The Idaho Wheat Commission

For over half a century, wheat has been one of the most reliable U.S. exports. Every year, millions of tons of U.S. wheat go out to nearly ninety countries, and in all that time -- with only a few trade interruptions -- U.S. wheat exports have been a solid asset to the balance of trade. Wheat farmers have been able to maintain that trade with an old-fashioned commitment to reliability and quality.

In all those years, our farmers have been the world's largest supplier of wheat even as we've competed against monopoly export organizations in Australia and Canada. Sure, we've complained about the unfair advantages intrinsic to monopolies, but now we're facing something new. And it's bad enough to make farmers stand up and yell.

In short, American wheat farmers find themselves trying to compete against the Australian-sanctioned wheat monopoly -- AWB Ltd -- that was the largest source of kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime under the scandalous Oil for Food humanitarian program. In the years leading up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Saddam collected over $220,000,000 in illicit payments from AWB and, in exchange, allowed AWB to corner the market on wheat sales to Iraq. Some independent intelligence experts say those kickbacks may have supported Iraq's insurgency.

The tentacles of AWB’s illicit actions are far-reaching and perverted. In another scheme, the Australians evidently ripped off the American taxpayers to the tune of around $40 million in a series of defaulted U.S. soybean sales to Indonesia. Elsewhere, there is evidence of millions of dollars in personal payments -- outright bribes -- from the AWB to buyers in Pakistan and Yemen, which is something that American farmers can't even begin to contemplate, since foreign bribery is (rightfully) against U.S. law.

But most importantly (and this is where our yelling comes in), the Australians supported Saddam Hussein at exactly the wrong moment for America's young men and women in uniform.

Unfortunately, there is little indication that AWB will be held to account here in the U.S. That lack of accountability is a moral outrage, especially since AWB has a U.S. subsidiary, subject to U.S. laws and regulations.

In 2003, U.S. Wheat Associates -- the industry's export market development organization -- discovered that AWB overcharged for wheat sold to Saddam Hussein’s regime, and we raised a red flag about possible illegal kickbacks, with little reaction in the U.S. Now an Australian investigation has uncovered Aussie government cables stating that, unbeknownst to us, the Australian Embassy in Washington lobbied the U.S. government and reported success. They said they were working with the U.S. State Department and U.S. Department of Agriculture to “rein in” our leadership and shut us up, to let the issue “blow over.”

AWB hired New York trade lawyers, New Jersey corporate crisis strategists, and Washington lobbyists, all to convince U.S. administration officials and Congressional leaders that American farmers' suspicions were "slanderous and outrageous."

Well, guess what? The American wheat farmers were right, and all that high priced lobbying couldn’t cover up the evidence that AWB’s kickbacks gave $220 million to Saddam just when the international community was trying to box him in with UN sanctions.

The investigation continues in Australia, and the Australian Prime Minister recently confirmed that even he was misled by AWB's lies. Even so, it looks like the Australians have successfully neutered the U.S. government, at least so far. But it's not too late.

Illicit payments to Saddam Hussein, in direct contravention to UN sanctions, should be grounds for suspension and eventual debarment from participation in U.S. taxpayer-supported export programs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture tried to suspend AWB USA from its export credit guarantee programs last winter, but, after pressure from the State Department, reinstated them. Suspend the AWB, again. And this time, keep them out.

Several U.S. Senators recently vowed to look for legal remedies against AWB. They suggested that the Administration might want to initiate a WTO trade action on behalf of American interests. That sounds like a great start.

It is time for our government to act. U.S. Wheat Associates does not make political contributions or provide free corporate jet rides. We don't have a think tank fronting for us, and we don't hire lobbyists. All the American wheat farmers want is to see thier elected leaders stand up for justice. Maybe that's old-fashioned... but U.S. wheat farmers think that sometimes old-fashioned values work best.