Bush addresses the world- Pending War

[GrayMouser]

As for the money that Iraq owes, it appears to be about 8 billion to France, 8 billion to Russia and 4 billion to Germany (about the same as America).

Far and away most of the money is owed to Kuwait for war reparations ($100 billion plus); other claimed amounts cover money borrowed from the Gulf States during the Iraq- Iran War ($50 billion) which Iraq claims should be grants for protection against Iran (which is why Iraq invaded Kuwait in the first place).

The Russians argue that if they should forgive Iraq for debts incurred by the tyrannical regime of Saddam, they themselves should be forgiven debts incurred by the tyrannical Soviet regime- and suddenly forgiveness sounds like less of a virtue in Washington.

Meanwhile, members of the "Coalition of the Willing" such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Bulgaria expect to be paid for deals made between their former tyrannical regimes and Iraq's former tyrannical regime.

For an overview of the whole mess:

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/4-1...asp?viewPage=1