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War
Iraq's foreign debts
France and Germany will aim for a 50 per cent reduction in Iraq's debts to sovereign country creditors in a move that may disappoint supporters of a bigger write-off. Iraq owes about US $42 billion dollars to the Paris Club, a group of 19 creditor states including all of the world's industrialized economies. To rebuild Iraq's war-torn economy, major creditors have demanded a "substantial" debt cancellation for Iraq, seen by analysts as anything up to 80 per cent. One official closely following the stance of France and Germany said they were aiming for a 50 per cent cut. France and Germany, which are increasingly trying to take joint stands on European and international issues, are major creditors behind Japan and Russia, and are owed almost US$6 billion and US$5 billion respectively. Russia has spoken of a 65 per cent write-off of debts owed to it, but this promise is far from definitive and linked to business contracts for Russian oil and gas exploration in Iraq. President George Bush is likely to push for a greater reduction in Iraqi debt. Sources say progress on reducing Iraq's debt is slow, partly because the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is finding it difficult to calculate a bearable balance level for Iraq. Iraq is estimated to owe about US$120 billion in all to the Paris Club as well as other states such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, China, and Bulgaria. The IMF was going to present estimates of sustainable levels of debt by April, but this will not happen until May at best, sources said. The IMF's view is considered a vital step in the process of working towards international accords on debt relief. The Group of Seven leading industrialized nations, including the US, has set its sights on a deal by end-2004. One of the other major problems in dealing with Iraq's debts is a lack of any archives on debt contracts and similar basic documents on the Iraqi side. (Reuters, 3/30/04).
Jon Kofas comments on Iraq's $42 billion dollars debt to the Paris Club: "Along
with Iraq's economic dislocation, which will probably linger for the balance
of the decade, the foreign debt issue is by far the most significant. It means
that Iraq will be perpetually indebted to the Paris Club, regardless of the
final outcome of the debt reduction plan. Therefore, Iraq's most precious export
will be captive to the Paris Club for the next generation, precluding the possibility
of the country developing a self-sufficient economy on a sustainable basis.
Iraq's more thorough re-integration into the world capitalist-system will entail
greater foreign control of the country's economy and greater socioeconomic polarization".
Nazi War Crimes
RH: Oswiecim, commonly known by its German name Auschwitz, was the site of
the notorious concentration camp. This year is the 40th anniversary of the Frankfurt
trial of the camp officers, and it is being marked with appropriate ceremonies,
attended by a number of survivors. The Nuremberg trials have received a lot
of publicity, but virtually nothing is said about the Frankfurt trials. Ian
Hilton comments: "There was of course Peter Weiss' documentary play "Die
Ermittlung" (1965)". Here is a comment on the play: "The Investigation
is Weiss' ruthless documentary drama of the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials, which
he attended. These proceedings, held in 1963-5, are not to be confused with
the Nürnberg trials held right after the war. In Frankfurt it was the German
government itself that held the war-crimes trial, focussing on the crimes perpetrated
at Auschwitz. Using the actual testimony of survivors from Auschwitz, testifying
as witnesses against those who exploited them and others, Weiss creates a riveting
drama. The drama is based on the trial, but Weiss insists that it should not
be staged as a courtroom-docudrama: In the presentation of this play, no attempt
should be made to reconstruct the courtroom before which the proceedings of
the camp trial took place. Any such reconstruction would, in the opinion of
the author, be as impossible as trying to present the camp itself on the stage.
No names are used in describing the characters -- they appear merely as "Judge",
"Witness", "Prosecuting Attorney", "Defendant"
.
