- (Author Unknown)
-
- Iraqis have been robbed, murdered, raped, tortured, and
looted for generations to come. The Zionist lobby in the US in now calling
for the same genocide against Iranians, while the Israeli Zionist Leaders
(95% Russian Khazars/German Ashkenazis) are conducting a similar genocide
against the Palestinians and Lebanese with funds embezzled from the US
taxpayers. In addition to hanging a version of their puppet "Saddam
Hussein" who was installed by the CIA and supported by the Pentagon
until 1991, the Neocon/Zionists:
-
- staged 911 and then blamed Arabs and demonized muslims
- profited immensely from 9/11 related events such as short
selling of airline stocks before the attacks, insurance claims after the
attacks, military buildup, wars, etc. (as per Retd. Colonel Bowman and
others, Dick Cheney was the mastermind behind the attacks leading the simulated
hijacking exercises from his bunker on September 11, 2001),
-
- The Neocon/Zionist cartel have been conducting illegal
wars of aggression and bombing, invading, occupying and installing a government
of criminals, just as criminals as the Congress critters like Jim Hightower
calls them (http://www.jimhightower.com ), in Afghanistan and Iraq. Here
are some of their other crimes. Iraq has been "liberated" Zionist-style from
2003 till the present. Today, the 29th January 2007, Iraqis long for the
days of the sanctions:
-
- The US occupation forces will soon get their Iraqi puppet
government to pass legislation giving away Iraqi's oil wealth to their
masters the OIL GIANTS.
-
- Today in Iraq, people are collectively raped, murdered,
tortured, experimented on with various drugs and drills and US bombs of
every type, lazer bombs, phosphorus, cluster, DU....
-
- Today in Iraq, many cities have become massive ghettos.
Baghdad, Falluja, Ramadi, Mosul, Haditha,etc...
-
- Today in Iraq, there are mass concentration, rape and
torture camps.
-
- Today in Iraq there are 3.7 million refugees seeking
shelter outside.
-
- Today in Iraq, there are 700,000 plus dead since 2003,
add to this figure 260'000 children. Today in Iraq, there is no aspirin,
no food, no water, no electricity, no nothing....except for the Neocon/Zionist
mercenaries
-
- Today in Iraq people, are persecuted for their name tags.
-
- Today in Iraq, there are no more universities or schools.
-
- Today in Iraq, people have stopped selling their organs
and are selling their kids instead.
-
- Today in Iraq there are no hospitals left and cancer
patients are considered lucky.
-
- Today in Iraq, the secret letter circulating in the UN
prior to the occupation warning that over 1.4 million children will die,
has come true.
-
- Today in Iraq there is a holocaust happening before your
very eyes.
-
-
- FACTS ARE FACTS
- Zionist Neocons are ultimately guilty of:
-
- Killing over 650,000 Iraqis and 50,000 Afghans in the
process
-
- Stealing Iraqi wealth of all types
-
- Murdering Iraqi intelligencia, scientists, and professors
-
- Polluting the World with Depleted Uranium which has already
and will cause cancer of the lungs and birth defects
-
- Lying and misleading the people of the World
-
- Murdering journalists to reduce negative reporting
-
- Spending millions on lies and propaganda companies and
censoring news. Just look at the real rich news content available on the
Internet from alternative news sites versus the controlled news and unreported
news and fabricated news promoted on the corporate media
-
- Embezzling funds and issuing no-bid contracts to military-industrial-congressional
complex companies.
-
- Subcontracting the business of killing and torturing
to lavishly paid mercenaries.
-
- Institutionalizing torture and kidnapping of relatives,
including children.
-
- Using weapons of mass destruction such as napalm, phosphorous,
daisy cutters, depleted uranium.
-
- Conducting election frauds, disenfranchising certain
voters, etc. Although Zionist imperialism is bipartisan, the Democratic
is less infiltrated by the demagogue war-mongerers
-
- Passing Soviet-Stalin type laws to restrict freedoms
and imprison without trial, i.e. end of Habeus Corpus/Magna Carta. Remember
that the Patriot Act was written before 9/11
-
- Persecuting those who dare to expose their crimes
-
- Massively increasing US and Iraqi taxpayers' debts and
deficits
-
- Fabricated and lied about intelligence reports
-
- Forced downtown Manhattan to reopen after 9/11 even though
the air was toxic and now many people and rescue dogs are dying from the
effects
-
- Genociding entire cities such as Fallujah, etc.
-
- Spending funds marked for reconstruction on expensive
Blackwater Mercenaries
-
- Millions will die of cancer, get diabetes, will be born
with massive birth defects due to the depleted uranium contamination
-
- At least 700,000 Iraqis burnt/crushed/shrapnelled to
death by US bombings and other types of attacks
-
- Thousands more injured or crippled
-
- Over 3 million Iraqis have left the country
-
- Another 3 million are refugees within their own country.
