CAPITALISM'S ACHILLES HEEL Dirty Money and How to

Dirty Money at Work 129
dam’s overseas structure and the businesses and banks that cooperated in filling
his coffers. Suffice it to say that many, many individuals, multinational
corporations, and financial institutions buying from or selling to or banking
for Iraq supported his rip-offs. 145
In 1990 the Simon Wiesenthal Center issued a report listing more
than 60 German companies that had provided “unconventional technologies”
to Iraq for missiles, nuclear components, chemical production systems,
biological warfare, and other applications. Among those named were
Siemens, Thyssen, Ferrostaal, M.A.N., Sigma Chemie, Karl Kolb, and
Carl Zeiss. 146 Allegedly, some of this surreptitious trade was carried on
with falsely-declared exports and fake end-user certificates.
During the Iran–Iraq war from 1980 to 1988, Iraq often utilized Jordan
as a sourcing country. Armaments and munitions were sold to Amman,
which promptly transferred them to Iraq. Allegedly, commissions on arms
deliveries were paid to a member of the Jordanian royal family in amounts of
$25 million, $70 million, $200 million, and more.
The world was shocked to see Saddam invade and annex Kuwait in
1990. This was perhaps the greatest heist since World War II and its immediate
aftermath, as Iraqis made off with thousands of cars and trucks, hospital
and telecommunications equipment, computers, gold, antiquities, and
Kuwaiti dinars. The dinars were offered at heavy discounts to Kuwaiti
princes waiting out the war in Egypt, hoping to use the money at face value
when they got their country back.
As coalition forces in Operation Desert Storm pushed Saddam out of
Kuwait in February 1991, the Iraqi Central Bank reportedly transferred
$5.2 billion to Amman. From there funds were distributed to various foreign
entities controlled by Saddam, to be used specifically to evade trade
sanctions and rearm Iraq.
In the wake of the Persian Gulf War and the imposition of trade sanctions,
the Iraqi people suffered. Saddam intentionally worsened their plight
for political ends. Reacting to conditions in the country, the United Nations
Security Council passed Resolution 986 in 1995, establishing the Oil-for-
Food program. This set up a mechanism for petroleum exports and humanitarian
imports approved by the UN. A year later, the first oil sold under the
program flowed out, and in March 1997, the first food shipments came in.
Initially, major oil companies purchased Iraqi crude under the plan. But
in November 2000 Iraq demanded a kickback of about $1.20 per barrel,