[Mb-civic] Solid evidence that U.S. plans to control Iraq indefinitely

[ean at sbcglobal.net]

Read this to get clear on what the real motives are....


[Much of this has already been reported by Naomi Klein in greater detail,
but it bears repeating.-NY Transfer]

sent by Richard Clark (activ-l) - Feb 28, 2005

FPIF via Alternet
http://www.alternet.org/story/19293/

The Handover That Wasn't

By Antonia Juhasz, Foreign Policy in Focus.

Before his departure, CPA chief Paul Bremer issued 100 Orders to
dramatically restructure Iraq's economy to fit free-market ideals.  And no
Iraqi, including future elected officials, can undo them.

The U.S. occupation of Iraq officially ended on June 28, 2004 , in a
secret ceremony in Baghdad.  Officially, "full sovereignty" was handed
from the Americans to the Iraqi Interim Government.  But it was clear from
the start that this was sovereignty in name, not in deed.  First, there is
the continued military occupation: 138,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines, plus
20,000 troops from other countries and an estimated 20,000 contractors,
all fully under U.S. control and immune to Iraqi laws.  Equally
debilitating, however significantly less well reported upon, is the
continued political and economic occupation by the Bush administration and
its corporate allies.

The most important tools being used by the Bush administration to maintain
varying degrees of economic and political control in Iraq are the 100
Orders enacted by Paul Bremer, head of the now defunct Coalition
Provisional Authority (CPA) before his departure.  It was thought that the
"end" of the occupation would also mean the end of the Orders.  Instead,
in his final Order enacted on his last day in the country, Bremer simply
transferred authority for the Orders over to the new Prime Minister, Iyad
Allawi.  For his part, Allawi -- a thirty-year exile of Iraq with close
ties to both the CIA and British Intelligence Services -- is considered
America 's new man in charge of Iraq .

Bremer also ensured the implementation of the Orders by stacking every
Ministry with U.S.-appointed authorities with five-year terms -- well into
the period of the new, elected government, which is to take office by the
end of this year.

A sampling of the most important Orders demonstrates the economic imprint
left behind by Bremer:

Order #39 allows for the following:

(1) privatization of Iraq's 200 state-owned enterprises;

(2) 100 percent foreign ownership of Iraqi businesses;

(3) "national treatment" of foreign firms;

(4) unrestricted, tax-free remittance of all profits and other funds; and

(5) 40-year ownership licenses. Thus, it allows the U.S. corporations
operating in Iraq to own every business, do all of the work, and send all
of their money home. Nothing needs to be reinvested locally to service the
Iraqi economy, no Iraqi need be hired, no public services need be
guaranteed, and workers' rights can easily be ignored. And corporations
can take out their investments at any time.

Order #40 turns the banking sector from a state-run to a market-driven
system overnight by allowing foreign banks to enter the Iraqi market and
to purchase up to 50 percent of Iraqi banks.

Order #49 drops the tax rate on corporations from a high of 40 percent to
a flat rate of 15 percent. The income tax rate is also capped at 15
percent.

Order #12 enacted on June 7, 2003 and renewed on February 24, 2004,
suspends "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.

Order #17 grants foreign contractors, including private security firms,
full immunity from Iraq 's laws. Even if they do injure a third party by
killing someone or causing environmental damage such as dumping toxic
chemicals or poisoning drinking water, the injured third party can not
turn to the Iraqi legal system, rather, the charges must be brought to
U.S. courts under U.S. laws.

Order #77 established the Board of Supreme Audit and named its president
and his two deputies. The Board oversees inspectors in every Ministry with
wide-ranging authority to review government contracts, audit classified
programs, and prescribe regulations and procedures.

Order #57 created and appointed an inspector within every Iraqi Ministry
with five-year terms who can perform audits, write policies, and have full
access to all offices, materials, and employees of the Ministries.

Then there are the approximately 200 mostly U.S. and other international
advisers who will remain embedded as consultants in every Iraqi Ministry
well after the official occupation has ended.

Clearly, the Bremer Orders fundamentally altered Iraq's existing laws. For
this reason, the Bremer Orders are also illegal.  Why?  Because the
transformation of an occupied country's laws violates the Hague
regulations of 1907 (the companion to the 1949 Geneva conventions, both
ratified by the United States), and the U.S. Army's Law of Land Warfare.
Indeed, in a leaked memo, British attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, warned
Tony Blair that "the imposition of major structural economic reforms would
not be authorized by international law."

----


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