17 ex-POW’s from the Persian Gulf War who were brutally
tortured filed a lawsuit against the country of Iraq and won. They won an
award of almost $1 billion, that’s billion with a "B”, that is to be awarded
out of Iraqi funds which were frozen here in the United States The problem
is not that the POW’s deserve something for their service but whether they
have gone about it in a proper manner and if they have targeted the right
respondent.
Now, I would like to first to go on record that I support our military with
every fiber of my being. I support the contributions and sacrifices each and
every member of our armed forces makes, each and every day. This includes
the heroic contributions of our Prisoners of War. But there are a few things
that bother me about this particular lawsuit that just won’t let me leave it
alone.
First
and foremost, the lawsuit was filed in April of 2002 and it was filed
against the government of Saddam Hussein. As we all know,
Saddam Hussein is no longer the head of state in Iraq. Hopefully he will
soon be the headless former head of state but that remains to be seen. In
fact, there is no head of state in Iraq, at the moment. That is what we are
trying to establish there by creating stability, eliminating those who would
have someone worse than Saddam Hussein take power and rebuilding their
infrastructure. So, if there is no government we have to ask who should be
responsible for the costs that the former regime incurred. It’s a valid
question.
All of this, our military presence, rebuilding, housing, food, etc. costs
money and although Iraq has an over-abundance of oil wealth it will take an
initial investment to make that Iraqi cash cow function once again. This is
where the frozen assets come in. If we don’t use them then we have to use
our tax dollars, some of which we will have to use anyway.
The timing of this lawsuit also troubles me. Why was it filed directly
before the much-publicized military action in Iraq by the coalition forces?
Whose idea was it to file the lawsuit in April? Whose idea was it to file a
lawsuit at all? I have known a few POW’s in my time, some from World War II,
some from the Korean Conflict and Vietnam. Now, I could be wrong, and I am
sure you will correct me if I am, but I don’t remember anyone suing the
Germans or the Japanese or the North Koreans or the Chinese because they
were POW’s. It was more of a duty and honor thing. That’s not to say that I
would deny any POW the right to do so I am just pointing out that I have
never heard of it before, especially a decade after the fact. It does bring
questions to mind, however.
While we are at it perhaps we should address the fact that there are
outstanding international obligations that Saddam Hussein’s government has
with other nations regarding trade. There are illegal oil obligations with
Syria, illegal trade agreements with France, Russia, Germany and China and a
host of other commitments made by the former tyrant. If we are to honor the
award of the lawsuit, which is a legitimate cross that the Iraqi people
should have to bear, then how are we to say that the rest of the debts are
not legitimate as well? The agreements were made with the approval of the
Iraqi head of state so there is no argument about whether they exist or not.
We know all too well that the French, Germans, Russians and Chinese made
good on their part of the bargain. Just ask any of the coalition troops who
had to defend against goods made in those countries. So, a valid question
would be, where do we draw the line? Who do we hold responsible for a
defunct regime’s debts?
Of course, there is a solution to everyone’s troubles, as I believe I
touched on in an earlier piece titled, "I
Don’t Think They Will Be Leaving Before The Tab Comes”. Why don’t we
do our best to rebuild the infrastructure of Iraq as quickly and efficiently
as possible? Let’s use all of the frozen and captured assets to make it the
functioning thriving Middle Eastern wonder world that the liberal-left said
it was during their protests and before we found out it wasn’t. Then let’s
hit them with a bill for not only their liberation but also the
responsibilities that were left behind by those wonderful Hussein people.
Their oil wealth is enormous and I am sure that adding on a $1 billion tab
for torturing the POW’s of a liberating army would be like a drop in the
bucket for them once they were thriving again.
Of course, that would leave the tortured Iraqis to find someone to sue for
their torture. Hhmm… was this the quagmire they were talking about?
Frank Salvato
is a political media consultant and the managing editor for The New Media Journal.us. He
is a contributing writer for The Washington Dispatch, GOPUSA,
OpinionEditorials, Men’s News Daily, Canada Free Press & AmericanDaily. His
pieces are regularly featured in Townhall.com. He has appeared as a guest on
The O’Reilly Factor, The Kevin Matthews Radio Show (Chicago) and The Brad
Messer Radio Show (San Antonio). His pieces have been recognized by the
Japan Center for Conflict Prevention and are occasionally featured in The
Washington Times and The London Morning Paper as well as other national and
international publications.
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