It's time for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to resign.
FM
Over the past seven months, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on
Investigations, which I chair, has conducted an exhaustive, bipartisan
investigation into the scandal surrounding the U.N. Oil-for-Food program.
That noble program was established by the U.N. to ease the suffering of the
Iraqi people, then languishing under Saddam Hussein's ironfisted rule, as
well as the economic sanctions imposed on Iraq by the U.N. after the first
Gulf War. While sanctions were designed to instigate the removal of Saddam
from power, or at least render him impotent, the Oil-for-Food program was
designed to support the Iraqi people with food and other humanitarian aid
under the watchful eye of the U.N.
Our Investigative Subcommittee has gathered overwhelming evidence that
Saddam turned this program on its head. Rather than erode his grip on
power, the program was manipulated by Saddam to line his own pockets and
actually strengthen his position at the expense of the Iraqi people. At our
hearing on Nov. 15, we presented evidence that Saddam accumulated more than
$21 billion through abuses of the Oil-for-Food program and U.N. sanctions.
We continue to amass evidence that he used the overt support of prominent
members of the U.N., such as France and Russia, along with numerous foreign
officials, companies and possibly even senior U.N. officials, to exploit
the program to his advantage. We have obtained evidence that indicates that
Saddam doled out lucrative oil allotments to foreign officials, sympathetic
journalists and even one senior U.N. official, in order to undermine
international support for sanctions. In addition, we are gathering evidence
that Saddam gave hundreds of thousands -- maybe even millions -- of
Oil-for-Food dollars to terrorists and terrorist organizations. All of this
occurred under the supposedly vigilant eye of the U.N.
* * *
While many questions concerning Oil-for-Food remain unanswered, one
conclusion has become abundantly clear: Kofi Annan should resign. The
decision to call for his resignation does not come easily, but I have
arrived at this conclusion because the most extensive fraud in the history
of the U.N. occurred on his watch. In addition, and perhaps more
importantly, as long as Mr. Annan remains in charge, the world will never
be able to learn the full extent of the bribes, kickbacks and
under-the-table payments that took place under the U.N.'s collective nose.
Mr. Annan was at the helm of the U.N. for all but a few days of the
Oil-for-Food program, and he must, therefore, be held accountable for the
U.N.'s utter failure to detect or stop Saddam's abuses. The consequences of
the U.N.'s ineptitude cannot be overstated: Saddam was empowered to
withstand the sanctions regime, remain in power, and even rebuild his
military. Needless to say, he made the Iraqi people suffer even more by
importing substandard food and medicine under the Oil-for-Food program and
pawning it off as first-rate humanitarian aid.
Since it was never likely that the U.N. Security Council, some of whose
permanent members were awash in Saddam's favors, would ever call for
Saddam's removal, the U.S. and its coalition partners were forced to put
troops in harm's way to oust him by force. Today, money swindled from
Oil-for-Food may be funding the insurgency against coalition troops in Iraq
and other terrorist activities against U.S. interests. Simply put, the
troops would probably not have been placed in such danger if the U.N. had
done its job in administering sanctions and Oil-for-Food.
This systemic failure of the U.N. and Oil-for-Food is exacerbated by
evidence that at least one senior U.N. official -- Benon Sevan, Mr. Annan's
hand-picked director of the U.N.'s Oil-for-Food oversight agency --
reportedly received bribes from Saddam. According to documents from the
Iraqi oil ministry that were obtained by us, Mr. Sevan received several
allotments of oil under Oil-for-Food, each of which was worth hundreds of
thousands, if not millions, of dollars.
To make matters worse, the actions of Mr. Annan's own son have been called
into question. Specifically, the U.N. recently admitted that Kojo Annan
received more money than previously disclosed from a Swiss company named
Cotecna, which was hired by the U.N. to monitor Iraq's imports under
Oil-for-Food. Recently, there are growing, albeit unproven, allegations
that Kofi Annan himself not only understands his son's role in this scandal
-- but that he has been less than forthcoming in what he knew, and when he
knew it.
As a former prosecutor, I believe in the presumption of innocence. Such
revelations, however, cast a dark cloud over Mr. Annan's ability to address
the U.N.'s quagmire. Mr. Annan has named the esteemed Paul Volcker to
investigate Oil-for-Food-related allegations, but the latter's team is
severely hamstrung in its efforts. His panel has no authority to compel the
production of documents or testimony from anyone outside the U.N. Nor does
it possess the power to punish those who fabricate information, alter
evidence or omit material facts. It must rely entirely on the goodwill of
the very people and entities it is investigating. We must also recognize
that Mr. Volcker's effort is wholly funded by the U.N., at Mr. Annan's
control. Moreover, Mr. Volcker must issue his final report directly to the
secretary general, who will then decide what, if anything, is released to
the public.
Therefore, while I have faith in Mr. Volcker's integrity and abilities, it
is clear the U.N. simply cannot root out its own corruption while Mr. Annan
is in charge: To get to the bottom of the murk, it's clear that there needs
to be a change at the top. In addition, a scandal of this magnitude
requires a truly independent examination to ensure complete transparency,
and to restore the credibility of the U.N. To that end, I reiterate our
request for access to internal U.N. documents, and for access to U.N.
personnel who were involved in the Oil-for-Food program.
All of this adds up to one conclusion: It's time for Kofi Annan to step
down. The massive scope of this debacle demands nothing less. If this
widespread corruption had occurred in any legitimate organization around
the world, its CEO would have been ousted long ago, in disgrace. Why is the
U.N. different?
Sen. Coleman is chairman of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on
Investigations, and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.