It is certainly not a parallel example by any stretch but does remind me somewhat of the early involvement & development in Hawaii, where US corps were given practically free reign...
Karen
>
> From: "Annette L. Demers" <ademers@law.harvard.edu>
> Date: 2004/08/09 Mon AM 10:33:09 EDT
> To: law-lib@ucdavis.edu
> Subject: A Critical Survey of Iraq's new laws
>
>
>
> The Hand-Over that Wasn't
> By Antonia Juhasz
> The Los Angeles Times
>
> Thursday 05 August 2004
> Illegal orders give the U.S. a lock on Iraq's economy.
>
> Officially, the U.S. occupation of Iraq ended on June 28, 2004. But in
> reality, the United States is still in charge: Not only do 138,000 troops
> remain to control the streets, but the "100 Orders" of L. Paul Bremer III
> remain to control the economy.
>
> These little noticed orders enacted by Bremer, the now-departed head
> of the now-defunct Coalition Provisional Authority, go to the heart of Bush
> administration plans in Iraq. They lock in sweeping advantages to American
> firms, ensuring long-term U.S. economic advantage while guaranteeing few,
> if any, benefits to the Iraqi people.
>
> The Bremer orders control every aspect of Iraqi life - from the use of
> car horns to the privatization of state-owned enterprises. Order No. 39
> alone does no less than "transition [Iraq ] from a ... centrally planned
> economy to a market economy" virtually overnight and by U.S. fiat.
>
> Although many thought that the "end" of the occupation would also mean
> the end of the orders, on his last day in Iraq Bremer simply transferred
> authority for the orders to Prime Minister Iyad Allawi - a 30-year exile
> with close ties to the CIA and British intelligence.
>
> Further, the interim constitution of Iraq, written by the
> U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, solidifies the orders by making
> them virtually impossible to overturn.
>
> A sampling of the most important orders demonstrates the economic
> imprint left by the Bush administration: Order No. 39 allows for: (1)
> privatization of Iraq's 200 state-owned enterprises; (2) 100% foreign
> ownership of Iraqi businesses; (3) "national treatment" - which means no
> preferences for local over foreign businesses; (4) unrestricted, tax-free
> remittance of all profits and other funds; and (5) 40-year ownership licenses.
>
> Thus, it forbids Iraqis from receiving preference in the
> reconstruction while allowing foreign corporations - Halliburton and
> Bechtel, for example - to buy up Iraqi businesses, do all of the work and
> send all of their money home. They cannot be required to hire Iraqis or to
> reinvest their money in the Iraqi economy. They can take out their
> investments at any time and in any amount.
>
> Orders No. 57 and No. 77 ensure the implementation of the orders by
> placing U.S.-appointed auditors and inspector generals in every government
> ministry, with five-year terms and with sweeping authority over contracts,
> programs, employees and regulations.
>
> Order No. 17 grants foreign contractors, including private security
> firms, full immunity from Iraq's laws. Even if they, say, kill someone or
> cause an environmental disaster, the injured party cannot turn to the Iraqi
> legal system. Rather, the charges must be brought to U.S. courts.
>
> Order No. 40 allows foreign banks to purchase up to 50% of Iraqi banks.
>
> Order No. 49 drops the tax rate on corporations from a high of 40% to
> a flat 15%. The income tax rate is also capped at 15%.
>
> Order No. 12 (renewed on Feb. 24) suspends "all tariffs, customs
> duties, import taxes, licensing fees and similar surcharges for goods
> entering or leaving Iraq." This led to an immediate and dramatic inflow of
> cheap foreign consumer products - devastating local producers and sellers
> who were thoroughly unprepared to meet the challenge of their mammoth
> global competitors.
>
> Clearly, the Bremer orders fundamentally altered Iraq's existing laws.
> For this reason, they are also illegal.
>
> Transformation of an occupied country's laws violates the Hague
> regulations of 1907 (ratified by the United States) and the U.S. Army's Law
> of Land Warfare. Indeed, in a leaked memo, the British attorney general,
> Lord Goldsmith, warned Prime Minister Tony Blair that "major structural
> economic reforms would not be authorized by international law."
>
> With few reconstruction projects underway and with Bremer's rules
> favoring U.S. corporations, there has been little opportunity for Iraqis to
> go back to work, leaving nearly 2 million unemployed 1 1/2 years after the
> invasion and, many believe, greatly fueling the resistance.
>
> The Bremer orders are immoral and illegal and must be repealed to
> allow Iraqis to govern their own economic and political future.
>
>
> Antonia Juhasz is a project director at the International Forum on
> Globalization in San Francisco and a Foreign Policy in Focus scholar.
>
> -------
>
>
>
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