Australia, USA, trade and corruption

Monitoring progress of the UN Oil for Food scandal, around the world, is a bit like watching treacle ooze; uphill.
Over a year from the meticulous disclosures of the Volker Panel report another US corporation has come under the spotlight. In what was ingenuously styled as ‘one of the few’ US companies involved, Georgia’s AGCO Corporation has be singled out for investigation over its dealings with Saddam.
The US administration, unlike their clumsy Australian counterparts, has managed to escape scrutiny of their role in the kickbacks scandal. To be fair, the spectre of Bush’s administration giving tacit approval to feeding millions of dollars to Saddam at a time they were planning war is too much for the most stoic critic in that country.
Not so in Australia where senior ministers will be the star witnesses, this week, at the Cole Inquiry. Deputy PM, Mark Vaile, has already had his time in the hot seat.
No admissions where forthcoming, unless we count the admission of being derelict and ‘too busy’ to conduct vital aspects of his specific ministerial responsibilities.
It seems governments can afford to promote and protect inept performers, unlike their corporate counterparts. It should be recalled that the former CEO of the country’s monopoly wheat exporter was shown the door following his remarkably similar performance in the witness box.
Unlike Vaile, the next two ministerial witnesses, PM John Howard and foreign minister Downer, are expected to put on a far more polished performance of denial, obfuscation and deflected blame.
In fact Vaile has led that approach as he tried to shift most of the blame for the wheat scandal on to cabinet colleague Alexander Downer, repeatedly telling the Cole inquiry yesterday he did not have "ministerial responsibility" for issues involving the UN.

UN Official fits pieces together
Their call to explain comes against a backdrop of revelations from a former high ranking UN officer, Felicity Johnston who was Chief Customs Officer at the UN Office for the Iraq program for the four years running up to November 2003. She was in fact responsible for vetting all oil-for-food contracts.
Johnston says she made the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade aware of the Iraqi demands for kickbacks more than six years ago, and she insists that Australian ministers bear a responsibility for the payments.Johnston became aware in late 1999 of Canadian complaints that Iraq was asking for kickbacks and that AWB was known to be paying them.In January 2000, Johnston insists she raised the allegations with New York-based DFAT (Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs) official Bronte Moules. She says Ms Moules was assured by AWB that the claims were categorically untrue. Moules has denied the conversation, but Johnston has said that it is now known that AWB's senior management was not sincere.
Johnston reveals that the UN's contract experts missed a crucial clause in AWB's contract, which showed the company was paying big illegal "discharge" fees.

US Involvement
Which brings me back to the role of the US’s Bush administration in this abuse: There is a little matter of US Wheat Associates complaints to then Secretary for State, Colin Powell. These were complaints which caused a diplomatic flurry at the time, but were subsequently buried.
That USWA suddenly backed off raises some interesting questions, given that they are a powerful and astute lobbing body. No doubt they were warned off, but what was the sweetener in that deal?
Then there is the celebrated blindsiding of US Senator Coleman and his hearings into the scandal. It must have been compelling stuff which made that dogged investigator suddenly lose interest in the whole affair.
To be sure, he came back with a blustery, but lame reprise when the issue finally hit the headlines. But for a second time the good senator was silenced.
This issue runs deep, not just in Australia, or the USA. Russia is conveniently denying any involvement in the scandal, and will no doubt pull the same bunch of strings to ensure their claim sticks.
India, ready to sacrifice their foreign minister of the day, is just getting around to calls for inquiries into government involvement. So it goes around the world, where hapless corporations, no doubt guilty but hardly without tacit approval, take the fall.
But then the UN is the animal of governments, dependent on them for existence.