Informed Speculation

The focus of the final Volcker Committee report will be on kickbacks:

More than 4,500 companies took part in the United Nations oil-for-food program and more than half of them paid illegal surcharges and kickbacks to Saddam Hussein, according to the independent committee investigating the program.

The country with the most companies involved in the program was Russia, followed by France, the committee says in a report to be released Thursday.

Saddam’s personal take is staggering:

Mr. Hussein received $1.8 billion in illicit income from surcharges and kickbacks on the sales of oil and humanitarian goods during 1996-2003, when the program ran, the committee concluded in its last report in September.

Volcker says the overwhelming impression is of a U.N. in desperate need of major reforms:

In an interview, Mr. Volcker said that while he knew the naming of companies and the exposure of international “machinations” would draw attention, he hoped it would not obscure his committee’s purpose in keeping the focus of their work on the need for United Nations reform.

“In my mind,” he said, “this part of our investigation, looking at the manipulation of the program outside the U.N., strongly reinforces the case that the U.N. itself carries a large part of this responsibility and needs reform.

“Even though we are looking at it from the outside, it kind of screams out at you, ‘Why didn’t somebody blow a whistle?’ The central point is that it all adds up to the same story. You need some pretty thoroughgoing reforms at the U.N.”

Kofi still must go…