Despite foot dragging at the United Nations, the lid will be blown off the oil-for-food scandal through which Saddam Hussein scammed more than $20 billion. Even if the U.N. itself and other beneficiaries of Saddam's manipulations, including France and Russia, want to keep the scandal hidden, the latest reports from congressional investigations will ensure that the scandal stays in the news.

Recently, House and Senate investigators released information that doubled to $21.3 billion the previous estimates of the kickbacks earned by Saddam. And, that figure could go higher as investigations proceed.

Various schemes allowed Saddam to accumulate billions of dollars illegally to fund his regime's weaponry, construct palaces and compensate families of Palestinian suicide bombers who killed Israelis.

Saddam manipulated the U.N.'s oil-for-food program by improperly providing allocations for Iraqi oil to international officials and companies with which he wanted to curry favor - or bribe - in his efforts to end the trade embargo imposed on Iraq following the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Those receiving the allocations were able to make quick profits, and provide Saddam with kickbacks, when they sold the oil to traditional oil companies.

Congressional investigations have discovered that Saddam provided oil allocations, and thus guaranteed profits, to terrorist organizations in Palestine and Iran. In addition to compensating Palestinian suicide bombers, Saddam stashed millions of dollars, if not billions, in secret bank accounts in Jordan and other countries around the world.

The well-intentioned U.N. program, designed to restrain Saddam's dangerous and aggressive behavior while at the same time aiding innocent and impoverished Iraqi people, clearly failed on both fronts. The ongoing probes will not shine a flattering light on the U.N., and the criticism is broad and bi-partisan.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said, "The program was corrupted and exploited for the most horrible and aggressive purpose" of funding Saddam's military.

When the scandal first came to light, soon after Saddam's fall from power, the U.N. reacted by launching its own investigation. Despite being headed by the widely respected former head of the Federal Reserve, Paul Volcker, the intent also appeared to be to prevent or stymie investigations by outside organizations, particularly in Congress.

But that will not happen, despite the best efforts U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, whose son is believed to have been involved in the scandal through his work with a U.N. subcontractor.

New York Times columnist William Safire suggested that in U.S. courts, the foot-dragging and non-cooperation exhibited by the U.N. would be labeled "obstruction of justice."

Safire also suggested that the involvement by France and Russia was substantial enough to affect the votes cast by those two nations in the U.N. Security Council, particularly on matters involving the United States' plans to invade Iraq and remove Saddam from power.

While the probes might overlap, congressional investigators are expected to be joined soon by Justice Department officials. This scandal will not be swept under the rug, as many at the U.N. would prefer.

With investigations reaching a critical mass and Saddam's ill-gotten gains now estimated at over $21 billion, the U.N. will not be able to limit the scandal or its fallout by keeping it in-house and lightly slapping itself and other co-conspirators on the wrist.

This scandal is a serious blow to the credibility of the United Nations and the countries, companies or individuals caught up in the various investigative nets.

The United Nations should remain an important organization for resolving world conflicts and crises, but it must be held accountable for allowing this scandal to flourish for years.

- J.L.W.III