In past 18 months Iraq has paid $69.8 million in reparation payments -- 78% have gone to multinational corporations,
Next week, something will happen that will unmask the
upside-down morality of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. On Oct.
21, Iraq will pay $200 million in war reparations to some of the
richest countries and corporations in the world. If that seems
backwards, it's because it is. Iraqis have never been awarded
reparations for any of the crimes they suffered under Saddam, or the
brutal sanctions regime that claimed the lives of at least half a
million people, or the US-led invasion, which UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan recently called "illegal". Instead, Iraqis are still being forced
to pay reparations for crimes committed by their former dictator. Quite
apart from its crushing $125 billion sovereign debt, Iraq has paid
$18.8 billion in reparations stemming from Saddam Hussein's 1990
invasion and occupation of Kuwait. This is not in itself surprising: As
a condition of the cease-fire that ended the 1991 Gulf War, Saddam
agreed to pay damages stemming from the invasion. More than 50
countries have made claims, with most of the money awarded to Kuwait.
What is surprising is that even after Saddam was overthrown, the
payments from Iraq have continued. Since Saddam was toppled in April,
Iraq has paid out $1.8 billion in reparations to the United Nations
Compensation Commission (UNCC), the Geneva-based quasi-tribunal that
assesses claims and disburses awards. Of those payments, $37 million
has gone to Britain and $32.8 million to the United States. [more ] and [more ]
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