# Oil for food Scandal: Will Kofi Annan Be Indicted? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 4, 2005, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-for-food-scandal-will-kofi-annan-be-indicted/288351 "2005-02-04T11:47:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-for-food-scandal-will-kofi-annan-be-indicted/288351/1 "2005-02-04T11:47:05Z")
Things are getting interesting…investigators are tracking the flow ofmoney from the ill-fated “oil for food” program. It seems that billions of dollars were mislaid…my question is: will Kofi and his son be found be have been responsible? Has a UN official ever been impeached for corruption before? ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-for-food-scandal-will-kofi-annan-be-indicted/288351/2 "2005-02-04T12:07:40Z")
_Billions_ of dollars went missing? No, **ralph** , they didn’t. And Kofi Annan himself is not under suspicion of any kind - even his son only _works_ for one of the companies in question. The corruption is being [thoroughly investigated](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4235139.stm). ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-for-food-scandal-will-kofi-annan-be-indicted/288351/3 "2005-02-04T12:12:59Z")
[This](http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1405833,00.html) article suggests that the bribes received by Mr. Sevan were more like £85,000 than _billions_. ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-for-food-scandal-will-kofi-annan-be-indicted/288351/4 "2005-02-04T12:41:50Z")
> [@SentientMeat](#): > > Billions of dollars went missing? No, ralph, they didn’t Actually, it seems that they did, **SM**. Not in terms of bribes, but certainly missing / lost / mishandled; at least according to the original senate investigators. > [@](#): > > [Q&A: Oil-for-food scandal…](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4232629.stm) > \*Later, US Senate investigators found the Iraqi regime under Saddam Hussein made $17.3bn from abuses. About $13.6bn allegedly came from selling oil to neighbour states keen to breach the sanctions. > > A further $4.4bn was allegedly earned through kickbacks and illegal surcharges on services and goods provided by companies contracted under the OFF programme, the Senate investigators found.\* Whether that strictly means ‘missing’, or just poorly allocated / recorded, there still appears to be problems experienced on some level. But I haven’t read the full interim report, so can’t comment on the expected conclusions of it. Although, from [here:](http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=607562) > [@](#): > > _Mr Volcker was clear last night that his investigators “had not found systematic misuse of funds dedicated to the running of the programme in the UN”_ It seems the report has cleared the UN of any actual _corruption_ charges, but certainly seems to underline major mis-managment issues. ---
**Author:** ![Rashak\_Mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-for-food-scandal-will-kofi-annan-be-indicted/288351/5 "2005-02-04T14:02:01Z")
[US condoned Iraq oil smuggling](http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/02/02/iraq.oil.smuggle/index.html) Well then some Americans should be judged too ? ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-for-food-scandal-will-kofi-annan-be-indicted/288351/6 "2005-02-04T14:20:08Z")
> [@Rashak Mani](#): > > [US condoned Iraq oil smuggling](http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/02/02/iraq.oil.smuggle/index.html) > Well then some Americans should be judged too ? Did anyone say they shouldn’t? ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-for-food-scandal-will-kofi-annan-be-indicted/288351/7 "2005-02-04T15:30:29Z")
As increadable as it sounds, its not so unusual for billions of dollars to get lost in gigantic aid projects. Aid money to Iraq from oil sales, for example, [has continued to disappear](http://www.christianaid.org.uk/news/stories/050201s.htm) after the invasion to the tune of several billion. As these billions disappeared under the ultimate supervision of the CPA and Paul Bremer, I recommend that Kofi Annan be similarily awarded for his oversight with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-for-food-scandal-will-kofi-annan-be-indicted/288351/8 "2005-02-04T15:38:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Actually, it seems that they did, SM. Duly retracted, but I was under the impression that corrupt **Iraqi** officials simply sold what food and medicines they could on the black market and left the rest to rot in warehouses. If this Sevan fellow took bribes then he will be rightly punished, but can the billions diverted by _Iraqi_ corruption really be laid at the UN’s door? What more can one really do but swap a tankerfull of oil for a lorryfull of food or medicine, if that lorryfull is then driven off with an armed _Iraqi_ escort? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-for-food-scandal-will-kofi-annan-be-indicted/288351/9 "2005-02-04T17:51:22Z")
Indicted by whom under the laws of what? Are you so sure you want to give the UN power to try and convict citizens of sovereign nations? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-for-food-scandal-will-kofi-annan-be-indicted/288351/10 "2005-02-04T18:00:46Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Indicted by whom under the laws of what? Are you so sure you want to give the UN power to try and convict citizens of sovereign nations? I’d venture to say that that is in fact what most people here want, judging from the criticism that resulted from the United States’ withdrawal (or, rather, failure to ratify the agreement) from the ICC. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-for-food-scandal-will-kofi-annan-be-indicted/288351/11 "2005-02-04T21:55:53Z")
**ralph124c** , if you actually follow this story a bit, you see that nobody outside of a few angry Republicans thinks Annan is responsible or should be blamed or should quit. The UN is firmly behind him and I see no reason to blame him personally.