-
- Over 18,000 physicians have left Iraq, 250 kidnapped,
hundreds killed
-
- Hundreds of Iraqis girls have been forced into prostitution
as sex slaves, many more raped
-
- Dozens of cities massively destroyed
-
- About 1,000 Iraqi scientists and professors killed by
Mossad death squads
-
- About 4,000 young Iraqi men have been killed by Mossad
death squads
-
- Nearly 100 reporters killed by US troops and unable to
report what really happened
-
- Billions stolen by Zionist/Neocon operatives
-
- Iraqi's oil wealth soon to be given away to Big Oil Giants
-
- Iraqi banking brought under the umbrella of the Privately
Owned Federal Reserve System
-
- Past Iraqi government employee pensions cancelled
-
- Most new jobs are being done by imported laborers
-
- Mossad/CIA/British Intelligence have been staging bombings
and blaming them on rival Iraqi groups to fuel a civil war
- Etc. etc. etc.
-
-
-
- Here is a flashback of the Bremer laws to colonize Iraq
and it has gotten worse since then:
-
-
-
- The Bush Administration's proposed changes for Iraqi
law go even further, with a special focus on Iraq's oil. BearingPoint describes
how current Iraqi commercial law is "woefully deficient in terms of
establishing a market-friendly legal and regulatory environment for business
formation and operation." Changes to those laws will therefore be
necessary "to assure an appropriate legal and regulatory framework
for major utilities such as gas, oil, water, and power." The contract
includes every sector of the Iraqi economy, from public services, media,
banking, investment, taxes, agriculture and the oil sector , implementing
"private-sector involvement in strategic sectors, including privatization,
asset sales, concessions, leases and management contracts, especially those
in the oil and supporting industries." The Bremer Orders have changed
Iraq's laws are being replaced and the BearingPoint contract implemented
by L. Paul Bremer, Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority
(CPA) in Iraq. The Bremer Orders most relevant to this discussion are detailed
below.
-
- Bremer Order #39: Foreign Investment
-
- Bremer Order #39, enacted on September 19, 2003, has
five key elements: (1) Privatization of state-owned enterprises; (2) 100%
foreign ownership of businesses in all sectors except oil and mineral extraction,
banks and insurance companies (the latter two are addressed in a separate
order); (3) "national treatment" of foreign firms; (4) unrestricted,
tax-free remittance of all funds associated with the investment, including,
but not limited to, profits; and (5) 40 year ownership licenses which have
the option of being renewed.
-
- 1. Privatization
-
- The Order allows for privatization of all state-owned
entities. It is difficult to overstate how fundamental a change this is
to the Iraqi economy. As the preamble to the Order explains, it will move
Iraq from a "centrally planned economy to a market economy" in
one fell swoop by U.S. fiat. This will involve some 200 state-owned enterprises.
Thus, everything from water services, electric utilities, schools, hospitals,
television and newspapers, to prisons could be privatized under the Order.
The water sector is already being "reconstructed" by the Bechtel
Corporation of San Francisco , one of the top ten water privatization companies
in the World. Bechtel is the second largest recipient of reconstruction
dollars in Iraq after Halliburton , totaling nearly $3 billion. Bechtel's
contract includes the repair of Iraq's water, sewage and electricity systems,
as well as many of its hospitals and schools.
-
- Cliff Mumm, head of Bechtel's Iraq operation, told the
San Francisco Chronicle that Iraq "has two rivers, it's fertile, it's
sitting on an ocean of oil. Iraq ought to be a major player in the World.
And we want to be working for them long term." Bechtel's track record
does not bode well for the Iraqi people-in fact, the citizens of Bolivia
have written a letter to the people of Iraq warning them of what to expect
from Bechtel. A subsidiary of Bechtel privatized the water systems of Cochabamba,
Bolivia and immediately sent prices sky-rocketing. Families earning a minimum
wage of $60 per month faced water bills of $20 per month. The citizens
rose in protest and at least one seventeen year-old boy lost his life to
Bolivian troops sent into the streets to defend Bechtel's right to privatize
with deadly force. Ultimately, the government relented and cancelled the
contract. Bechtel has responded with a $25 million lawsuit against Bolivia
for lost profits. Not surprisingly, when Thomas Foley, former director
of Private Sector Development for the CPA, announced a list of the first
state enterprises to be sold off last fall which included cement and fertilizer
plants, phosphate and sulfur mines, pharmaceutical factories, and the country's
airline, there was immediate unrest. With anywhere from 50% - 70% of the
workforce already unemployed, additional layoffs , which always follow
on the heels of privatization , were unacceptable. Furthermore, those remaining
workers who still have jobs only receive "emergency pay" mandated
by the CPA , about half of what they made before the war, while prices
have skyrocketed and the social safety net has been virtually eliminated.
The CPA promised that the U.S. corporations doing the reconstruction would
solve the unemployment problem, promising 300,000 jobs in an August 13,
2003 letter. Only a handful of these jobs have materialized. One reason
is that many firms are bringing in non-Iraqis to do the bulk of the work.
-
- Thus, privatization was met with stiff organized resistance.
In response, Bremer was forced to put the immediate privatization plans
on hold for the short-term. However, the long-term plans are clear. BearingPoint,
the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and others both in
or contracted by the U.S. government will implement the majority of the
economic policies with the new Iraqi government. Therefore, implementation
can wait until the friction over how that government is created is resolved.
