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December 16, 2003
Just say we ain't payin' By Tom Smith Jack Kemp gets it right: It is my hope that Baker presents America's position to Saddam's debtors this way: Much, perhaps an overwhelming amount, of Iraq's debt falls under the category of "odious debt" - debt contracted not for the needs and benefit of the people but to strengthen and support a despotic regime. Bankruptcy is a fundamental concept of capitalism that wipes the contractual slate clean. There is a political analogy to bankruptcy - today it's called "regime change" - in which the country begins de novo. It occurred in Nazi Germany, imperial Japan, Soviet Russia and Warsaw Pact Europe. It has now occurred in Iraq. Tabula rasa: The slate has been wiped clean; things begin de novo. Thus, rather than going to France, Germany and Russia hat in hand asking for debt "forgiveness," I hope Baker presents them with the stark reality that a free and sovereign Iraq will be perfectly justified in repudiating much, if not the overwhelming majority, of the debt contracted by Saddam. Better for those countries to step up to the plate on their own now than play the role of Shylock later. |