Apologies if this has already been discussed to death…
OK, in my more cynical moments, I’m convinced that the main reason that the Bush administration want complete control over the rebuilding in Iraq is because they want to be able to claim as much of the oil output as possible and also generate jobs for American companies who would be involved in the process of rebuilding.
However, even assuming more altruistic motives (for example, a desire to shape the new government so as to provide a more stable environment in the Mid-East), I’m wondering if it wouldn’t be a good idea to simply loan Iraq the money needed to rebuild, a loan that can later be repaid in oil profits. Would this further sully our image in the mind of the world community or something? Do you think this sort of arrangement would foster long-term resentment by the Iraqi people? Or would it simply be a prudent way to recoup our expenses? And would it be different had the Iraqi people specifically invited us in?
Can you identify any credible, functioning organization in Iraq capable of receiving and repaying the loan, without the usual developing-world massive thefts along the way?
Well, the alternative seems to be simply giving them the money with no strings attached (or providing the services for free, which amounts to the same thing). Even if it’s not a loan, per se, could we get away with sending a bill after the fact (as long as we announce that we are planning to do this before starting the rebuilding process)?
Elvis beat me to it. The “country” as yet has absolutely no realistically functioning infrastructure. Even once we set something up (assuming we can) I cannot imagine much of the money getting to where it is really needed, let alone us actually getting it back.
So for the 150 bil so far we’re looking at the entireGDP of the country for years. If Iraq actually wants to spend some of their money on Iraq instead of justturning all over to the US, then we’ll have to wait even longer.
Invade a sovereign nation, murder thousands of its citizens, destroy everything, create the greatest disorder and havoc one can imagine.
Let US companies tied to the US government grab the “rebuilding contracts” and whatever there is to grab.
But this is not enough… You come up with the most brilliant solution: LOAN the country you destroyed the money needed to undo what you destroyed and gain the profit your destructions even more open and more direct.
And then you wonder why non US’ers accuse the USA to be the most hypocritical nation one can imagine.
Just great idea people. You are so wonderful. I fall backwards of sheer admiration for your inventive minds.
Salaam. A
Honestly, I think that if we really want to have lasting peace and any kind of stability in Iraq that this money needs to be 100% no strings attached gift. Period. Otherwise, we wind up with grinding poverty while the country struggles with these loan payments at the expense of her people (just look at Africa).
I don’t know how much good will this would or would not foster, but I would guess that this would be our best shot.
Any army/force that goes into another nation with the end goal of occupation becomes legally responsible to rebuild that nation and provide security. I believe the USA is obligated financially to fully pay all of the costs associated with rebuilding Iraq and restoring it to a working nation. Obviously ‘pay’ does not mean ‘loan’ so we could not legally hold Iraq to pay us back… We destroyed the country, it’s up to us to rebuild it. Keep in mind Iraq did have a working country before we bombed it and toppled it.
Considering the money a loan is one step short of insane. Were the Iraqis begging for us to invade? Did we reluctantly oblige them, under the condition that they paid for it themselves? Of course not!
It was So Damn Important for us to invade, to keep the world safe from blah blah terrorism blah blah anthrax blah blah nuclear missiles, that we made the decision to go into Iraq despite the world’s pleas to the contrary, so we should be happy to pay for it ourselves. You break it, you buy it.
I have to agree that the loan idea doesn’t make sense in light of the fact that the Iraqi people had no choice in the whole invasion effort. I’m afraid we’re stuck with the bill. For Bush to claim that other nations have a moral responsibility to chip in is also false. The US and the Brits pretty much own this problem.
I certainly can see that the US is not responsible for builing up the Iraqi infrastructure into anything better than it was before the invasion. Iraqi oil revenues should be used for that end and should be administered by Iraqis.
