Mid Day By: Alpana Lath Sawai April 13, 2003

How do you get to India Gate, New Delhi? You can travel a quick straight route from wherever you are. But Robert Garside, a 36-year-old Brit, chased a long-winded itinerary around the world instead.

And he got here not by catching a flight from the airport nearest to him — he relied on his feet. In fact if you asked him his second-most favourite mode of travel, he’d look nonplussed. He hasn’t quite figured that one out, but thinks he may try swimming across Antarctica or some such spine-chilling activity.

It is not logic that has guided Garside’s zigzags around the world these past eight years. It is the need to establish a record, to be the first man to run around the Earth. And when he reaches India Gate in May this year, he will likely have completed a loop around the world, becoming eligible for a Guinness Book of World record. Along the way, he has been besieged not just with civil unrest in various nations but also controversy over some of his claims. There has been doubt in the sporting world over some of his achievements. He certainly doesn’t look any worse for it. He has managed without corporate sponsorship too. Says Garside, “I didn’t want to carry too many liabilities because then the freedom goes.”

He has relied a lot on locals across nations. This has served him well. Like when he started off from India in 1997, it was the cops in north India who gave him a place to sleep at night at police stations. “They even gave me food to eat,” says Garside, “People gave me whatever they could.”

All he carries though is a backpack with all his worldly possessions: a number of electronic items, which make his trip bearable. He has a mobile phone, video camera and a palmtop, which he uses to upload information on to his website. Some of these form part of the cash items he carries, which he sells when he’s run out of money.

Says Garside, “My phone, watch, walkman are the cash items. If it gets really desperate, I sell my T-shirts.”

Souvenirs are tempting to collect especially if you have travelled so much, but Garside realised early on that there was no way he could collect any. It was the odd carved giraffe here and a prayer stone there. The giraffe sculpture, which he saw in Africa he was able to resist, but the prayer stone he fell prey to.

Says Garside, “When I was in Tibet, I saw a stone with some prayer inscribed on it that must have weighed a kilogram or so. I liked it, so I put it in my backpack and carried it with me for about a month. Finally I decided to give it up. A Spanish friend who was running with me at the time was quite happy to have it.”

The other difficult thing about being a man on the run, found out Garside, was that although he made many acquaintances, he was never in any one place long enough to make friends or even girl friends for that matter, he jokes. Is it a girl in every port then, one wonders.

“No, only in every continent,” he laughs, admitting to have met at least some girls on his way. “I don’t intend to go and seek a woman, not for a one-night stand or for a relationship,” he says, somewhat seriously, “because then it’s difficult when I’ve got to go.”

The toughest battle has been running alone. Over extended periods sometimes. This is why even though it is difficult to run with other people, he welcomes it as a break. “But they never run all the way,” he says. The extremes of weather have not helped matters. Take the freezing cold in Tibet for example. There were nights he had to sleep in the open. This may have prompted his decision to carry his own house, a man-sized capsule, for his next project across Antarctica.

When it wasn’t freezing cold, it was the hot glare of the sun causing grief and many bad jokes about mad dogs and Englishmen. Once he even passed out in Australia because of a heat stroke. Some cops picked him up and dunked him in a bath tub with lukewarm water to cool him down. Another time his feet were bleeding from being soaked in constant rain in Brazil. But he kept running. What would possess a man to punish himself in this way? “Endurance is my number one sport,” he says, “banging my head against the wall, I’m good at that. I’m not especially fast. I don’t know if I would run in marathons.

But I am good at running across continents, putting up with all the bullshit. I can run when my feet are bleeding, and my shoes falling to pieces, when I haven’t slept for two days or eaten for three, then I am in my element. It’s the self-punishment.”

No games, just sport. This slogan, borrowed from the Nike campaign in What Women Want, illustrates the other reason Garside’s Adidas-clad feet are swallowing up miles along the highways of the world. To be out there, just doing it.

A complete reversal from what he was doing before he became the running man: a psychology student. “I took that up out of interest, but in the end I didn’t believe in it. I was just gaining meaningless knowledge for vanity’s sake,” he says.

Food to eat

Garside says he followed rules set by ants, also creatures of the earth. “They always follow their nose to sugar. It gives so much energy. It makes you stronger and your immune system too,” he says.

The only time he feeds himself well though is when he reaches a town or city. On the road, it’s just lots and lots of water, and sugar as and when he can, to replenish himself. And since we’re meeting at Café Basilico, he indulges in a blueberry cheesecake.

Rules to follow

Around the world means 18,000 miles according to the Guinness record authorities. But if you went up and down your yard clocking 18,000 miles, that would not work.

You have to end at the place you started, with 18,000 miles and the world in between. In addition, you have to show records that have been verified by multiple sources that say you actually went to, say Acapulco.

