In the wake of the new accusations about George Galloway lying to Congress, I thought I would put up a link to the Al Mada list of those who received vouchers from Iraq’s Oil for Food program. There are 270 names and entities on the list, including Galloway’s.

Here is a brief overview, from MEMRI, describing how it all worked.

How It Worked: The Voucher Transactions Method

In a subsequent article, Al-Mada provides details on the allocation and sale of oil vouchers. In general, the vouchers were given either as gifts or as payment for goods imported into Iraq in violation of the U.N. sanctions. The voucher holder would normally tender the voucher to any one of the specialized companies operating in the United Arab Emirates for a commission which initially ranged from $0.25 to $0.30 per barrel, though it may have declined in later years to as little as $0.10 or even $0.05 per barrel because of oil surplus on the market. [7] In other words, a voucher for 1 million barrels would have translated into a quick profit of $250,000-300,000 on the high side and $50,000-100,000 on the low side – all paid in cash. According to Al-Mada, Jordan will seek to tax the illicit profits of citizens who benefited from the sale of the vouchers.

One of the common arguments by recipients of vouchers was that the vouchers paid for goods provided in the framework of the U.N.-administered Oil for Food program. However, under the Memorandum of Understanding governing the program, oil allocations were intended for “end users,” meaning those with refineries. Most of the voucher recipients would be considered “non-end users.” Moreover, if vouchers were used to pay for goods, it would suggest that these were not authorized by the program and should be considered illicit since all contracts approved by the U.N. were reimbursed from the trust account where the oil revenues were kept, at a French bank, at Iraq’s insistence. According to the United Nations: “The oil buyer had to pay the price approved by the Security Council Sanctions Committee into a U.N. escrow account, and the U.N. had to verify that the goods purchased by Iraq were indeed those allowed under the program. But the U.N. had no way of knowing what other transactions might be going on directly between the Iraqi government and the buyers and sellers.” [8]

Captain Ed:

Galloway fell into the most basic of prosecutorial traps: find someone who loves to talk, and give him enough rope and time with which to hang himself.

Hinderaker got a chuckle out of me with his response:

Galloway, of course, denies receiving any money from Saddam; he claims to have supported the tyrant for free.

UPDATE: Galloway says “put up or shut up.”

But Mr Galloway repeated denials that he had ever received any oil cash, and told Mr Coleman to “put up or shut up” by either bringing a prosecution or dropping the allegations.

The Bethnal Green and Bow MP accused Mr Coleman of orchestrating a “sneak revenge attack” motivated by a desire to avenge his “humiliation” at the hearing in May.

“I am demanding prosecution, I am begging for prosecution,” Mr Galloway told Sky News. “I am saying if I have lied under oath in front of the Senate, that’s a criminal offence.

“Charge me and I will head for the airport right now and face them down in court as I faced them down in the Senate room.