:: blame the extended gestation.... ::

:: Friday, November 07, 2003 ::

Iraq is Not America's to Sell: "Any movement serious about Iraqi self-determination must call not only for an end to Iraq's military occupation, but to its economic colonization as well."

"The Hague regulations state that an occupying power must respect 'unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force in the country'. The coalition provisional authority has shredded that simple rule with gleeful defiance. Iraq's constitution outlaws the privatization of key state assets, and it bars foreigners from owning Iraqi firms. No plausible argument can be made that the CPA was 'absolutely prevented' from respecting those laws, and yet two months ago, the CPA overturned them unilaterally. "

"So far, most of the controversy surrounding Iraq's reconstruction has focused on the waste and corruption in the awarding of contracts. This badly misses the scope of the violation: even if the sell-off of Iraq were conducted with full transparency and open bidding, it would still be illegal for the simple reason that Iraq is not America's to sell."

:: Jim Nichols 11/07/2003 10:22:00 PM [+] ::
...