Compensation for support (the latest definition of a bribe)

How did Saddam Hussein do this? It takes two.

On one side, you have a dictator with cash and a strong desire to release himself from UN sanctions.

On the other side, you have corrupt Western politicians, who need cash and don't give a four letter word about the UN, respect for the law or anything else.

The net result is the ongoing Oil for Food Scandal, the biggest rip off of a nation in history.

Where are the demonstrations? Where are thousands marching down a Western capital saying:

"Chirac, Chirac, Chirac, give the Iraqis their money back". Or,

"Putin, Putin, how do you do, how many oil contracts did Saddam give you?"

FOX News has coverage of the Senate investigation. Read this:

"Saddam Hussein (search) and his government bribed Russian officials, paying them millions of dollars in Iraqi oil allocations, as part of the Oil-for-Food program, a congressional investigation concluded.

The payments were made so that Iraq could buy support for lifting sanctions against Iraq in the U.N. Security Council, former Saddam officials told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (search) investigations subcommittee.

Saddam's vice president, Taha Yasin Ramadan (search), told investigators that the allocations were "compensation for support," according to one of two reports released Monday.
Click here to read the report about Iraqi oil allocations to the Russian presidential council (pdf).

The Washington Post has a story today on the Russians and The Oil for Food Scandal:

"Top Kremlin operatives and a flamboyant Russian politician reaped millions of dollars in profits under the U.N. oil-for-food program by selling oil that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein allowed them to buy at a deep discount, a Senate investigation has concluded.

The allegations -- which also include descriptions of kickbacks paid to Hussein -- are detailed in hundreds of pages of reports and documents made public last night by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in advance of a hearing tomorrow.

The documents outline a trail of oil and money that leads directly from Iraq to the Kremlin and the former chief of staff to Russian President Vladimir Putin and former president Boris Yeltsin.

The report said Iraq sought to influence and reward the Russian government because it sits on the powerful U.N. Security Council that oversaw sanctions against the Hussein government. Russia repeatedly sided with Iraq on issues before the Security Council."

How do you say bribe in UN slang? They call it "compensation for support".

Saddam gives you oil contracts and you give him your veto.