Bremer leaves the keys to Iraq to reliable Corporation U.S.

Well, even though it’s been about four months since we’ve “handed over sovereignty” to… Well, even though it’s been about four months since we’ve “handed over sovereignty” to Iraq, it seems that no one has read the fine print of that agreement. Before Paul Bremer, the coalition provisional authority leader, left the fledgling nation, he was sure to permanently cripple the country and make them the single biggest U.S.-owned gas station in the world.

To refresh your memory, instead of a day of celebration, the CPA secretly held a five-minute meeting where a paper was signed and a hand was shaken. That paper was the new Iraqi Constitution, the document that would be the foundation of a new, democratic Iraq free of Saddam Hussein’s tyranny.

Instead, in true Bush Administration form, hours before the document was made official, Mr. Bremer added about 100 new orders into the newly formed body of Iraqi law that cannot be repealed by an Iraqi governing body. The changes weren’t publicized or even made public until after they were irreversible. The new orders are shameless and despicable.

Thanks to Bremer, all U.S. citizens are immune to any Iraqi laws and those laws have no jurisdiction on any non-U.S. contractor working with the United States. Thus, if a contractor decides he doesn’t like a certain Iraqi, he may kill at will without fear of consequence because, not only is he immune from Iraqi law, but he is also not under the jurisdiction of the military and cannot be tried in military courts. He will only be tried should Attorney General John Ashcroft, who is not necessarily obliged to do so, feels like it. Fun.

Bremer has ensured a sovereign Iraq by placing mandatory U.S. advisers in every ministry and office in the government, who each have the power to veto many decisions. But these aren’t the true meat of the corporate-friendly main course of Bremer’s orders.

Let’s sample two of the more delectable entrees, courtesy of The Washington Post and liberal Web site alternet.org:

Order 39 makes it possible for U.S. corporations operating in Iraq to own every business, do all of the work, and send money home without reinvesting locally to service the Iraqi economy. Not a single Iraqi is required to be hired, not a single public service need be guaranteed and, last but not least, workers’ rights can easily be ignored. Oh yeah, and corporations can take out their investments at any time.

Order 49 decreases the tax rate on corporations from 40 percent of the gross product to a flat rate of 15 percent. So, even though corporations can take their money home and not contribute to the economy of Iraq, lowering the taxes on the corporations is the smart move to ensure a viable Iraqi economy.

These, along with the other 98 changes to the Iraqi constitution, are both immoral and illegal under international laws ratified by the United States because they fundamentally change the laws of Iraq to suit the needs of private interests in the region.

The other 98 provisions basically allow any U.S. or foreign private interest to carve out a piece of Iraq and own it for no less than 40 years without being required to contribute back to the country which they are pillaging. Awesome!

The other fun thing the United States is doing is dangling an $18 billion sum — taken from U.S. taxpayer money — for the reconstruction of Iraq over the outstretched hands of the government that needs it. We are basically blackmailing the new sovereign nation by not releasing the funds they need to make Iraq a viable nation unless they do what we say. It’s a good thing the paperwork that was signed said, “Iraq is now sovereign,” because the laws we’ve written, the aid we’re withholding and the 133,000 troops who still occupy the nation say otherwise

But don’t you worry, Iraq; the self-regulating, non-super-greedy corporations will totally protect you from being pillaged. They will be completely honest and transparent when they correctly estimate costs and services. Overcharge you? That’s completely not likely to always happen!

E-mail Arun Butcher at amb28@pitt.edu.