James Tent says: "In addition to the Nuremberg and Frankfurt trials, there
were four important trials held at Dachau from 1945 to 1948. An excellent book
has recently appeared about these largely unknown trials. See Joshua M. Greene,
Justice at Dachau: The Trials of An American Prosecutor (Broadway Books, NY,
2003. In it, Greene describes in excellent, flowing prose, the efforts of the
chief U.S. prosecuting attorney, Lt. Col. William Denson, to bring about some
modicum of justice. Here is a brief description: "For nearly two years,
William Denson led the prosecution team at Dachau, Germany, that by August 1948
had found 177 Nazis guards and officers guilty of war crimes at Dachau, Mauthausen,
Flossenburg, and Buchenwald concentration camps. Ninety-seven were sentenced
to death, 54 to life imprisonment, and the rest to terms of hard labor. After
Denson's death in 1998 at the age of 86, his wife sorted out boxes of documents
in their basement: 30,000 pages of trial transcripts, miles of microfilm, stacks
of photographs and newspaper clippings, death's head insignias, and letters
from both SS officers and victims of Nazi horror." I recommend this work
highly".
Statistics of Vietnam War
Mike Sullivan says: "These statistics on Vietnam amplify the veracity
of what Randy Black has related in his recent posting". Click here: Statistics
about the Vietnam War RH: We do not yet have statistics about the Iraq war.
Army Suicides
The Pentagon reportedly is concerned by the number of suicides among US troops
in Iraq. Randy Black comments: "Concerning the matter of the so-called
high suicide rates among US troops in Iraq, as compared to other locales, it
appears that living in Alaska is more hazardous, if one has a propensity toward
taking one's own life. Alaska has consistently been near the top nationally
in suicide rates for years. In 2000, the state had the highest rate in the nation--21.1
suicides per 100,000 people--nearly twice the U.S. rate of 10.7, according to
a 2003 report by the Alaska Statewide Suicide Prevention Council. http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~2050940,00.html-.
The 23 self-inflicted deaths translate to an annual suicide rate of 17.3 per
100,000 soldiers, much higher than the average over-all Army rate of 11.9 per
100,000 between 1995 and 2002. Last year's Army rate in the Iraq mission was
also higher than the 15.6 rate for all military branches serving in the Vietnam
War, and the 3.6 rate for all branches serving the 1991 Gulf War, said Col.
Bruce E. Crow, the chief psychologist at Madigan Army Medical Center at Ft.
Lewis, Wash. Crow spoke Thursday at a Pentagon press conference.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/national/8289122.htm
RH: After war games in the US, actual combat is a shock to new soldiers. Suicide has been extensively studied, notably by Emile Durkheim. For the high rates in Scandinavia, see Herbert Hendin, Suicide and Scandinavia.
Iraq: Falujah
Christopher Jones writes: ""Our armies do not come into your cities
and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators." -- General Frederick
Stanley Maude in Baghdad, March, 1917.
The present situation in Iraq looks suspiciously like the 1920 revolt, which
the Iraqis have always regarded as their first national uprising. Although the
revolt was poorly organized, it included Shia religious leaders, tribal leaders,
both Sunni and Shia intellectuals, and military officers. The rebellion was
very costly for Britain. Lasting about three months, it spread over about a
third of the country. Not surprisingly, it caused the British taxpayer to raise
questions about the purpose of British occupation in Iraq and its costs.
The question now is how will the US forces respond to the barbarity in Falujah
-- there is only one effective military response if the US forces are to keep
its face and avoid an all out civil war in Iraq. Falujah should be evacuated
at bayonet point, and its inhabitants interned in a concentration camp. That
would be following the practice of French forces in Algeria and it did work.
(For a while) The British did burn villages down, and we all know how the Wehrmacht
or the Waffen SS dealt with acts of "terrorism". Maybe the GI's can
avoid those extremes -- but as of yesterday they will have to put their hands
in the sang et la merde".
Regarding the barbarous abuse of the bodies of Americans at Falujah, Iraq, Ed.
Jajko provided the URLof an Arab site, saying "I warn all that the images
are extraordinarily barbaric and disgusting".
http://www.realitiesnews.com/html/Iraqwar.htm. Randy Black comments: "I
find it interesting that the persons involved in the barbaric actions in Iraq
with the bodies of the dead, violated the very rules of their religion, specifically
that they are forbidden to abuse the dead. It is far worse than almost any other
crime in Islam".
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