks of violence between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Holbrooke will take on the difficult job of soothing relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, whose border is a haven for... Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2169159/posts#comment Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:19:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2152134/posts How many have heard of Nadhmi Auchi? Why are we not hearing more about him? Nadhmi Auchi was born in 1937. He is an Iraqi born British-resident and Britain's 22nd wealthiest individual. Nadhmi Auchi co-conspired with fellow Baathist Saddam Hussein in 1959 to assassinate then Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim. Rezko and Obama are both financially connected to him. MSNBC reports that Nadhmi Auchi had helped Orascom (which owns Djezzy GSM), owned by Onsi Sawiris, gain a contract to set-up mobile phone networks in post-Saddam's Iraq. As per Orascom's annual report, page 65, Huawei Technologies is listed as a subsidiary... Freerepublic, Bar of Integrity, Dr. Orly's Blogspot http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2152134/posts#comment Sun, 21 Dec 2008 04:26:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2114307/posts According to the linked page: "Unnamed freelance journalist has the goods on Obama and Rezko" MetaCafe http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2114307/posts#comment Fri, 24 Oct 2008 18:07:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2141253/posts WASHINGTON — In the much praised career of Eric H. Holder Jr., President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to be attorney general, there is one notable blemish: Mr. Holder’s complicated role in the 2001 pardon of Marc Rich, a billionaire financier who had fled the country rather than face federal tax evasion charges. Mr. Holder’s supporters portray him as having been a relatively uninvolved bystander caught in a Clinton-era controversy, the remarkable granting of a last-minute pardon by President Bill Clinton to a fugitive from justice. But interviews and an examination of Congressional records show that Mr. Holder, who at the time... nytimes.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2141253/posts#comment Tue, 2 Dec 2008 04:22:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1515785/posts <p>Fox news ran stories last night based on some of the things we were tracking right here in this post. Here is their on line story.</p> <p>As unfinished as my research is, I feel compelled to release what I've found so far as the story cannot wait any longer.  I am not looking for a scoop on anyone or anything, but at the same time I don't want anyone thinking I made this stuff up after the fact either.</p> Self http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1515785/posts#comment Fri, 4 Nov 2005 19:36:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2138682/posts x-Fed Chief to Lead New Economic Panel of Outside Experts Who Will Brief Obama President-elect Barack Obama appointed former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker on Wednesday to be the chairman of a new White House advisory board tasked with helping to lift the nation from recession and stabilize financial markets. University of Chicago economist Austan Goolsbee, one of Mr. Obama's longest-serving policy advisers, will serve as the board's staff director, along with his duties as a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Members of the panel will be drawn from a cross-section of citizens outside the government,... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2138682/posts#comment Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:06:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2132903/posts I'm actually beginning to think had Hillary won there would be fewer Clinton retreads coming on-board. Where the change? The bold innovative thinking? Are former Clinton hacks the best you can do, Barry? Geez, at this rate I almost expect Lani Guinier to be nominated for something. It's almost as if they had some incriminating photos of the guy. No, instead of this mythical change, we get a guy who sent Elian Gonzalez back to hell. Craig, 63, is a partner at Williams & Connolly and a protégé of the late Edward Bennett Williams, the legendary Washington power lawyer. His... JammieWearingFool http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2132903/posts#comment Sun, 16 Nov 2008 04:13:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2132886/posts Gregory B. Craig, a well-known Washington lawyer who quarterbacked President Bill Clinton’s impeachment defense, has been chosen White House counsel by President-elect Barack Obama, according to Democratic officials. Craig is intimately familiar with the president-elect’s record because he played the role of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in debate preparations. The officials said Obama has settled on Craig but were not sure when the appointment would be announced. The choice gives the president-elect both experience and loyalty. During the primaries, Craig was an early Clinton alumni defector to Obama. Columnist Robert D. Novak reported back in the winter of 2007 that... Politico http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2132886/posts#comment Sun, 16 Nov 2008 03:12:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2118321/posts Barack Obama appears to have personally benefited from funds originating in Saddam Hussein's regime. It's a complicated connection, but one that deserves the consideration of Americans voters. Two similar figures, Nadhmi Auchi and Antoin S. "Tony" Rezko, served as the intermediaries. Both are Middle Eastern males of Catholic Christian heritage who left Baathist dictatorships for Western cities (Auchi from Iraq to London, Rezko from Syria to Chicago). Both became successful businessmen who hobnobbed with politicians and promoted Arab interests. Both have been convicted of taking kickbacks and both stand accused of other shady dealings. Auchi, born in 1937, is the... FrontPageMagazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2118321/posts#comment Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:36:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2104717/posts The brilliant people at Wikileaks have produced a very useful collection of articles about stories removed from media websites following legal threats from an Iraqi billionaire The British-based Iraqi billionaire Nadhmi Auchi has become a highly controversial figure in the United States after being linked to Chicago-based businessman Tony Rezko - the weak link in the Obama campaign. The freedom of information site Wikileaks has now published some fascinating material about Auchi's attempts to stop people writing about him. Auchi was convicted of fraud by the French courts in 2003 for his involvement in illegal payments surrounding a deal he... The New Statesman http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2104717/posts#comment Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:05:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2102875/posts Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama was quick to blame the bankruptcy of Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers on Republicans’ “failed philosophy”. Obama’s September 15 comments were repeated throughout the media--yet reporters have not noted Obama’s glaring conflict of interest—the Lehman debt owed to a bank owned by the financier who loaned millions of dollars to Tony Rezko. Jockeying among the other debtors seeking repayment under Chapter 11 bankruptcy rules is BNP Paribas, a large French bank whose largest single private shareholder is Nadhmi Auchi’s General Mediterranean Holdings (GMH). BNP Paribas is owed $250 million by Lehman. Nadhmi Auchi is an... Canadian Free Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2102875/posts#comment Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:20:45 GMT