Furthermore, the process of preparing for privatization has not slowed,
while the emphasis on privatization is already rearing its head in Iraq.
For example:
-
- ·
On April 25, 2004, Iraq's minister of public works told The Independent
that Iraq was considering privatizing its water industry to "fund
essential works." While the U.S. government is obligated to ensure
that water is provided to the people of Iraq, it is telling that the Minister
did not discuss going to the CPA to demand restoration of water services
nor to Bechtel to demand that it fulfill the requirements of its contract.
Rather, she speaks immediately of privatization.
-
- ·
Meetings among global corporations to discuss privatization and investment
in Iraq have been taking place unabated at least since the invasion. For
example, in February, the U.S. Commerce Department held a "Doing Business
in Iraq" conference attended by some five hundred U.S. companies including
Boeing, Caterpillar, DaimlerChrysler, Microsoft, IBM, Motorala, Bechtel
and Flour. This conference took place immediately following vocal criticism
by the Iraqi Governing Council's top representative in Washington that
the U.S. was passing over Iraqi firms in awarding reconstruction contracts.
The latest of these meetings took place just over a week ago in London.
Called "Iraq Procurement 2004 , Meet the Buyer" , it was sponsored
by ExxonMobil, Oxy, Volvo, Shell, Raytheon and ChevronTexaco , among others.
You can visit web sites like www.export.gov/Iraq or http://www.iraqprocurement.com/
to learn more and similar meetings taking place monthly around the World.
-
- ·
The CPA's continued interest in luring the private sector to Iraq is evidenced
by the fact that it recently named a new director of Private Sector Development.
He is Ari Fleischer's brother, Michael.
-
- ·
Most importantly, it is abundantly clear from BearingPoint's contract that
full implementation is intended to take place after the new Iraqi government
is in place , not in the few months remaining before the "hand-over."
The contract is for three years with the option of renewal. They are not
going anywhere. Of course, the contract specifically states that while
there is a commitment to place "Iraq's leaders and stakeholders in
the driver's seat" their input on policies will only be used "as
long as these are consistent with the overall objectives of the project
and with USAID policies, regulations and guidelines."
-
- ·
In regard to whether the Iraqis intend to change these U.S. imposed laws,
Sinan Shabibi , the governor of Iraq's central bank, told an investors
services roundtable in Washington recently that the international financial
community need not fear Bremer's banking laws will be abolished after the
hand-over of sovereignty on June 30 because, "It is unreasonable to
enact an economic strategy and then abolish it within two month."
Thus, U.S. pressure is already clearly being felt in Iraq and on its leaders.
-
-
-
- 2. 100% foreign ownership
-
- All of Iraq's businesses can be completely owned, run
and employed by non-Iraqis. Iraq, like many countries , particularly developing
countries , had a ban on foreign ownership (many require partnerships with
local companies as well) in order to ensure local retention of revenue,
employment and other financial gains. Order #39 states that Iraq cannot
restrict access to foreign owners to any sector of the economy except resource
extraction.
-
- Thus, even Iraq's media could be completely owned by
U.S. companies. The first step towards U.S. ownership may have come with
the awarding of a $90 million contract to Science Applications International
Corporation (SAIC) of San Diego, CA, to "restore broadcast media to
uncensored operation." According to the Center for Public Integrity
(CPI), SAIC will be rebuilding Iraq's mass media, including television
stations, radio stations and newspapers, in a program called the Iraqi
Media Network. However, not much more is known because the Pentagon has
steadfastly refused to release any specific information about the contract.
What little information that has leaked out has come mainly from disgruntled
employees and press freedom advocates, who have alleged military censorship,
cronyism and significant mishandling of the work. In just one example,
SAIC used the U.S. government-run Voice of America to patch together nightly
news shows made up entirely of dubbed stories from U.S. television network
news shows. Concerns over foreign ownership go farther. Iraq is home to
the most extensive river system in the Middle East, including the Tigris
and Euphrates rivers and the Greater and Lesser Zab rivers. As Stephen
C. Pelletiere, a former CIA senior political analyst on Iraq, wrote in
the New York Times, "America could alter the destiny of the Middle
East in a way that probably could not be challenged for decades , not solely
by controlling Iraq's oil, but buy controlling its water. Even if America
didn't occupy the country, once Mr. Hussein's Baath Party is driven from
power, many lucrative opportunities would open up for American companies."
The military invasion of Iraq has put Bechtel in the position to become
one of these companies.
-
- 3. National Treatment
-
- Order #39 states that "A foreign investor shall
be entitled to make foreign investments in Iraq on terms no less favorable
than those applicable to an Iraqi investor." National treatment makes
it impossible to require that Iraqis be given preferential treatment (over
foreigners) as investors, owners, contractors or employees. Thus, foreign
companies can do all of the reconstruction, own every business, do all
of the work and not a single Iraqi need to employed or involved in the
process whatsoever.
