Report: Saddam's government stole $10.1B

From the AP:

Saddam Hussein's government smuggled oil, added surcharges and collected kickbacks to rake in $10.1 billion in violation of the United Nations' oil-for-food program, congressional investigators said Thursday.

The estimate, much larger than previous calculations, comes as the United Nations considers expanding its probe into the humanitarian program, which allowed Iraq to sell oil for food and medicine. Other oil sales were prohibited under a U.N. embargo imposed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990...

So much for the "Sanctions caused Iraqi kids to starve" meme:

Nearly one million children in Iraq are suffering from chronic malnutrition, according to a report by the United Nations Children's Fund.

The Unicef report said children are bearing the brunt of economic hardship in Iraq. The number of malnourished children represents an increase of 72% since international sanctions were imposed on Baghdad...

Just as a rough calculation, 10B divided by a decade divided by 1 million equals $1000 per year per starving child. That's not just eating, that's eating well.

Iraq · Thu, 03/18/2004 - 11:59 · · Importance: 1