Quote of note:

…the largest source of money from unreported oil sales was from Iraq's illicit sale of oil to neighboring Turkey and Jordan. Neither the United States nor Britain objected to these sales to staunch Middle East allies until Mr. Hussein's government began making similar oil shipments to Syria. Only then did Washington protest the deals, the experts said.

Regardless of the route through which this oil reached world markets, the United States was the single largest importer under the United Nations program, with as much as half the oil in certain periods processed at American refineries for sale in this country.

New Scrutiny of the Flow of Iraqi Oil to American Consumers
By SIMON ROMERO and SCOTT SHANE

As Saddam Hussein pressed the United Nations oil-for-food relief program for more money that he used to buy banned weapons, an unwitting ally may have been the American driver. Almost until the eve of the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, American oil companies were among the largest purchasers of Iraqi crude oil.

The role that the companies, including ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco, played in the oil-for-food program is now coming under greater scrutiny in the wake of a report by the chief arms inspector for the Central Intelligence Agency that disclosed how extensively Mr. Hussein was abusing profits from the oil sales.

Executives at the two companies insisted over the weekend that their purchases of Iraqi oil were not illegal or unknown in international oil markets in recent years. Industry analysts also said they did not know of any improprieties by the companies.

Report on Iraq Arms Deals Angers France and Others
By STEVEN R. WEISMAN

…They were incensed that the report also mentioned Americans in connection with similar charges but that unlike the French they were not identified because of American privacy regulations.

"You protect American citizens, but you put in danger a number of private citizens in other countries who may be innocent people," said Jean-David Levitte, the French ambassador to the United States.

…A European diplomat said the damage to French-American relations was so great that it could disrupt a new spirit of cooperation with France on other fronts, namely the joint American and European efforts to put pressure on Iran to dismantle its suspected nuclear weapons program and to organize an international conference next month on Iraq.

"This report does great damage," Mr. Levitte said. "There really is a sense of outrage in Paris. We don't want to create a situation that will put us back to one year ago. But these are dirty tricks at the expense of France, with the White House putting the finger on the name of France." Mr. Duelfer's main conclusion - that Iraq did not have unconventional weapons when the Bush administration was charging that it had them - got the most publicity when the 918-page report was issued.

Are you REALLY looking for allies?

What message are you sending?