6139008-History-of-Money

Bremer Order #12: Trade LiberalizationOn June 12, Bremer signed the "Trade Liberalization Policy," suspending "all tariffs, customs duties, import taxes,licensing fees and similar surcharges for goods entering or leaving Iraq, and all other trade restrictions that may apply tosuch goods." This led to an immediate and dramatic inflow of cheap consumer products, which has essentially wiped outall local providers of the same products. This could have significant long-term implications for domestic production as well.But tariff elimination is just the beginning. In early February 2004, BearingPoint was right on schedule when the BushAdministration achieved WTO observer status for Iraq ‚ even without a government ‚ over the strong objections of many ofour European allies. This is the first step towards WTO membership, which also requires the fundamental transformationof Iraq's laws to bring them in to WTO-compliance. The longer-term goal was announced by President Bush just twomonths after the invasion of Iraq. On May 9, 2003, President Bush announced plans for an U.S.-Middle East Free TradeArea (MEFTA) by 2013 ‚ bringing all of the policies outlined above, and more, to the entire region. The Middle East,insulated by oil revenue, has historically been less susceptible than other regions to the extreme sacrifices required bygovernments under corporate free trade agreements. But with the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the BushAdministration demonstrated that it would defy global public opinion and the United Nations to use military force whenand where it deems necessary. Thus, it can now return to the more traditional model of advancing corporate globalization,the free trade agreement. As George Wolfe, director of Economic Policy for the CPA told the New York Times, "in the longrun, the United States hopes that Iraq will become an economic model for the Middle East." Or, put more bluntly by NeilKing of the Wall Street Journal, "For many conservatives, Iraq is now the test case for whether the U.S. can engenderAmerican-style free-market capitalism within the Arab World."How to Bring the U.S. in to Accord with International Law and MoralityIt is illegal and immoral for the Bush Administration to use the military invasion and occupation of Iraq to fundamentallyalter that nation's basic laws. It is also illegal and immoral for the Bush Administration to continue to ignore its obligationunder international law to provide for the basic necessities of Iraqis. The first step needed to bring the U.S. in to accordwith international law and morality is to repeal the Bremer Orders detailed above. The second step is to allow detailedpublic scrutiny of the BearingPoint plan in both Iraq and the U.S. Most of it should be repealed. At most, it should provideonly for the short-term economic necessities required of the U.S. under international law to restore Iraq's basicinfrastructure and services and to ensure that the economy does not collapse during reconstruction. Once the Iraqigovernment is elected, it is the Iraqis themselves who must determine their long-term economic future‚ not the U.S. Inthe short-term, the following alternatives drawn from more detailed analysis provided by International Occupation WatchCenter in Baghdad, the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC and the International Forum on Globalization(http://www.occupationwatch.org/, http://www.ips-dc.org/, http://www.ifg.org/, are offered to help restore the Iraqieconomy to a functioning position.• The military occupation of Iraq must end.• Iraq's foreign debts, accrued by Hussein in the suppression of the people of Iraq, must be forgiven.• Only with the end of the U.S.-UK occupation should the United Nations, including an UN-commanded multilateralpeacekeeping force, return to Iraq. Their mandate should be for a very short and defined period, with the goal ofassisting Iraq in reconstruction and overseeing election of a governing authority.• As belligerent powers who initiated the war, and as occupying powers, the U.S. and the UK are obligated to providefor the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people and to pay the continuing costs of Iraq's reconstruction, including thebulk of the cost of UN humanitarian and peacekeeping deployments. Washington should reverse the spendingpriorities of its $87 billion request from Congress, and turn over to full UN authority (on behalf of the Iraqi people as awhole, not simply given to the U.S.-appointed Council) a starting grant of at least $75 billion (the initial amountWashington spent on waging the war) for reconstruction in Iraq.• The $15 billion (out of the $87 billion) requested by the Bush administration for Iraqi reconstruction is insufficient tomeet Washington's obligations under international law. The $65 billion scheduled for the Pentagon to continue theoccupation of Iraq should be challenged. The additional reconstruction funds should not come from ordinarytaxpayers. They should be raised from (a) an excess profits tax on corporations benefiting from the war and post-warprivatization in Iraq; and (b) the Pentagon budget lines currently directed at continuing war in Iraq.• Reconstruction of Iraq should be based on rebuilding the economy to maximize fulfilling the needs of the Iraqi people.All contract processes should be completely transparent and accessible to Iraqis. The awarding of contracts should bedone with preference given first to Iraqi companies, experts and workers. Preference should then be given tointernational humanitarian organizations with a record of performing similar reconstruction work. If a non-Iraqi privatecompany must be used, the contract must be open to global competition and the profit margin must be held as low aspossible at a fixed fee. Oversight must be transparent, public and thorough.• Labor laws should ensure protection and security for local workers.• A broad U.S. Federal Government investigation must be launched to scrutinize U.S. corporate expenditures andactions in Iraq, with the power to impose or seek punitive measures for contract violations and over-expenditure, andto provide oversight, regulation and accountability of U.S. contractor's work in the application of their contracts. Thecitizens of Iraq and the U.S. Congress and public should be informed of the findings.The Hidden History Of Money & New World Order Usury Secrets Revealed at last! Page 490