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Repudiation of Iraqi Debt
Quote:
Originally posted by bilmore
Maybe someone already covered this, but there is an international tradition of sorts dealing with the repudiation of "odious debt". Money that is loaned to an illegitimate leader of a country and used for his own aggrandizement or outright enrichment, with the knowledge of the lender, does not become a claim upon the people, for whom the loan provided no benefit. It allows people to escape such debt, and also serves to make said lenders a bit more careful about sending money to Idi Amin types.
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Yes, indeed. There has been some talk about Iraq possibly repudiating much of its current debt as "odious". (I keep thinking of the number $54 billion. Which is a lot for a medium-sized country.) The big problem there is who'd they be pissing off. Much of the Iraqi debt is to Russia (who needs the money) and France/Germany. These are countries that we'd like to have cooperate with us in the reconstruction, and the debt issues (and the guarantees of repayment they seek -- have been part of the hold-up.
S_A_M
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