UNSCAM, The Greatest Cash Cow

Bill Safire again violates unofficial New York Times editorial policy by mentioning the United Nations Oil For Food scandal.

"This was the biggest cash cow in the history of the world," says one of the insiders familiar with the $10 billion U.N. oil-for-food scandal. "Everybody — traders, contractors, banks, inspectors — was milking it. It was supposed to buy food with the money from oil that the U.N. allowed Saddam to sell, but less than half went for that. Perfume, limos, a shipment of 1,500 Ping-Pong tables, for God's sake."

Safire alson notes that the United Nations' response to the scandal has been to accuse the United States of skimming oil money too, but without benefit of evidence.

He also knows what his editors will focus on: "Now, that will get media coverage."