Global View Article April 15 2003

i WALL STREET JOURNAL. OPINION TUESDAY, APRIL 15j 2003 GJoomVIewl»uam~MM. . . , ~J-~P ... ·. Oil Could Be Made a Direct Benefit to thelrCUJi George w. Bush has mentioned re- peatedly .that Iraq's oil belongs · tives of the new government, whenever it popular, freeing ordinary. Iraq~ of the . to the Iraqi people and will be comes into being. sound like a pre-emption of the preroga· be doubted that It woUld be Immensely povertythathasbeentheirlotunderSad- · 1 that k · · 1oft.111i1~a1111'111iFIIl used for their benefit. This has been on the other hand, the u.s. and Brit• dam; It would create loyalty~ the new T\Je . . mainly· a. response to claims by the ain sholild keep in mind that they are government and reduce the chances for.· haslleen:to French and Russians that the U.S. and entitled to some prerogatives. Iraqipoliti· tribal feuding. It would create a cash · hailgers-on.·. m· ...... u· ·'"' G~at Britain are fighting a. war to get Cians, some of whom have spent most of flow directly into the economy, supplying':' olffi. ntl1·r.bu iildS.oommflil!lftl their hands on the vast Iraqi reserves. .'their Jives outside the country, wouldn't the means for both investment•and con· 'To avoid' This is· the only explanation for the have the prospect of high office were it sumption. Not incldentallyltwould sehd . Westerners war that would· make. sense to. Russian not for the huge expenditure of U.S. and a clear message that Mr. Bush meant tion wll1 h•n•·•·· ... ~oo .. and French ~liticians, who have been BritishtreasureandbloodtodestroySad· exactly what he · · ·leadersthatforthiettme:bellftia16iifdrl'!t::[~~§ !tying for years to capture Iraqi oil oonces· dam and his evllBaathist r~gime. What· :~J~~t ~:Ou . sions. Doing favors for Saddam Hussein, ever ~e coalition forces do in postwar belongs to the Iraqi attheexpenseoftheUnltedNatlonssant· Iraq, they will he criticized by the usual tions, bas been very much a part of that harpies for usurping power, ~racticing people. endeavor. By pain!ing Mr. Bush and Tony colonialism and enga~ng in unilateral· Would such a mar· · · Blair as oil grabbers·. as well, they have ism. So why not do nation buil@lg rtght, · velous idea be easy to attempted to establish a certain moral . rather than kowtow to all the~ple try. put into practice? No,: equivalence that would diminish public ing to take over decision ma~ng? it would not. The . disgust at their own cupidity. Iraqi oil can be put to the service of French and Rus!ian . They have in fact had quite a lot of the Iraqi people in a quite simple way. I :~~~: success in persuading' the global antiwar am indebted to a Web site called Insta· onstrates the ·pow· er. . movement that this war ~ all about oil, pundit for a projM)Sal on how this could not about Saddam. But then the antiwar be done. An essay written'by.an invest· that vi~ons of oil riches hold over men's minds.· movement is predisposed to believe the ment company employee who prefers to It is doubtful that Iraqi !XJI· · · worst of the Americans and the Brlts; s6 remain anonymous argues that some oil iticians, even if they are that wasn't very haril to do. money go directly to Iraqis. · · democratiCally el~ will Mr. Bush could, however, have done a · This would li done through an invest. be immune to these visions. better job of coimterillg the expert propa· ment trust set up along the lines of the They will be able~ think of hun~ . ·. gandists in Paris and Moscow. He could Singapore Provident Fund and other dreds of ways those revenues can have explained, ·for example, in • what trusts operated by governments for the be "better• used, meaning that under the way the oil revenues ·could be diverted benefit of the population at large; only in control of the regime, they could be used from Saddam's palaces and arms caches this case Iraqis could have access to their . to finance patronage schemes .. Why run to the ragged Iraqis trying to subs~t in a fund before retirement. He' proposes that for office if you ran't get your hands on a moribund, albeit oU.rtch, economy. What the "Iraqi People's Freedom Trust• be lot of money in the process? As James does he really have in mind for causing funded with a large share, perhaps 50%, · Madison so correctly observed when the those revenues to ~eld r~al benefits to of Iraqi oil earnings. "Each Iraqi-man U.S. was struggling to its feet, "Men are the Iraqi people?. woman or child-would be eli~ble for a not angels.'· One reason for the lack of specificity personal inve~ent account once th~y · Nations have been rulried by having a has to do with another Bush promise, to re~ster as a Citizens of the new Iraq. guaranteed cash flow front oil. Tile pollti· turn the government in Baghdad over to Given modern computers and means cians simply aren't laced with the need Iraqis as soon as possible. Saying explic· of identUication, such a broadly benefi· to create a cHmate in which businesses itly how the money should be used might cia! trust is clearly feasible. It can hardly unrelated to oil can thrive. The chaos