“In 1996, the UN established the Oil for Food (OFF) program, under which limited oil sales were permitted.” The program started in December 1996. “The revenues, deposited in UN-controlled accounts, were supposed to be used to import food and medicines. But the program had been corrupted and there were reports that some countries, including France and Russia, may have been involved in shady OFF dealings. Saddam himself had not only skimmed off his share, he’d used a lot of the funding for a nationwide building binge, constructing fifty palaces. This was what General [Tommy] Franks called the ‘Oil for Palaces Program.’ ” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.]
– L. Paul Bremer with Malcolm McConnell, My Year in Iraq, Pages 28-29