This was in the comments section of the IHT today.. makes for a decent starter:
It is ironic that the United States is pressuring other nations on debt forgiveness for Iraq while at the same time it is derailing debt relief for the Third World in general. Most debt-ridden Third World countries were also run by dictators who squandered the assets, with little, if any, reaching the people. Will the United States ever show the same concern about debt relief for the many other nations suffering from this burden as it now shows for oil-rich, strategically-important Iraq?
One of the reasons US is pushing for the debt relief is to teach a lesson to the countries that were not on board with the war mantra. e.g. Iraq owed close to $10 Billion to Russia. It will be a big blow to russuian economy if they cannot get that money back, moreover,Russian economy is not doing well now-a-days.
The U.S. is a world leader in debt relief, as always more can be done by everyone, once again you only focus on the U.S. in negative light.
Did you know The U.S. contributes nearly $1 billion annually to international efforts to combat AIDS and infectious diseases. That's more than twice the amount of the second largest donor. Everyone can do more.
Of course they can. Maybe you want to analyze the numbers related to the economies of other countries. US is the richest country in the world. $1 Billion is nothing as compared to the aids it provides to certain countries (Muslim countries included).
[QUOTE] Originally posted by spoon: *
**Will the United States ever show the same concern about debt relief for the many other nations suffering from this burden as it now shows for oil-rich, strategically-important Iraq?
[/QUOTE]
*
Too little, too late.
Debt-relief for Iraq should have manifested itself, at the VERY least, in 1995, when the initial "Memorandum of Understanding" between Iraq and the UN Security Council was signed. That agreement, that led to the subsequent 'oil-for-food' programme, initially signed away 30% of Iraq's export revenues (from oil), to go towards 'Gulf War' reparations - towards wealthy affluent countries such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. This was at a time when doctors in Iraqi hospitals were performing operations under candlelight - the electricity supply was so intermittent (reference Dr. Kandela's articles in the British medical journal, Lancet). i know personally Iraqi civilians who sold off their personal collections of books, libraries they had stocked up in their homes - sold it all off for mere dollars in order to augment their income. Where was debt relief for Iraq when people in that country were giving one of their kidneys on the blackmarket in return for US$50 (reference is the Lancet, Peter Kandela's articles). Perhaps for PR reasons, the 30% later went down to 25% - but that was still too much for a country whose children were suffering from acute malnutrition and water-borne diseases.
i agree with the author's perspective of course - debt relief for Iraq should translate into debt relief for other developing countries as well. In these sorts of cases, the standard practice seems to be - milk the country for all it is worth; when the economy sufficiently resembles a basketcase - then (and only then) make audible cries for debt relief.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by JusticeIsBlind: *
I don't think the debt should be voided! I think the burden of debt should be transferred from the country of Iraq to Saddam and his regime.
[/QUOTE]
They will never find Hussein, nor does Rumsfeld seem particularly interested to do so, now. Forget those lot for debt reparations; the debts should be terminated regardless of other factors - simply for the sake of the country's 22 million civilians and their future generations.
I don't think they will find Saddam either Nadia_H but, they already have some of his henchman. Transfering the debt to the regime would be similar to the tax stamps sold in the U.S. for illegal drugs. it would be away to make sure the big guys captured from S.Hs. regime do not continue to prosper for there past evil actions.
Besides which, you don't need to find Saddam to take his money. If you find the money he and his henchmen have personally squirrelled away for decades, you take it. To the extent this is considered money looted from the Iraqi treasury, give it to the new government of Iraq. To the extent it is not looted money, pay off the debt. Just make darn sure that you take it and give it to someone.
I absolutely believe that the debt should be forgiven, and perhaps as a gesture of good will and Arab solidarity, the war reparations should be cancelled also.
Let's face it, most of the debt was for weapons, and frankly the Iraqi people should get a rebate on all those Russian tanks, MIGs, and Mirages that did not perform very well.
Indeed, the French, Russians and Germans will try to keep sanctions in place but suspended (Let's send in Blix, we can stall for a year!) and the Food-for-Oil in place in some hope that if the UN controls the flow of oil they might get paid. Ironic huh? The anti-war French wanting to maintain programs that most on this board loudly condemn. Will there be shouts of hypocracy against the French? I doubt it...
And by the way, about a third of the Oil-for-Food petroleum flows through a second, legal pipeline through Syria. (not the illegal one that has already been closed.) If the Iraqi's choose to export that oil through Jordan or Turkey instead, the Syrian economy will be hurt even worse, as the Syrian, and their UN approved Russian "middlemen" benefitted greatly from the Oil-for-Food arrangement. (Hezzbollah or oil, your choice...) perhaps there is some hope for Middle East Peace after all.