Oil for Food 

Oil for Food

Republicans in the U.S. Congress continue to say: Oil for Food was abused by individuals and companies in the West; the UN either did nothing, or provided a cover for UN officials to profit.

James Robbins says in the Washington Post that Oil for Food worked--it fed the poor in Iraq--and any money stolen was Iraqi money, stolen by Iraqis. If the UN partially failed on this front, they largely succeeded in preventing Saddam from building WMDs.

Malnutrion experts seem to agree that Oil for Food fed the poor in Iraq. (There is evidence that malnutrition is worse now in Iraq than it was at the time of the U.S. invasion).

Josh Marshall says all the major decisions about Oil for Food were made by the Security Council of the UN, and the commonly bandied figure for "losses" is bogus.

The left says Dick Cheney led Halliburton to make money from oil for food.