Oil And Terror

"But there's no link between Hussein and terror!" has been one of the standard bleats of the left since the run-up to the liberation of Iraq.

Never mind the wanton violation of Berg's Law of Liberal Iraq Commentary that the statement represents. It's also just plain untrue, as this long-awaited article by Claudia Rosett shows us.

The article starts strong...

Beyond the billions in graft, smuggling, and lavish living for Saddam Hussein that were the hallmarks of the United Nations Oil-for-Food program in Iraq, there is one more penny yet to drop.

It's time to talk about Oil-for-Terror.

Especially with the U.N.'s own investigation into Oil-for-Food now taking shape, and more congressional hearings in the works, it is high time to focus on the likelihood that Saddam may have fiddled Oil-for-Food contracts not only to pad his own pockets, buy pals, and acquire clandestine arms — but also to fund terrorist groups, quite possibly including al Qaeda.

There are at least two links documented already. Both involve oil buyers picked by Saddam and approved by the U.N. One was a firm with close ties to a Liechtenstein trust that has since been designated by the U.N. itself as "belonging to or affiliated with Al Qaeda." The other was a Swiss-registered subsidiary of a Saudi oil firm that had close dealings with the Taliban during Osama bin Laden's 1990's heyday in Afghanistan.

...and it never lets up.

Read the whole thing.

Posted by Mitch at April 19, 2004 08:33 AM