December 13, 2004
Even if the latest allegations about Marc Rich–that he helped broker Saddam’s oil-for-food deals–prove accurate, that won’t be the main reason Clinton’s pardon of the fugitive financier was scandalous. Saddam could presumably always get someone to broker his lucrative schemes–if not Rich, then another high-level operater. The Marc Rich pardon was scandalous mainly because it taught a generation of young Americans that you could buy your way out of punishment. … But buy with what? …
What, indeed? Or whom?