Annan blames US, UK for oil scandal

The headline above comes straight from al Jazeera, which reports:

Addressing a meeting on the United Nations and the news media on Thursday, Annan pointed to "the fact that the bulk of the money that Saddam Hussein made came out of smuggling outside the oil-for-food programme, and it was on the American and British watch".

"Possibly they were the ones who knew exactly what was going on, and that the countries themselves decided to close their eyes to smuggling to Turkey and Jordan because they were allies."

Interesting. The fact that the US and UK turned a blind eye to oil being smuggled to Turkey and Jordan for political reasons is one thing. For the UN to be riddled with corruption is another thing altogether.

Not only does Annan want to spread the blame, he's also trying – just as a sleight of hand magician would – to distract attention from what's really going on: keep an eye on his right hand while he pockets the coin hidden in his left.