PAY THE DEBT OWED TO THE IRAQI PEOPLE!
Posted on December 5 2003 |
The debt of Iraq is odious and illegitimate, the product of the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein and its equally ruthless creditors. Addressing the issue of Iraqi debt must take into account the debt that is owed to the people of Iraq.
The people of Iraq are the victims not only of a dictatorship, but of the deaths of thousands of its people by way of massive destruction, environmental disaster and the misery caused by two wars and 12 years of embargo. Reparations are therefore due to the people of Iraq.
From the standpoint of Jubilee South, the only debt that really exists is the debt owed to the people of Iraq for, among others, the years of cruel sanctions and the wars. Over six weeks in 1991, US aircraft and missiles systematically destroyed lives and life-support systems in Iraq. An equally ferocious assault by the US air force in March-May 2003 was followed by the deployment of ground troops by the world's mightiest nations against a country that had been thoroughly disarmed of its weapons of mass destruction by UN inspectors over the years! UK and US forces used massive amounts of extremely toxic and radioactive uranium in the heart of Iraqi cities.
Iraq has been economically crippled principally as a result of the aggressive and illegal policies of the United States, Britain and its allies. Cancellation or repudiation of the Saddam debt can only be considered a significant step if it takes place along withand not instead ofthe recognition of the cost of the wars, embargo and environmental destruction, all of which demand compensation.
But the United States government is manipulating the odious debt issue for the simple purpose of lowering the cost of its occupation. It is one step to liberate resources that Washington can then use as it sees fit and to insure the perpetuation of US control over Iraq.
We are not naive as to the willingness or capacity of the international financial neo-liberal system to recognize illegitimate and odious debt. Rescheduling and writing down the debt, as the Paris and London Clubs propose, are meaningless and redundant steps, particularly as both clubs refuse to take private corporate debt into account, and simply open the door to new debt entrapment.
By the same token, there should be no confusion between the issues of reparations and that of so-called reconstruction and humanitarian credits being offered by the rich countries at the behest not of the Iraqi people, but in response to pressures by the United States. The United States is already obliged to pay billions if it is to meet its obligations under international law and the Geneva Conventions, as the occupying power, and provide for the basic needs of the Iraqi people.
We demand that the U.S., as the aggressor and currently the occupying power, abide by the requirements of international law and pay for the reconstruction of Iraq. It should not try to pass that responsibility to other countries, nor should any government agree to collaborate in the enterprise.
The people of Iraq are not demanding handouts and debt relief but rather sovereignty and reparations. We stand in support of the peoples demands to repudiate all foreign debts and for reparations for the enormous damage inflicted on the nation by many of the so called donors , including those from the Gulf states. The so-called donors should not only recognize the existence of odious and illegitimate debts, but should consider and fulfill their obligation to pay for the damages inflicted on Iraq on account of their policies over the course of the past 15 years, including the supply of instruments of war and genocide to the Saddam regime.
Reparations are also due on grounds of international law. Genocide and crimes against humanity perpetuated by the United States and the United Kingdom since 1991, deserve to be addressed in the context of international tribunals.
Jubilee South believes that the establishment of the debts owed to the Iraqi people and the reparations due them form part of the broader global effort to establish the role of international humanitarian and criminal law as a means to holding state leaders accountable for war as well as odious finance -- the financing of destruction as a crime against humanity
As a first step, we call for an investigation and audit of the alleged Iraqi debt so as to determine the nature of its size, nature, origins and consequences. Public and private creditors including government-backed arms export industries must also be scrutinized so as to establish the legitimacy or illegitimacy of their claims.
We continue to insist that the war waged against Iraq was both unjust and illegal, a fact that cannot be glossed over by selective and partial debates on debt repayment and reconstruction that evidently take the occupation by the US and UK for granted.
In demanding the legal recognition and payment of the debt owed to Iraq, we join with the anti-globalization and ant-war movements in its demand that the United States, as the chief occupation power and aggressor, pay for the damage inflicted on Iraq, immediately ending its occupation and thereby allowing the return to Iraqi sovereignty.
JUBILEE SOUTH
Issued on 5 December 2003, the Global Day of Action Against Debt Domination
|
|
|
about us 