-
- This is a particularly troublesome provision given reports
of bloated U.S. corporate budgets. For example, Time magazine recently
reported that an American firm was awarded a $15 million contract to build
a cement factory in Iraq (using U.S. taxpayer dollars). When the firm was
prevented from doing the work, an Iraqi businessman (using Saddam's confiscated
funds) spent just $80,000 to build the same factory. National treatment
is also a powerful tool used by companies to circumvent domestic regulations
on the environment, public health and worker and consumer safety. Virtually
every challenge brought to such laws under the investment chapter of the
NAFTA include claims that the government violated national treatment. For
example, national treatment was one of the tools used successfully by the
Virginia-based Ethyl Corporation to force the government of Canada to reverse
its ban on the gasoline additive MMT, a ground water pollutant also believed
to be a human carcinogen. Ethyl sued and Canada settled: reversing its
ban, paying Ethyl $13 million in compensation for its "trouble,"
and writing a letter of apology. Given corporate success in challenging
such laws in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, it is likely that Iraq's
environmental, health, and public interest laws,or those that any new government
may wish to enact,will be severely at risk. The impact of this one provision
alone is devastating and has facilitated the Bush Administration's failure
to meet its obligations under international law to provide for the basic
necessities of Iraq.
-
- Failure to Meet International Obligations to Provide
for Iraqi Basic Services
-
- Water
-
- The Washington Post tells the story of Al-Ani, a PhD
civil engineer with 40 years experience who is one the top experts in water
treatment in Iraq. He is an employee of the General Co. for Water Projects,
one of the 200-odd ventures in Iraq that are owned wholly or in part by
the state and have been told they are ineligible for contracts being issued
by the occupation. The company's 187 workers still collect their government
salaries but they now spend their days playing video games, reading books
and chitchatting to pass the time. This story is repeated over and over
again across Iraq. Qualified, experienced and interested Iraqi engineers
and workers sitting idle while U.S. corporations blunder about Iraq at
the expense of Iraqi health and U.S. tax-payer money. Bechtel has the contract
that could have gone to General Co. Rather than hire or talk to Al-Ani
or his numerous colleagues, Bechtel employees spent their first months
in Iraq touring the country doing an assessment of the water and electrical
systems only to discover that the systems were in much worse condition
and more complicated than they had originally assumed. This explains why
Bechtel is not living up to the conditions of their contract for water
and electricity provision and why the U.S. government doesn't care. According
to the San Francisco Chronicle, USAID, which oversees Bechtel's contract,
has "reduced expectations of what could be fixed, how long repairs
would take and how much money would be required." Good for Bechtel,
but too bad for the people of Iraq who are virtually without electricity
or water and are living in sewage-filled streets. According to USAID's
own reports, one year after the invasion "Baghdad's three sewage treatment
plants, which together comprise three-quarters of the nation's sewage treatment
capacity, are inoperable, allowing the waste from 3.8 million people to
flow untreated directly into the Tigris River. In the rest of the country,
most sewage treatment plants were only partially operational prior to the
conflict, and shortage of electricity, parts and chemicals have exacerbated
the situation. Water that is pumped through the system is largely untreated,
especially in South." The most extensive on-the-ground assessment
of Iraq's water systems by Dahr Jamail for the consumer watchdog group
Public Citizen reached the same conclusion. Drinking water throughout the
country is in a crisis state, with some villages having no access to water
while larger cities receive water approximately 50% of the time. This has
led to vast outbreaks of cholera, diarrhea, nausea and kidney stones, among
other diseases.
-
- Electricity
-
- The same condition exists for Iraq's electricity , reconstruction
of which is also Bechtel's responsibility. According to a memo by an anonymous
U.S. government official written to the CPA in early March 2004, there
is "no consistency" in power flows in Iraq. "Street lights
function irregularly and traffic lights not at all" "Electricity
in Baghdad fluctuating between three hours, on and off, in rotation, and
four hours on and off." U.S. Airforce Colonel Sam Gardiner, author
of a 2002 study of the likely effect US bombardment would have on Iraq's
power system, recently told the Village Voice, "I continue to get
very upset about the electricity issue... Frankly, if we had just given
the Iraqis some baling wire and a little bit of space to keep things running,
it would have been better. But instead we've let big US companies go in
with plans for major overhauls." Thus, while Bechtel reports that
they have "returned electricity generation to pre-conflict levels,"
this claim is not supported by the U.S. government or Iraqis themselves.
Power outages lasting for 24 hours a day are still more often the rule
than the exception. The Daura power plant, Baghdad's largest, which should
supply one third of the city's generating capacity was producing only 10%
as recently as December. Helmut Doll, the German site manager for Babcok
Power, as subcontractor of Siemens, told Newsweek that "Bechtel only
came and took photos. We can't judge Bechtel's work progress because they're
not here." The same story is repeated across Iraq. Either they haven't
seen Bechtel, or the work that has been provided is inadequate and intermittent.
