Backstabbing for Beginners Page #7

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They didn't.

We're not exactly here

about medicine, Mr. Passaris.

They'll need to be willing

to pay a hundred grand

to make it happen.

You do the legwork with the Kurds

and the Provisional Authority,

I'll handle the rat,

we'll split fifty-fifty.

Oh, kid.

Fifty thousand dollar pay off?

No, shekels.

Christ, of course dollars. What the f***?

It's like a surprise party

without the cake.

What do you want?

Give us Timur Rasnetsov

and resign your job.

Or we'll have to drag you

and the United Nations

through a scandal of historic proportion.

This happens with or without you,

with or without me.

Rasnetsov is protected

by multinational companies

who have governments who protect them...

same people who just

brought Saddam to his knees

and put you here.

Holding court, judging me.

You think your place at the table now

was not bought and paid for?

We paid with our lives,

if that's what you mean.

What you call corruption is simply

the growing pains of a new democracy.

And you are indeed fools

if you think you can

put the brakes on it now.

Let's let the politicians

worry about that.

We will settle for the rat.

You want me to commit suicide.

We can protect you.

You know that's not true.

Well, just set up a meeting.

Give him the envelope

for the Canadian deal.

We'll catch him red-handed.

What the hell?

Not bad, kid.

Well played.

He's late.

Yes?

F***ing country.

Is it okay if I join you?

I'll be stepping down, going home.

I've lost my taste for it.

I wanted you to hear it from me.

I've recommended you

for a position in UNESCO.

Special Assistant.

You'll be the youngest one

in the whole UN.

Did you know?

Oh, kid.

How can even you think that?

These f***ing lunatics,

they're killing each other every day.

That's the truth of it.

That's your truth, Pasha.

And I'm not part of it anymore.

Don't.

Don't do anything dumb.

You can't fight the storm.

I realized everybody knew

about the corruption.

They just didn't want it exposed.

Every permanent member

of the Security Council

had something to lose, someone on the list

who could embarrass them.

It would all be covered up.

But the UN couldn't survive these lies.

I had to do something.

Risk something... to make a change.

If I tried to list

his accomplishments,

we would be here into tomorrow.

But in his 40 years of service

to the cause

of world peace

and our humanitarian mission,

the crowning achievement would have to be

his successful implementation

and operation of Oil-for-Food.

Hi. I'm Trevor Owen from Oversight.

I spoke to John earlier.

- Saddam's palace files.

- Right, yeah.

Which boxes?

All of them.

They're sealed to the public,

but as you're from Oversight,

and as long as you don't take

anything with you...

go crazy.

Thank you.

Mr. Passaris,

job well done.

Thank you.

- Where's Michael?

- He's cleared his desk, sir.

Think I found it.

You know what we're gonna have to do?

F***in' family.

My name is Michael Sullivan,

and I have a story...

I think you're gonna want to hear.

These are the raw numbers

for how much money was involved,

and that is billions, not millions.

Jesus.

And, this is the list of everyone

who received vouchers there,

bribes and kickbacks.

You can corroborate the names

with the deposit records

right here

with the list of contracts on file.

This is massive, Jesse.

You realize the minute this breaks

you'll have a lot of enemies.

Yeah, I know.

We, we could protect you,

cite you as a confidential source.

No, anonymity is part of the problem.

If nobody takes responsibility

for the truth

then we are leaving it up to consensus.

I have to own it.

We begin this evening

with the United Nations,

the Oil-for-Food controversy and scandal.

And the call,

on the part of the United States senator,

for the resignation of Kofi Annan.

Obviously these are serious allegations,

which we take seriously.

The UN secretary-general today

ordered an investigation

of Costa Passaris,

the former undersecretary

who a whistleblower claims

was behind the Oil-for-Food scandal

that has rocked the United Nations,

and implicated a long list

of prominent businessmen

and political figures across the world.

Incompetent and corrupt.

The weaknesses in the Oil-for-Food program

raises serious questions

about the United Nations' ability

to enforce sanctions and administer

a humanitarian aid program in the future.

The documents The Telegraph

have come up with

were reportedly found

in Iraq's Foreign Ministry

in the anarchic days

after the US-led invasion.

The Wall Street Journal

reports having documentation

of kickbacks and bribes

in the form of oil vouchers

worth billions of dollars.

But according to federal authorities,

Passaris himself has fled the country.

I'm with The Wall Street Journal.

I'm... We're doing a follow-up

on the Oil-for-Food scandal.

I've come to get your side of the story.

I don't have a side.

And it's the kid's f***ing story.

I'm not running away, okay?

Make sure you write that.

Not hiding from anybody.

And yet here you are

in a place without extradition.

It was difficult.

Write that.

Complicated.

Messy with Saddam's ugly nonsense

and the usual First World duplicity,

but we did more good than bad.

I don't care what anybody f***ing says.

And the kid did great.

The choice, as I see it,

is between cynicism and candor.

You know, if everyone cared so much

about Iraq as they said, then...

this story would have been celebrated

as a conspiracy of saints.

But the truth?

The truth isn't about

the lies we told each other.

It's about the lies we told ourselves.

More than two thousand companies

from 56 different countries took bribes

or paid kickbacks to Saddam Hussein.

Over twenty billion dollars got diverted

from the Oil-for-Food Program.

Implicated were some of the most

prestigious corporations in the world.

One hundred and seventy-two

organizations and individuals

highly placed in their governments

received bribes.

My name is Michael Sullivan.

My father was a diplomat.

I tried to follow in his footsteps.

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