However, you are allowed to take an airplane when crossing over oceans and across continents. Like, Garside was in Africa before India. There was no direct way for him to reach Kanyakumari from there. So he was allowed to take a flight to Mumbai via Dubai and a train down to Kanyakumari, from where he would actually start his run.

Garside has clocked almost twice the required miles. His numbers look something like this: 35,000 miles through 35 countries across six continents in 50 pairs of shoes.

He is in India right now, in Kanyakumari in fact. And tomorrow, April 14, he will flag off from there. He will run on route 47 up until Cochin where he will get off on to route 17 which will bring him to Mumbai. He will be in Mumbai in about two weeks.

Then, he will run along route 8 up to Udaipur. From there he will make a few small detours towards Hisar, 168 km from New Delhi. This last lap he wishes to finish along with a few hundred runners from India.

It was from New Delhi that he began his journey almost six years ago, in 1997. At that time, Tony Blair had just been elected the prime minister of United Kingdom. “I looked at his photo and I thought he looked alright,” says Garside.

Blair’s photos in newspapers during Garside’s visit to Mumbai enroute to Kanyakumari last week elicit expletives instead. “It’s a shame,” he says, furious about the US-UK’s war on Iraq, “Blair is doing it for money.

America doesn’t have culture, and that’s why it doesn’t understand culture. You have the oldest country in the world being violated by the newest, it’s not fair. It’s like killing your grandparents.”

Running Man in Colaba

The man who has been around the world manages to get lost. In Colaba. Because he’s forgotten the name of his hotel. After a bit of wandering around, he identifies Delhi Darbar where he has dined the night before.

Once there, he knows the direction he should be heading towards to get to his resting rooms for the day, and it’s back up Colaba Causeway. As he walks off, his inquiry at the beginning of our meeting comes to mind.

Anticipating the visual treats that await him from Kanyakumari and along coastal India up on to the north, he asks, “Will I see any tigers? I would love to see one. Or any elephants on the way?” The route Robert Garside took

Robert Garside, who started running from New Delhi, India (1) in 1997 will complete his run around the world when he reaches New Delhi by the end of May 2003. He ran right through Tibet up to Shanghai, China (2) and Cape Norshap, Japan (3) before heading down to Perth, Australia (4) along with Sydney (5) and New Zealand (6).

Then he entered South America at Punta Arenas, Chile (7) from where he steadily worked his way up to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil (8). He spent a lot of time in Brazil — Santarem (9) and Manaus (10).

Garside liked it so much that he decided he might want to settle there in the future. At some point in Brazil, he met Ronnie Biggs, UK’s great train robber on a run even bigger than Garside’s, from the British Government.

From here it was a jog up to Caracas, Venezuela (11) and then Panama City, Panama (12). He crossed over to North America and landed up at Acapulco, Mexico (13). It’s a halt at another Mexican destination, La Paz (14) before he made a beeline for the heart of America’s silicon empire, San Francisco (15). Here, goes one story, he met Dave Kunst, the first man to walk around the world in 1974.

It was a run right across the breadth of America to New York (16) after this. Then it was down to Cape Town, South Africa (17), where began a gruelling year spent in trying to get across Africa in one piece. Up to Zobue in Mozambique (18) after this, and then right from the east of the African continent to the west: Rabat in exotic Morocco (19). A run past the Mediterranean countries took him in to Rome, Italy (20).

Ankara, Turkey (21) was next on his route and before he ran down into El Minya, Egypt (22) where he claimed to have been followed by the police everywhere he went because of a general suspicion of foreigners, and the Suez (23). Between here and Masawa, Eritrea (24), he tried very hard to enter Saudi Arabia but was denied permission. Somewhere along the way, he had to forgo plans of entering India via Afghanistan because of the war in that country.

Alternative plans meant going back down into Beira in Mozambique (25). The only way to get to South India (26) from there, short of rowing across in a boat, was to take another long detour to Dubai and then fly down to Mumbai and then Kanyakumari (26) on his last lap.

On his birthday, the last 6 years January 6, 1998 Nepal January 6, 1999 Australia January 6, 2000 Brazil January 6, 2001 Colorado, US January 6, 2002 Mozambique January 6, 2003 Turkey

Citizens Time By George Porter Jr. , Sports Writer April 12, 2003 10:49 p.m.

ASHEVILLE - The scouting report on Asheville Tourists shortstop Oscar Materano so far has been that he is a young, skilled infielder with a strong arm and a lot of tools.

Good enough reason there for just about anybody to draft this kid.

But the report forgot to mention that he's pretty good at the plate, too.

"He does have a pretty good bat doesn't he," Tourists manager Joe Mikulik said. "He has definitely been a great surprise. I mean, we knew that he could play defense, but if he can come in here and add a little offense, as well, we get a real good bargain."