Bechtel representatives have admitted as much, citing the constant sabotage
of their work and their ill-preparedness going in, commenting that they
did not realize how intertwined the electricity, water and sewage systems
were, greatly complicating their repair efforts. Of course, the Iraqis
knew this and could have told them , if they had asked. Iraqis point out
that after the first Gulf War, they were able to restore electricity in
just three months. Mohsen Hassan, technical director for power generation
at the Iraqi ministry of electricity, told Southern Exposure Magazine,
"We, the Iraqi engineers, can repair anything, but we need money and
spare parts and so far Bechtel has provided us with neither. The only thing
that the company has given us so far is promises."
-
- Schools and Hospitals
-
- Bechtel has also failed in its contractual obligations
to restore hospitals and schools in Iraq. Bechtel repeatedly cites the
1595 schools it has "rehabilitated" in Iraq. However, this is
less than a fifth of Iraq's 10,000 schools. And, as Newsweek reported,
"many of the rehabilitated schools don't look ready for the morning
bell." The constant complaint from Iraqi Ministry of Education officials
and headmistresses and ministers of schools that Bechtel has worked on,
is that the work is either non-existent or shoddy, often putting students
health and safety at risk. An internal study by U.S. Army personnel cited
in Southern Exposure, strongly criticized Bechtel's attempts to renovate
Iraqi schools. Comments such as the following were common: "the new
fans are cheap and burned out immediately upon use. All inspected were
already broke." "Lousy paint job. Major clean-up work required.
Bathrooms in poor condition." Southern Exposure visited four Baghdad
schools all listed as renovated by Bechtel. They found rain leaking through
ceilings, shorting out power, new paint peeling and floors that had not
been completely repaired. New brass taps and doors painted, but toilets
and sinks that had not been touched. At Hawa School, for example, the headmistress
showed the authors toilets where a new water system had been installed,
pipes, taps and a motor to pump the water. However, the motor didn't work,
so the toilets reeked with unflushed sewage. The conditions reported in
Bechtel hospitals are similar , shoddy or non-existent work accompanied
with desperate and unmet human needs. The Bush Administration is not even
living up to its own requirements under national treatment because it is
treating foreign providers differently. The U.S. has banned countries that
did not participate in the invasion for profiting off of the invasion.
Thus, in many cases, repairs that could be performed quickly to the water
and electrical systems are left undone because they require parts from
countries such as Russia, Germany or France.
-
- 4. Unrestricted Repatriation of Profits
-
- Order #39 authorizes foreign investors to "transfer
abroad without delay all funds associated with [their] investment."
Thus, they can put their money wherever they like and take it out whenever
they want to, "without delay." Nothing need be reinvested locally
to service the floundering Iraqi economy. Nothing need be targeted to help
specifically damaged regions, communities or services. All the money can
go home with the foreign owners and they can take out their investments
at any time. U.S. corporations are already reaping staggering revenues
from their Iraqi operations. However, due to Order #39, not a cent of this
money need be reinvested in Iraq. Halliburton, with contracts worth as
much as $16.8 billion in Iraq has seen its revenues increase 80% in the
first quarter of 2004 compared to the same quarter of 2003. According to
the Financial Times, they are receiving steep "profits from their
Iraq operations." Bechtel, with nearly $3 billion in Iraqi contracts,
has seen their non-U.S.-generated revenues increase by a whopping 158%
since last year , turning around a three-year slump. Bechtel is not publicly
traded and therefore does not have to reveal profits. However, both Bechtel
and Halliburton have cost-plus contracts that guarantee a specified rate
of profit on their work. ChevronTexaco which has a comparatively minor
contract for transporting Iraqi oil has also seen revenues soar. It is
important to note that neither Halliburton nor Bechtel participated in
the most recent round of Iraq reconstruction contract bids. A good guess
as to why would be the constant barrage of public criticism they have faced
over the failures in Iraq. These are just three of the hundreds of U.S.
companies now operating in Iraq , all of their money could return to the
U.S. , non of it need be used to benefit Iraq whatsoever.
-
- Unfortunately, we don't really know how much money the
Iraqis are missing out on, nor exactly what work is being done nor by whom.
This is because, as the Center for Public Integrity , the organization
which has done the most extensive Freedom of Information Act requests and
investigations into these contracts , so aptly states, "it [does]
not appear that any one government agency [knows] that total number of
contractors or what they are doing." This finding has since been upheld
by both the General Accounting Office and the Pentagon's inspector-general
- both of which have recently concluded studies demonstrating little or
no government over site over contractors and contracts being granted, renewed
and increased with virtually no inspection of written documents nor work
performed. Finally, returning to repatriation of profits , the potential
long-term impact of this provision for the Iraqi economy is monumental,
as evidenced by the impact of the same rules on the "financial tigers"
of East Asia, as well as Argentina and Russia. Each of these countries
experienced devastating financial collapse when foreign investors simultaneously
withdrew billions of dollars from their economies while the governments
were powerless to enact restrictions on either the inward or outward flow
of investments. Iraq is now poised to meet the same fate.
