Oil for Food Facts

Ultimately, the Oil for Food Facts presented in the WSJ Opinion page paint the bigger picture. Most bureaucratic organizations established for the greater good of mankind - including most government bodies - usually descend to 'self-preservation' mode. Once there, the participants begin taking care of each other and those that support them (i.e. lobbyists, etc). Budgets become bloated, as a defense mechanism. They become ineffective and vulnerable to others who have ulterior motives:

"But the larger scandal is that Saddam was able to use every legitimate dollar of the program to reward friends and allies and undermine support for sanctions. The total value of contracts under Oil for Food was more than $100 billion -- or $64.2 billion in oil sales and $38.7 billion in humanitarian purchases. Subtract a few billion dollars the U.N. spent in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, and you have some $100 billion worth of business that Saddam was able to steer wherever he wanted."

Term limits for representatives are a good thing to reduce this effect. Perhaps we should also consider term limits for bureaucrats and diplomats.