Iraqi Debt Relief and Our $87 Billion

The US is squabbling with France and other G7 nations about how much Iraqi debt -- amassed under Saddam Hussein -- should be forgiven. Yet today the London Guardian reports that James Baker -- who works for Bush to get countries to relieve Iraq's debt -- has a $180 million stake in the Carlyle Group, which is part of a consortium trying to get Iraq to repay $25 billion on behalf of Kuwait. Kuwait, of course, would then pay the "collection consortium" millions in fees. A little-known fact about that "$87 billion vote": the Senate's proposal that half of Iraq's reconstruction money be in the form of a loan (not a grant) included a provision for debt forgiveness.