Lou Dobbs Tonight

Landmark elections in Afghanistan. A dramatic victory for freedom, after years of radical Islamist rule. We’ll have a report on the world’s newest democracy.

And our own Democracy at Risk, not just from electronic voting, but also from old-fashion ballot rigging. John Fund is the author on of “Stealing Our Elections.” He’s my guest tonight.

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DOBBS: The Iraqi government today launched a new campaign to convince followers of the anti-American cleric Muqtada al Sadr to hand in weapons to police stations in exchange for money.

Iraqis in Baghdad handed in rocket-propelled grenade launchers, mortars, machine guns and assault rifles. In return, Iraqi police gave those followers of al Sadr vouchers that could be exchanged for cash. The price of each machine gun: $1,000. The price of an AK-47 assault rifle: $150.

In Afghanistan, one of this country’s closest allies now on the global war on terror, President Hamid Karzai appears to have won a dramatic election victory. Millions of Afghans took part in the election just three years after the United States liberated Afghanistan from the Taliban and the al Qaeda terror network.

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DOBBS (voice-over): Military helicopters transported ballot boxes to Kandahar stadium for counting, the same stadium where the Taliban once held public executions. German Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder arrived in Afghanistan to offer his early congratulations to interim President Hamid Karzai.

Karzai said the elections were a victory for his war-torn nation.

HAMID KARZAI, PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN: The Afghan people went and voted, and, by voting, they have shown the defeat of terrorism and all of those who do not want peace in Afghanistan.

DOBBS: The elections were not without controversy. Several of the opposition candidates called for a boycott, claiming the process was corrupt. The controversy stemmed from a claim the ink used to mark voters’ hands once they cast their ballots was not indelible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They said the ink was faulty, but I even did my laundry and it hasn’t come off. The election must be accepted.

DOBBS: The leader of the boycott has since backed off his claim and says he will accept the findings of an independent commission that examines the results. International election officials agree.

AMB. ROBERT BARRY, OSCE: We concur with the Joint Election Management Board that the candidates’ demand to nullify the election is unjustified.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We elect — select Mr. Karzai. Yes, we are happy with Mr. Karzai.

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DOBBS: And, yes, now even Afghans will have to get used to exit polls. The exit polls conducted over the weekend elections forecasts now Hamid Karzai to win by a large margin, and, in just a matter of weeks, he will no longer be interim president, but president-elect of what is now internationally certified to be the world’s newest democracy.

Disturbing details tonight on corruption and scandal in the United Nations oil-for-food program. A new report from the chief U.S. weapons inspector detailed corruption, which provided opportunities for Saddam Hussein’s regime to make millions of dollars — billions of dollars, in fact — through kickbacks and smuggling.

My next guest says the oil-for-food program was, in fact, Saddam’s real weapons program. She says the United Nations failed to do its job by keeping details of the oil-for-food program a complete secret.

Joining me now is Claudia Rosett. She’s journalist in residence at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

Claudia, good to have you here.

CLAUDIA ROSETT, FOUNDATION FOR THE DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: Good to be here, Lou.

DOBBS: Why do you say that the oil for food was Saddam’s real weapons program?

ROSETT: Because he worked the — he perverted the program so completely with the active cooperation of the United Nations that, in the end, he was using it to build up an entire financial network that was his arms-smuggling program.

In fact, he was using it to buy conventional arms, and it was — there was a — what Charles Duelfer actually found that hasn’t been — hasn’t really been reported is that Saddam had a deliberate strategy to subvert oil for food, to get rid of sanctions completely, and then he had networks in place that would have enabled him to produce weapons of mass destruction in a matter of months.

DOBBS: From Duelfer’s report and other reports to this extent, to this point, it’s clear that Saddam had also compromised a number of our allies within the United Nations.

ROSETT: Absolutely. In fact, part of Saddam, again — and it appears to have been deliberate — was to buy up in various ways France, China and Russia, the three veto-wielding members of the Security Council who went through this knock-down fight, especially France and Russia, with the U.S. and the U.K.

DOBBS: Why did it take so long for the details of the corruption, the utter scandal of the U.N. oil-for-food program to come to light?

ROSETT: Most…

DOBBS: Because we’re talking about billions…

ROSETT: Yes. Most…

DOBBS: … and billions of dollars.

ROSETT: Absolutely. We’re talking about $11 billion — $10 billion to $11 billion estimated that skimmed out mostly because the United Nations kept all the details of this program secret. All we were told was that babies were being fed in Iraq. You could not even see the names of the contractors or the prices.

DOBBS: Kofi Annan, the U.N. secretary general, has brought in Paul Voelcker, a highly respected central banker almost of icon stature, to lead the investigation. Where does that investigation stand, and why have we not heard a word as a result of that investigation?

ROSETT: That investigation has been moving along at a rather slow pace from every sign we’ve seen. Frankly, there has been nothing that would tell us where it stands, and I think there should be more transparency from them, also.

The U.N. has functioned for so long as a black hole for any information about itself. The Voelcker investigation so far has served that same function. His report is now expected out middle of next year. That’s rather down the road.

What you really need is for the U.N. even now to release the details that it still has. They aren’t all in the CIA report.

DOBBS: And Kofi Annan — why is he not being held accountable for this already clearly established example of massive corruption within the United Nations.

ROSETT: He should be held accountable. We have been operating on the assumption that because something is called a relief program, that means it’s all right. It was far from all right. It was dangerous. It corrupted the United Nations. It brought arms into Iraq that may now be killing both Iraqis and our own soldiers. And it greatly corrupted actually scores of businesses worldwide who may now be liable to blackmail. The damage of this is far from over.

DOBBS: Claudia Rosett.

Thanks for being here.

ROSETT: Thank you.