-
- 5. 40-year leases
-
- Under Order #39 Iraq will be locked in to its contracts
under these rules for 40 years, with an option of unlimited renewal. If
the contracts are broken, the Order gives the companies the legal authority
to enact any international trade agreement of which both countries are
party. If the Bush Administration is successful in implementing its trade
goals outlined below, the U.S. will have a Bilateral Investment Treaty
(BIT) with Iraq. The BIT provides access to courts such as the World Bank's
International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID),
a venue notorious for its undemocratic, untransparent and unjust proceedings
and rulings on behalf of multinational corporations.
-
- Bremer Order #40: Banking
-
- Order #40 fundamentally alters Iraq's banking structure
by turning this sector from a state-run to a market-driven system over
night by allowing foreign banks to enter the Iraqi market and to purchase
up to 50 percent of an Iraqi bank. Specifically, it permits six foreign
banks over the next five years the right to enter the Iraqi market. A similar
provision included in NAFTA paved the way for Citigroup to purchase Mexico's
largest commercial bank, Banamex. In Aotearoa/New Zealand, liberalization
of financial banking services left every one of the nation's banks, including
the bank of New Zealand, under foreign control. Affordable financial services
and low-cost loans quickly dried up , so much so that the government proposed
setting up a new bank, the People's Bank, to be owned and operated by the
government itself in order to redress the inequities of the foreign-owned
banks. Local ownership of banks is critical because it facilitates access
to credit for all sectors of society. It may deter disloyal behavior; foreign
finance companies are much more likely to flee in times of crisis. And
ensuring that a foreign company holds some domestic assets within the country
in which it is operating can help ensure it can satisfy any legal liabilities
it might accrue. Moreover, Iraq simply does not have adequate regulatory
structures in place to handle the economic power and marketing prowess
of global financial companies. For example, Iraq does not have a counter-part
to U.S. laws such as the Community Reinvestment Act -- obligating banks
to make credit available in lower-income neighborhoods -- and the Truth
in Lending Act -- requiring full disclosure to consumers of the cost of
loans. Finally, with the banks under foreign ownership, the lobby against
adoption of such rules may be too strong to fight. JPMorgan, the second-largest
bank in the U.S., which was implicated in the Enron scandal, has been awarded
a contract to run a consortium of 13 banks from 13 countries that will
constitute the Trade Bank of Iraq. The Trade Bank may be just the point
of entry for JPMorgan, giving it "first dibs" on the full privatization
yet to come.
-
- Bremer Order #37: Taxes
-
- Order #37 changes Iraq's tax law by implementing a flat
tax that provides for a marginal income tax rate of 15% for both corporations
and individuals. Thus, an Iraqi earning .50 cents per hour will pay the
same tax rate as another earning $1 billion an hour. Flat rates have a
record of reducing the tax burden on the poorest in the economy, increasing
the burden on the middle class tremendously, and drastically reducing the
taxes paid by the wealthiest in society , particularly corporations. As
the Washington Post reports, "it took L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator
in Baghdad, no more than a stroke of the pen Sept. 15 to accomplish what
eluded the likes of publisher Steve Forbes, Reps. Jack Kemp (R-N.Y.) and
Richard K. Armey (R-Tex.), and Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Tex.) over the course
of a decade and two presidential campaigns."
-
- Bremer Order #12: Trade Liberalization
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- On June 12, Bremer signed the "Trade Liberalization
Policy," suspending "all tariffs, customs duties, import taxes,
licensing fees and similar surcharges for goods entering or leaving Iraq,
and all other trade restrictions that may apply to such goods." This
led to an immediate and dramatic inflow of cheap consumer products, which
has essentially wiped out all local providers of the same products. This
could have significant long-term implications for domestic production as
well. But tariff elimination is just the beginning. In early February 2004,
BearingPoint was right on schedule when the Bush Administration achieved
WTO observer status for Iraq , even without a government , over the strong
objections of many of our European allies. This is the first step towards
WTO membership, which also requires the fundamental transformation of Iraq's
laws to bring them in to WTO-compliance. The longer-term goal was announced
by President Bush just two months after the invasion of Iraq. On May 9,
2003, President Bush announced plans for an U.S.-Middle East Free Trade
Area (MEFTA) by 2013 , bringing all of the policies outlined above, and
more, to the entire region. The Middle East, insulated by oil revenue,
has historically been less susceptible than other regions to the extreme
sacrifices required by governments under corporate free trade agreements.
But with the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the Bush Administration demonstrated
that it would defy global public opinion and the United Nations to use
military force when and where it deems necessary. Thus, it can now return
to the more traditional model of advancing corporate globalization, the
free trade agreement. As George Wolfe, director of Economic Policy for
the CPA told the New York Times, "in the long run, the United States
hopes that Iraq will become an economic model for the Middle East."
Or, put more bluntly by Neil King of the Wall Street Journal, "For
many conservatives, Iraq is now the test case for whether the U.S. can
engender American-style free-market capitalism within the Arab World."
