it's looking more and more like the next regime will be neutral at best to US
I doubt it very VERY much. The US did not invade Iraq so that the following government can turn their back on America. They will install a friendly government at all costs.
On the other hand, it looks like that will be very difficult. Just what will Bush et al do if Iraqis democratically elect an Islamist government, for example? Invade them? :-)
Would you encourage France and Russia to null out the debt and possibly try to recover it from personal holdings of the Hussein followers?
I don't remember how much debt Iraq owes France, but IIRC its debt to Russia is in the order of USD 8 bn. Whose "personal holdings" can pay THAT?
My objection to the US administration's reckless declarations re "Iraq will not pay its debt to certain countries" is that it is against international customs and sets a precedent whereby any heavily indebted country can change its government one day and then call itself no longer responsible for the debts of the previous governments the next day.
Wouldn't that make more sense if one were trying to be objective?
We are trying to be objective. I think. :-)
At the end of the day, personal wealth of Saddam et al could possibly go to paying the country's debt. UN currently holds the key to those funds, and hence it will ultimately decide for what purpose they should be released.
I would assume that paying back the debt of the country will not be a priority, especially in view of their rather more pressing problems like shortage of water & electricity, not to mention the rest of their infrastructure bombed to kingdom come.
By the way, I am not so clear about what you mean by this:
Would you encourage France and Russia to null out the debt and possibly try to recover it from personal holdings of the Hussein followers?
So, France and Russia should "null out" ("cancel"?) the debt and THEN try to recover it, personally, sort of like insurance agencies, from persons on the run? I don't really understand your reasoning here.
The fact of the matter is that Iraq has debts to various countries. Singling out France and Russia and saying their debts will not be paid out is plain simple bullying, imho, a "punishment" for not backing the US in its invasion of Iraq.
I do not find that a clever move, especially re the precedents it sets.... |
