October 25, 2004
 
A scandal has revealed even more details of Saddam Hussein's brutal rule of Iraq .

While persuading the world to replace harsh sanctions against his regime with a program called "oil for food," Saddam used inflated price deals with foreign  companies to skim off weapons money and bribe foreigners into silence.

Foreign leaders-perhaps some from Russia and France -were on Saddam's payroll. U.N. officials themselves may have been on the take.

The U.N.'s tattered moral reputation is especially relevant in the context of the current presidential election campaign.

President Bush has taken decisions to defend the U.S. independently of views express in the U.N. Kerry seems to view the U.N. as a sort of moral thermometer. He says we need a "global test" for such action.

In light of ongoing threats of terrorism, that contrast is couldn't be more revealing.
 

David Aikman

www.crosswalk.com