The Oil-For-Food Dollar amounts.

In a previous post, Kevin and I were listing numbers that were wildly different. I wasn't sure as to why we had numbers between 200 million and 23 billion. So, knowing Kevin and being uncertain as to my numbers, I did some checking to make sure I wasn't talking out of my you-know-what.

I found the following statement(pdf file) by Sen Carl Levin (D-MI) that had some numbers in it that probably is based on the current info the Senate has. Might the numbers change? It's possible based on further investigation. What else I learned is that Saddam got his money through different avenues. I always thought it was just the Oil-for-food program.

But Saddam repeatedly inflated the dollar amount of the humanitarian contracts and obtained kickbacks from these contracts and the oil sales to the tune of at least $1.7 billion.

Saddam’s abuse of the Oil-for-Food program, however, provided only a fraction – about one-sixth -- of Iraq’s total illicit income. According to the Duelfer Report, the vast majority – nearly three-quarters – of Saddam’s illicit income during the sanctions period was generated through publicly disclosed trade agreements, called “protocols,” to sell Iraqi oil to its neighbors: primarily Jordan, Syria, and Turkey.

It shows that the trade agreements, which were not part of the Oil-for-Food Program, were the largest single source -- 75% -- of Iraq’s illicit income, generating $8 billion out of a total that was estimated in the Duelfer Report to be $10.7 billion. According to the Duelfer Report, the Oil-for-Food program, which began in 1996, generated about $1.7 billion through kickbacks and surcharges to Saddam, or about 16% of Iraq’s total illicit income during the sanctions period.

Also, we evidently knew about the protocol program and did nothing about it.

So this was an interesting research project and gives me a better understanding of what we are debating.