We’ve heard about the kickbacks made to Saddam Hussein and his cronies during the UN sanctions of his regime. The slippery arrangement included sliding the grisly fellow millions of dollars under the table for contracts here and there — sometimes sweetened with black market oil as well…..
But the Australian Wheat Board Deal, aka, AWB, totalling $300 million in kickbacks is hard to top. It’s a huge scandal Downunder — but there’s more.
After the invasion, the Australians embedded their people to ensure that the wheat deals continued. Virtually unnoticed by the US media, it is no secret to the US Wheat people who summarize the trail:
The fallout from the AWB scandal over kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s regime continued to escalate over the last two weeks. AWB CEO Andrew Lindberg resigned, twice. New revelations on AWB contracting schemes seemingly emerged daily, the most recent being a Russian deal facilitated by a Minnesota (U.S.) commodities company. We learned about Operation Proton (installing AWB staff in Iraq as advisors in the Coalition Provisional Authority to protect wheat contracts and keeping friendly Baathist Iraqis in high positions to garner more wheat contracts), Project Hunta (a discarded plan to start a trucking company in Iraq),and Project Rose (lobbying the UN and US to head off inquiries). AWB even faces another government probe, this one reportedly on tax claims for bribes.