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- How to Bring the U.S. in to Accord with International
Law and Morality
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- It is illegal and immoral for the Bush Administration
to use the military invasion and occupation of Iraq to fundamentally alter
that nation's basic laws. It is also illegal and immoral for the Bush Administration
to continue to ignore its obligation under international law to provide
for the basic necessities of Iraqis. The first step needed to bring the
U.S. in to accord with international law and morality is to repeal the
Bremer Orders detailed above. The second step is to allow detailed public
scrutiny of the BearingPoint plan in both Iraq and the U.S. Most of it
should be repealed. At most, it should provide only for the short-term
economic necessities required of the U.S. under international law to restore
Iraq's basic infrastructure and services and to ensure that the economy
does not collapse during reconstruction. Once the Iraqi government is elected,
it is the Iraqis themselves who must determine their long-term economic
future, not the U.S. In the short-term, the following alternatives drawn
from more detailed analysis provided by International Occupation Watch
Center in Baghdad, the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC and
the International Forum on Globalization (http://www.occupationwatch.org/,
http://www.ips-dc.org/, http://www.ifg.org/, are offered to help restore
the Iraqi economy to a functioning position.
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- ·
The military occupation of Iraq must end.
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- ·
Iraq's foreign debts, accrued by Hussein in the suppression of the people
of Iraq, must be forgiven.
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- ·
Only with the end of the U.S.-UK occupation should the United Nations,
including an UN-commanded multilateral peacekeeping force, return to Iraq.
Their mandate should be for a very short and defined period, with the goal
of assisting Iraq in reconstruction and overseeing election of a governing
authority.
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As belligerent powers who initiated the war, and as occupying powers, the
U.S. and the UK are obligated to provide for the humanitarian needs of
the Iraqi people and to pay the continuing costs of Iraq's reconstruction,
including the bulk of the cost of UN humanitarian and peacekeeping deployments.
Washington should reverse the spending priorities of its $87 billion request
from Congress, and turn over to full UN authority (on behalf of the Iraqi
people as a whole, not simply given to the U.S.-appointed Council) a starting
grant of at least $75 billion (the initial amount Washington spent on waging
the war) for reconstruction in Iraq.
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- ·
The $15 billion (out of the $87 billion) requested by the Bush administration
for Iraqi reconstruction is insufficient to meet Washington's obligations
under international law. The $65 billion scheduled for the Pentagon to
continue the occupation of Iraq should be challenged. The additional reconstruction
funds should not come from ordinary taxpayers. They should be raised from
(a) an excess profits tax on corporations benefiting from the war and post-war
privatization in Iraq; and (b) the Pentagon budget lines currently directed
at continuing war in Iraq.
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Reconstruction of Iraq should be based on rebuilding the economy to maximize
fulfilling the needs of the Iraqi people. All contract processes should
be completely transparent and accessible to Iraqis. The awarding of contracts
should be done with preference given first to Iraqi companies, experts
and workers. Preference should then be given to international humanitarian
organizations with a record of performing similar reconstruction work.
If a non-Iraqi private company must be used, the contract must be open
to global competition and the profit margin must be held as low as possible
at a fixed fee. Oversight must be transparent, public and thorough.
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Labor laws should ensure protection and security for local workers.
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A broad U.S. Federal Government investigation must be launched to scrutinize
U.S. corporate expenditures and actions in Iraq, with the power to impose
or seek punitive measures for contract violations and over-expenditure,
and to provide oversight, regulation and accountability of U.S. contractor's
work in the application of their contracts. The citizens of Iraq and the
U.S. Congress and public should be informed of the findings.
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Iraq should be allowed to join the Worldwide movement for local sustainability
by moving away from export oriented economics that make trade and multinational
corporations the basis of economic development. Government spending, taxes,
subsidies, tariff structures, etc. should be reoriented to support local
environmentally sustainable production that meets local needs (these ideas
are expanded upon in the IFG publication, Alternatives to Economic Globalization)
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- The Multibillion Robbery The US Calls Reconstruction
& The shameless corporate feeding frenzy in Iraq is fuelling the resistance
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1247867,00.html
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- Naomi Klein, June 26, 2004, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/>The
Guardian, UK
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- The Program Management Office, which oversees the $18.4bn
in US reconstruction funds, has finally set a goal it can meet. Sure, electricity
is below pre-war levels, the streets are rivers of sewage and more Iraqis
have been fired than hired. But now the PMO has contracted the British
mercenary firm Aegis to protect its employees from "assassination,
kidnapping, injury and" - get this - "embarrassment". I
don't know if Aegis will succeed in protecting PMO employees from violent
attack, but embarrassment? I'd say mission already accomplished. The people
in charge of rebuilding Iraq can't be embarrassed, because, clearly, they
have no shame.
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- Their god is G: gold O: oil D: drugs
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-
-
- In the run-up to the June 30 underhand (sorry, I can't
bring myself to call it a "handover"), US occupation powers have
been unabashed in their efforts to steal money that is supposed to aid
a war-ravaged people. The state department has taken $184m earmarked for
drinking water projects and moved it to the budget for the lavish new US
embassy in Saddam Hussein's former palace. Short of $1bn for the embassy,
Richard Armitage, the deputy secretary of state, said he might have to
"rob from Peter in my fiefdom to pay Paul". In fact, he is robbing
Iraq's people, who, according to a recent study by the consumer group Public
Citizen, are facing "massive outbreaks of cholera, diarrhoea, nausea
and kidney stones" from drinking contaminated water. If the occupation
chief Paul Bremer and his staff were capable of embarrassment, they might
be a little sheepish about having spent only $3.2bn of the $18.4bn Congress
allotted - the reason the reconstruction is so disastrously behind schedule.
