You thought it was bad enough that America is now blaming Iraq for the catastrophic disaster of the War on Iraq. Obviously, America has had lots of practice in the art of victim blaming. What were Iraqis thinking anyway when they let Bush give their country the shock and awe treatment?
But, no, that's not bad enough.
The warn-torn, illegally invaded country is actually paying out big bucks as reparations to multinational corporations, such as Kentucky Fried Chicken and Toys R Us -- for lost profits!:
Here is a small sample of who has been getting "reparation" awards from Iraq: Halliburton ($18m), Bechtel ($7m), Mobil ($2.3m), Shell ($1.6m), Nestlé ($2.6m), Pepsi ($3.8m), Philip Morris ($1.3m), Sheraton ($11m), Kentucky Fried Chicken ($321,000) and Toys R Us ($189,449). In the vast majority of cases, these corporations did not claim that Saddam's forces damaged their property in Kuwait - only that they "lost profits" or, in the case of American Express, experienced a "decline in business" because of the invasion and occupation of Kuwait. One of the biggest winners has been Texaco, which was awarded $505m in 1999. According to a UNCC spokesperson, only 12% of that reparation award has been paid, which means hundreds of millions more will have to come out of the coffers of post-Saddam Iraq.
According to the calculations of the blogger over at Progressive Gold, "For the price of two dead Iraqis you can get a 10 piece mixed meal with all the fixin's" at Kentucky Fried Chicken."
When the Bush legacy is written, it will surely be published in a volume of Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Politics Bush Legacy News Iraq Bush Cheney News War Blaming the Victim
