(October 18, 2003) Taking on Saddam’s debt burden would cripple the new Iraq economically. Besides, it is clearly unfair to expect the Iraqi people to pay for the reckless waste of the regime that brutally oppressed them for so long.

(October 17, 2003) The question of legitimacy of claims on southern countries is normally ignored when a sustainable level of debt is determined. Such a practice legitimizes such debt and will cause lenders to behave irresponsibly again in the future. Iraq with a total debt of approximately US$380 billion and a GNP of $25 billion is a star case of not just an unsustainable burden, but also of highly questionable claims by creditors who financed the dictator’s military buildup and affluent lifestyle.

(October 17, 2003) The Senate disregarded an intense lobbying campaign by the White House and decided that Iraq eventually should have to repay half the $20.3 billion President Bush wants to rebuild the country.

(October 16, 2003) Iraq’s interim trade minister says at least 65 per cent of his country’s outstanding debt should be forgiven. Ali Abdul-Amir Allawi says Iraq’s debts were incurred by what he calls a "brutal, authoritarian, dictatorial regime.

(October 16, 2003) The Coalition Provisional Authority’s chief fundraiser Marek Belka says he expects that some countries would contribute by writing off Iraq’s foreign debt incurred under the deposed Hussein regime.

(October 13, 2003) "How do you become a liberator? Make them truly free" by forgiving foreign debt and working with the rest of the world to build a sound democratic structure, said former New York governor Mario Cuomo.

(October 9, 2003) The council will operate independently of the Iraqi Justice Ministry, and will "investigate allegations of professional misconduct and incompetence . . . and nominate lawyers to fill judicial and prosecutorial vacancies."

(October 9, 2003) Without a resolution, only those who already have troops in Iraq will want to put in much money," one EU diplomat said.