At first, Bremer said the money would be spent by the time Iraq was sovereign,
but apparently someone had a better idea: parcel it out over five years
so Ambassador John Negroponte can use it as leverage. With $15bn outstanding,
how likely are Iraq's politicians to refuse US demands for military bases
and economic "reforms"? Unwilling to let go of their own money,
the shameless ones have had no qualms about dipping into funds belonging
to Iraqis. After losing the fight to keep control of Iraq's oil money after
the underhand, occupation authorities grabbed $2.5bn of those revenues
and are now spending the money on projects that are supposedly already
covered by American tax dollars.
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-
-
- But then, if financial scandals made you blush, the entire
reconstruction of Iraq would be pretty mortifying. >From the start,
its architects rejected the idea that it should be a New Deal-style public
works project for Iraqis to reclaim their country. Instead, it was treated
as an ideological experiment in privatisation. The dream was for multinational
firms, mostly from the US, to swoop in and dazzle the Iraqis with their
speed and efficiency. Iraqis saw something else: desperately needed jobs
going to Americans, Europeans and south Asians; roads crowded with trucks
shipping in supplies produced in foreign plants, while Iraqi factories
were not even supplied with emergency generators. As a result, the reconstruction
was seen not as a recovery from war but as an extension of the occupation,
a foreign invasion of a different sort. And so, as the resistance grew,
the reconstruction itself became a prime target. The contractors have responded
by behaving even more like an invading army, building elaborate fortresses
in the green zone - the walled-in city within a city that houses the occupation
authority in Baghdad - and surrounding themselves with mercenaries. And
being hated is expensive. According to the latest estimates, security costs
are eating up 25% of reconstruction contracts - money not being spent on
hospitals, water-treatment plants or telephone exchanges.
-
-
-
- Meanwhile, insurance brokers selling sudden-death policies
to contractors in Iraq have doubled their premiums, with insurance costs
reaching 30% of payroll. That means many companies are spending half their
budgets arming and insuring themselves against the people they are supposedly
in Iraq to help. And, according to Charles Adwan of Transparency International,
quoted on US National Public Radio's Marketplace programme, "at least
20% of US spending in Iraq is lost to corruption". How much is actually
left over for reconstruction? Don't do the maths. Rather than models of
speed and efficiency, the contractors look more like overcharging, underperforming,
lumbering beasts, barely able to move for fear of the hatred they have
helped generate. The problem goes well beyond the latest reports of Halliburton
drivers abandoning $85,000 trucks on the road because they don't carry
spare tyres. Private contractors are also accused of playing leadership
roles in the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. A landmark class-action
lawsuit filed by the Centre for Constitutional Rights alleges that Titan
Corporation and CACI International conspired to "humiliate, torture
and abuse persons" in order to increase demand for their "interrogation
services". And then there's Aegis, the company being paid $293m to
save the PMO from embarrassment. It turns out that Aegis's CEO, Tim Spicer,
has a bit of an embarrassing past himself. In the 90s, he helped to put
down rebels and stage a military coup in Papua New Guinea, as well as hatching
a plan to break an arms embargo in Sierra Leone. If Iraq's occupiers were
capable of feeling shame, they might have responded by imposing tough new
regulations. Instead, Senate Republicans have just defeated an attempt
to bar private contractors from interrogating prisoners and also voted
down a proposal to impose stiffer penalties on contractors who overcharge.
Meanwhile, the White House is also trying to get immunity from prosecution
for US contractors in Iraq and has requested the exemption from the new
prime minister, Iyad Allawi. It seems likely that Allawi will agree, since
he is, after all, a kind of US contractor himself. A former CIA spy, he
is already threatening to declare martial law, while his defence minister
says of resistance fighters: "We will cut off their hands, and we
will behead them." In a final feat of outsourcing, Iraqi governance
has been subcontracted to even more brutal surrogates. Is this embarrassing,
after an invasion to overthrow a dictatorship? Not at all; this is what
the occupiers call "sovereignty". The Aegis guys can relax -
embarrassment is not going to be an issue. A version of this article first
appeared in The Nation<http://www.nologo.org/>www.nologo.org
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- Video:
- http://video.google.nl/videoplay?docid=-8682653001715840214&q
- http://www.outlawjournalism.com/
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-
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- Jews (both the 95% Ashkenazi-Khazar and the 5% Sephardic
Semites) are not Israelites. Since the late 1800s, Khazar/Ashkenazi Zionists
who originated from Southern Russia/Northern Turkey and who are not True-Torah
Israelites (http://www.jewsagainstzionism.com
) have been conducting an insurgency in the Middle-East and now are occupying
Palestine since 1948.
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