Volcker Report Released

As we noted this morning, the Volcker committee released its final report on corruption in the U.N.’s oil-for-food program today. You can read the report here. As advertised, it cites chapter and verse on more than 2,000 companies that took bribes and paid kickbacks to Saddam Hussein under the program’s auspices.

I read the part of the report relating to George Galloway, which contained just about exactly the same information as the report issued a couple of days ago by Norm Coleman’s Subcommittee on Investigations. Based on the documentary evidence discovered to date, there is no doubt that Galloway’s “Mariam Appeal,” a political organization dedicated to opposing the U.N.’s sanctions against Iraq, received large amounts of money from oil allocations that were recorded by Iraqi officials as being for “Galloway,” and were clearly made with Galloway’s knowledge. This contradicts various public statements that Galloway has made, including statements under oath before Coleman’s Subcommittee. It isn’t clear whether Galloway personally profited from the Mariam Appeal. It is clear, however, that Saddam also paid $150,000 to Galloway’s then-wife.

So Galloway’s denials that he profited from the oil for food scam, or had any knowledge of Iraqi oil allocations, are ringing very hollow. It will be interesting to see whether liberal news outlets that hailed Galloway’s “performance” before the Senate subcommittee last May will give equal attention to the fact that he has now been exposed as a liar.

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