Withdrawing from Iraq: Part IV

It's been a few days, but after giving the ol' fingers a rest, here's the next to last installation of the "Withdrawing from Iraq" series.

15. 'Independent accounting of Iraqi funds is urgently required.' While the American-run Coalition Provisional Authority was controlling Iraq after the invasion, the UN handed over 'billions of dollars' that was generated locally by the sale of Iraqi petroleum to aid in running the CPA. This was all done with the 'understanding that the [money] would be used' to benefit the Iraqis and that it would 'be accounted for by an independent auditor.' The audit was delayed for months until the CPA ceased to exist and hasn't been completed since. 'The fee would likely run as high as $100 million, which the United States would be morally obligated to provide.' However, the exact amount of this is not predictable at this time. This, among other issues that involve corporations such as Halliburton, should be handled before America leaves Iraq, if for no other reason than to leave with clean hands.

16. The "R" word: Reparations. 'The United States should make reparations to Iraqi civilians for loss of lives and property it caused.' While 'haphazard', the United States generally makes so-called "condolence payments" of up to $2,500 for noncombatant casualties. In April 2003, the Congress passed The Iraq War Supplemental Appropriations Act. While the word "compensation" is never used, it alludes towards it by assuming the obligation to pay "assistance for families of innocent Iraqi civilians who suffer losses as a result of military operations." Suffice to say, it would do a lot of good to America's image abroad if the United States were to make reparations on the scale of something similar to the what the Marshall Plan and other aid programs did to America's image after World War II.

Here's the math: 'Estimates run from 30,000 to 100,000 killed' as a result of military operations or other 'activities' in the war. Assuming 50,000 and $10,000 in compensation per person, the cost is $500 million. For those who have been incapacitated or otherwise wounded, no accurate numbers exist. Assuming with an educated guess of 20,000 at $10,000 per person, the total is $200 million. That is the cost of approximately three days of the American occupation.

17. 'America should not offer directly, but through international organizations...a number of financial inducements and supports.' This would 'include fellowships for the training of lawyers, judges, journalists, and... nongovernmental social workers and other civil affairs workers.' 'While this efforts will take study and planning,' a fund of $500 million could be set up by the United States to fund it.

18. Efforts must be made, through grassroots organizations and professional societies, to bring back skilled men and women that left after the 1991 Gulf War. These would include, but not be limited to, engineers, professors, medical doctors, and teachers. Assuming that there are about 10,000 people who would fit these categories, with $50,000 spent on each, the total cost of relocation would be $500 million, or two days of the occupation.

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George McGovern, William R. Polk (2006) Out of Iraq: A Practical Plan for Withdrawal Now New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks