Follow the Money

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

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If the debate over who takes power in Iraq after June 30 is starting to feel somewhat abstruse, how’s this for shorthand: Who takes control of the billions of dollars in the Development Fund for Iraq? It’s a local story — much of the money is sitting in accounts at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. As of April 30, 2004, the Development Fund for Iraq totaled $10,413,434,739.85, according to an accounting by the American-led Coalition Provisional Authority. If you don’t like to count commas, that’s $10.4 billion, which is a lot of money pretty much anywhere except Washington. The funds come mainly from Iraq’s oil revenues.

Right now, the person who controls that account is L. Paul Bremer III, President Bush’s envoy to Iraq. But by June 30, Ambassador Bremer will be on an airplane on his way back to America. So while you may not have heard much about it yet, there’s plenty of quiet speculation already brewing in Baghdad about the fate of the Development Fund for Iraq. Here are some potential candidates to take over check-signing authority on the $10 billion fund after Mr. Bremer leaves:

The new American ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte. This would be a serious error. America defeated Iraq more than a year ago. If an American government official is still controlling the accounts into which Iraq’s oil revenues flow, it will only lend credence to the false claim that America went to war for oil. More broadly, the more control America has in Iraq, the easier it is for Iraqis to blame their problems on America and to avoid taking responsibility for the situation themselves. Politically, it’s a variation on Secretary of State Powell’s famous pre-war Pottery Barn caution to Mr. Bush of “You break it, you pay for it.” In this case, it would be, “You pay for it, it’s yours.” That holds true not just with respect to politics in Iraq, but with respect to politics in America. Mr. Bush’s Democratic opponent, Senator Kerry, will have an easier time blaming Mr. Bush for problems in Iraq if Mr. Bush’s ambassador is the one paying the bills there.

The United Nations envoy for Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi. This would be worse. The last time the U.N. had control of Iraq’s oil revenues, it was under the oil-for-food program whose name is now synonymous with corruption and cronyism. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Why should Americans, or Iraqis for that matter, allow themselves to be fooled again by the U.N.? Moreover, Mr. Brahimi works for the U.N. Security Council. The Security Council includes Russia, which competes with Iraq in the oil business and which tried to prevent Saddam’s ouster in the first place. It includes France, whose primary foreign policy goal seems to be limiting American influence. And it includes Communist China, which is hostile to freedom and democracy.

Some yet-to-be determined group of Iraqis. That’s the preferred solution of the Iraqi National Congress, whose spokesman, Entifadh Qanbar, told us yesterday, “The DFI must transfer to Iraqis when sovereignty is transferred.” Who those Iraqis will be and how they are chosen is a matter that Mr. Bremer, the existing Iraqi Governing Council, other Iraqis, Mr. Bush, and American allies would be wise to start figuring out now. It won’t necessarily be easy. But the alternatives — leaving the money in the hands of Mr. Negroponte or Mr. Brahimi — are worse. And Iraqis have already seen enough of the consequences of lack of planning. From the start of this war, spokesmen of the Bush administration have made it a point to emphasize that the oil belongs to the Iraqi people. Now is the time for Mr. Bush to prove, as he has so often, that they meant what they said.

NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.


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