Oil-for-food investigation must be all-encompassing

In December 1996, the U.N. Security Council launched the oil-for-food program aimed at giving Saddam Hussein's Iraq the wherewithal to buy food, medicine and other necessities to ease the suffering of the populace caused by the international economic sanctions imposed after the 1991 Gulf War.
The oil was sold, but Iraqis, especially the elderly and the very young, continued to starve and were deprived of the medicines they so desperately needed. Why? Because the money ended up in the pockets of Saddam, his henchmen and other immoral individuals. The General Accounting Office reports that more than $10 billion was diverted.
There are allegations that at least three senior U.N. officials received millions of dollars in bribes and that officials of countries that did business with Iraq also benefited. According to the New York Times, the scandal involving the diversion of oil revenue became public in January when a Baghdad newspaper published a list of prominent people and businesses that it said had illegally profited from the program.
The Russian government denied any wrongdoing by Russians.
But last month's GAO report caused a firestorm on Capitol Hill, and so today a formal investigation has been launched by the United Nations. The inquiry is being chaired by Paul A. Volcker, former Federal Reserve chairman, who demanded and finally secured a resolution from the Security Council that gives him and the two other members of the investigative panel far-reaching authority.
Prosecutor
Volcker, Mark Pieth, an expert in investigating money laundering and economic crime and a law professor in Switzerland, and Richard J. Goldstone, a South African judge who served as prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia, must not allow themselves to be influenced in any way by U.N. officials or governments that did business with Saddam.
Only an all-encompassing investigation will persuade a cynical public, especially in the United States, that this scandal won't be swept under the rug.
The lives of innocent children, women and men were sacrificed at the altar of greed, and for that, criminal prosecutions are demanded.
The New York Times reports that the proceeds from the sale of Iraqi oil ended up financing payoffs, favoritism and kickbacks with systematic smuggling, illegal surcharges and inflated port fees.
Volcker and his team would be doing the Iraqi people a grave injustice if the investigation failed to delve into the allegations that have been made public over the past several months.
Though it is true that the Bush administration is eager to have the U.N. become an active participant in the democratization of Iraq, a clear distinction must be made between what is going on in that violence-ridden country and what took place during Saddam's rule.
There must be no compromises. Volcker and his team have been given the opportunity to strike a blow for all decent, law-abiding human beings. The world will be watching.