Volcker Report: Shud Natwar be nabbed ?

I think NO. Let me try to see what happenned and what is best for us.

After Iraq invaded neighbouring Kuwait in 1990, the UN imposed economic sanctions on the country. In the face of a global appeal to save the people of Iraq from bearing the brunt of the sanctions on its dictatorial regime, the UN started the Oil for Food Programme in December 1996 until the end of 2002. The programme was officially closed in March 2003 when the US and UK invaded Iraq.

Under the Programme, Iraq could sell its oil at UN-prescribed prices in exchange of humanitarian goods. Under the Programme, Iraq sold $64.2 billion worth of oil to 248 companies and 3,614 firms sold $34.5 billion worth of humanitarian goods to Baghdad. The programme ended in 2003.

After the invation of Iraq by US unilaterally without the UN resolution, An individual committee was appointed to find the misuse of this programme by the Oil ministry in the Saddam's regime.

Paul A Volcker, former chairman of US Federal Reserve, headed the Committee, which also included South Africa's Justice Richard Goldstone and Switzerland's Mark Pieth, chairman of the Working Group on Bribery in International Transactions at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

From Germany, France, England to Russia, India and Australia, the report names almost 2,400 firms and individuals who paid the Saddam regime money under the guise of the United Nations' Oil for food Programme.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan appointed the Committee on April 21, 2004, to investigate allegations of corruption in the Oil for Food Programme. Allegations had sprung up in various publications, including Baghdad's al-Mada newspaper, which published names of 270 individuals and companies.

The Committee found that Saddam's regime had devised a scheme to fox the UN and suck money for itself from the Oil for Food Programme. The number of firms who had paid Saddam was more than half the number of firms that had dealings with Iraq under the programme.

Under this programme, Baghdad was allowed the power of choosing who it sold the oil to, a loophole which the Saddam regime exploited to garner $1.8 billion for itself.

Saddam gifted oil vouchers to supporters across the globe. Beneficiaries also included vocal anti-sanctions politicians. The vouchers could be sold to companies at higher prices, a part of which found its way into Iraqi accounts.

In the invoices for the oil sales that were presented to the UN, the illegal payments were disguised as 'after-sales service fees' or 'inland transportation fees'.

Jammu and Kashmir Panther's Party leader Bhim Singh, the Congress party, Reliance and Natwar Singh are the four 'non-contractual beneficiaries' from India named in the Volcker report.

The report says Natwar Singh and the Congress party sold their oil vouchers to a Swiss oil trading company, Masefield AG. These are the allegations against Natwar and his son.

Ok... So, How do we react to this ?

Shud Natwar resign for such an allegation? I think not. Atleast, not until George Bush, Tony Blair and Koffi Annan have resigned. If we legitimise the report and ask Natwar to resign, it will be like legitimising the US for the unilateral invasion of Iraq.

The whole basis for invading Iraq were,

First, Iraq was clandestinely acquiring weapons of mass destruction.
Second, it was in league with the Al Qaeda.
Third, it had carried out large-scale massacres of the Shias.
And four, it had misused the UN's Oil-For-Food-Programme.

Of the four, the first three have already been proved to be blatant lies. There is, therefore, a compulsive urge for US to show that at least the fourth allegation was correct.

After the invasion all the official papers of Iraqi OIL Ministry and whatever ministry is available with the US now. They can do whetever they want to justify their acts. And even if it is true, even if the allegations are true, what are we as Indians supposed to do and how are we suppose to treat Natwar ?

Like Bofers, we cannot just sit on top of it or ridicule it saying that it is illegitimate. The max that we can do is see if Natwar made any trip to Jordon during that period. Even if it is true, we cannot prove that he travelled to Jordon to make a visit to Iraq. B'cos his son has married a girl from Jordon.

We cannot start an individual comittee to probe this because,

1. He has not swindled the Indian tax payers money. Hence, we cannot use our money to probe that.
2. The findings will however be incomplete as long as we don't get all the origional documents that were part of Volcker's investigation. Which we can never expect from the US.

This needs to be debated in the over-all national interest. We should resist the temptation to exploit it for partisan political purposes. Keeping all this in view, one should avoid jumping to conclusions regarding the veracity of the reference to Natwar in the report. Though I don't like Natwar for many reasons, I don't want him to step down. What Manmohan has done is right. I too support him for standing firmly behind Natwar. Though he is removed from the portfolio, he is still a cabinet minister.

Infact, The Oil For Food Program itself has been a biggest international scam. They have paid half the amount of the money got from this programme to other countries. They have paid the Nuclear investigators, they have paid $18 billion as 'reparation costs!' to Kuwait, they have financed even this investigation team with that money. In the name of humanitarian programme what is this? Tell me what is this in the name of GOD? They have paid more than 10 times the money what Saddam got by finding loopholes.

So, with all these, Why shud we react to such a report, trying to legitimise the invasion of some country unilaterally and then being imposed by UN, which has inturn become irrelevent by the Secoretary general's own son who was paid around $3000 every month for.. I don't know a long period of time... or so...

Anyhow, it is good for India that we try to react, but in reality we do what we do.. Look at what france has done. One of the oldest democracies. They have sat over the report. No big hue and cries. That is what we shud be doing. It is others war. Let them fight it. Natwar has not done anything with my money or any other tax payers money. Why shout from the roof tops, huh?

- Murali