Naomi Klein (The Nation): Bring Halliburton Home

[Jack Rabbit]

From The Nation
Issue of November 24
Posted Thursday November 6

Bring Halliburton Home
By Naomi Klien

Cancel the contracts. Ditch the deals. Rip up the rules.
Those are a few suggestions for slogans that could help unify the growing movement against the occupation of Iraq. So far, activist debates have focused on whether the demand should be for a complete withdrawal of troops, or for the United States to cede power to the United Nations.
But the "Troops Out" debate overlooks an important fact. If every last soldier pulled out of the Gulf tomorrow and a sovereign government came to power, Iraq would still be occupied: by laws written in the interest of another country, by foreign corporations controlling its essential services, by 70 percent unemployment sparked by public sector layoffs.
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. That means reversing the shock therapy reforms that US occupation chief Paul Bremer has fraudulently passed off as "reconstruction" and canceling all privatization contracts flowing from these reforms.
How can such an ambitious goal be achieved? Easy: by showing that Bremer's reforms were illegal to begin with. They clearly violate the international convention governing the behavior of occupying forces, the Hague Regulations of 1907 (the companion to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, both ratified by the United States), as well as the US Army's own code of war.

Read more.

Another thing that must be done to prevent this kind of war profiteering is to make sure that all debt incurred in the name of the Iraqi people by Bremer and his quislings is declared odious debt. This should include the sale of Iraq's resources and public services.

Bush's invasion of Iraq is nothing more or less than the most grotesque political scandal in history.

[lovedems]

1. This administration acts as if Iraq is a prize they won

and it was. A billion dollar prize.


Now it is obvious why we acted unilaterally, so this corrupt administration could go unchecked when they hand pick their contractors. It is easier to put 2 and 2 and 2 together and realize EVERY action from this administration had a specific intention and it was likely criminal in nature.