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August 24, 2003
Iraq: The New Order
This article highlights the way the US is rebuilding Iraq. It says that:
"...it is coming increasingly clear that as a matter of policy, most of the beneficiaries will be US-led firms, while neighboring Arab countries look as if they will be frozen out. There is a strong belief in the Arab world that post-Saddam Iraq was completely planned in Washington as a country free to be shaped under the US administration, culturally, politically and economically... The new dominant influences are free trade and representative democracy, which the Americans clearly expect to be remarked upon in neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Syria."
The conclusion it draws is that the new Iraq would be another outpost of US interests in the region, or certainly another US client state that represents an expansion of business opportunities for US companies.
If that is the case, then the US will face an uphill battle in persuading the international community to help out with troops and dollars to finance the rebuilding of Iraq. The first signs indicate this.
And consider this statement by John D. Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, about the United States was exploring ways that the [UN Security) council could better tighten Iraq's borders to deter terrorists and their supporters from entering the country. As Juan Cole asks:
"...what borders need to be policed? Kuwait, Jordan,Saudia and Turkey are all US allies. The Iranian border is all that is left. And if the plan is to have US troops go mano a mano with the Revolutionary Guards along the Iraq-Iran border, that is a recipe for disaster."
Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at August 24, 2003 11:31 AM
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