After sitting out the Tourists' season opener, Materano immediately made his presence felt the next night as he went 4-for-5 with a double and an RBI. At the end of the first series, Materano was leading the South Atlantic League, batting a robust .583.

Tourists' coach Tony Diaz said Materano's early-season consistency can be credited to a steady routine.

"I've tried to teach him, as well as some of the other guys, how to follow a steady routine," Diaz said. "I want them to learn the ability to set a pattern and follow that pattern every day. If they go through the same routine on a daily basis, they don't have a choice but to get better."

One routine Materano said he always follows is writing his mother's name in the dirt. Materano said when he's at shortstop, he routinely writes his mother's first name, Belkis, in the dirt so that she will be with him on every play.

"I try to keep my family on my mind," said the Valera, a Venezuela native. "I play baseball for them. A lot of guys from my country play baseball for money, but I play for the opportunity. The opportunity to just be on the field when others can't."

Although Materano's hot bat has been one of the reasons other teams have started to pitch him a little more carefully, his defense is as good as advertised.

And Tourists third baseman Ashely Freeman has the best seat in the house.

"He makes a lot of plays at short, that you see guys on television making," Freeman said. "And that's very impressive, seeing as though we're just in single A. I mean, at this level, we see guys all the time with his type of range, but to be able to go deep in the hole and throw a guy out, now that's impressive."

Unlike most up-and-coming baseball players in the states, Materano said he didn't have the opportunity to impress the professional scouts in high school because his high school didn't have a baseball field.

"We just had to play when we could," he said. "We usually played on softball fields and in other remote areas, so it wasn't the best."

No matter what the circumstances were for Materano, he obviously impressed scouts when he had the opportunity. When the youngster with the charismatic smile was 16, he said a scout invited him to a tryout.

The scout, Jorge de Posada, is the father of all-star New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada. Materano said after the tryout, Posada asked him if he wanted to play professional baseball.

It was a no-brainer.

"I didn't care about the contract or anything like that," he said. "I just wanted to play baseball. And when he offered me the chance to play, I jumped all over it."

Materano admits he's not very knowledgeable about the things that go along with baseball, such as contracts. But what he does know is that he, along with every other guy in the Tourists clubhouse, wants to one day make it to the big leagues.

"That's my goal," he said. "I want to play Major League Baseball. But the only difference between me and other guys trying to make it, is that I don't want to be rich. I just want to play baseball. Money doesn't mean anything to me."

Contact Porter at 232-5832 or GPorter@CITIZEN-TIMES.com

<a href=www.zenit.org>URL Code: ZE03041201 Date: 2003-04-12

NEW YORK, APRIL 12, 2003 (Zenit.org).- Developing nations are reducing their reliance on new overseas loans and depending more on direct investment. Remittances by migrant workers are also becoming a key source of finance. These are some of the conclusions from the World Bank's Global Development Finance report for 2003, released April 2.

The 1997-98 financial crisis in Asia continues to affect all developing nations. One consequence has been a decline in new private lending. The situation worsened in 2001 and 2002 because of the global economic difficulties.

Yet, the decline in new loans has a positive side. According to Philip Suttle, lead author of the report: "Over reliance on debt has been a problem for many countries. Looking ahead there is room for cautious optimism that capital flows to developing countries will be less volatile in the future. This would be good for growth and for poor people."

According to the report, net private debt flows to developing countries, made up of bonds and bank loans, peaked at about $135 billion a year in 1995-96 and have since declined steadily, becoming net outflows in most years since 1998. Last year, developing countries paid $9 billion more on old debt than they received in new loans. This came on top of a 2001 outflow of almost $25 billion.

This means that even though net foreign direct investment has gone from a 1999 peak of $179 billion to $143 billion in 2002, it is increasingly the dominant source of external financing for developing countries.

The report identifies advantages in the increased reliance on investment, as opposed to debt. Investors tend to be more oriented to the long term and, compared to debt holders, are more inclined to tolerate short-term adversity. "The shift from debt to equity highlights the importance of developing countries' efforts to foster a sound investment climate," said Nicholas Stern, the World Bank's chief economist and senior vice president for development economics.

The drawback with the debt repayments is that the developing world has become a net capital exporter to the developed world. As a result, capital is no longer flowing from high-income countries to economies that need it to sustain their progress toward development goals. This shortage, notes the report, is compounded in the poorest countries by a significant drop in official development assistance from bilateral donors.

According to the World Bank, the intense pressures to pay down external debt have placed many countries under severe stress in recent years, usually with particularly adverse consequences for poor people. There is now a growing consensus that the mechanisms available to cushion these debt pressures are in need of reform.

The plan to alleviate the debt burden of the poorest countries, known as the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, has resulted in "significant progress," observed the report. But continued weakness in the prices of commodities exported by these nations means that some of the countries will need still further help to reduce their debt.

Remittances to the rescue

Another notable development in recent years is the increase in remittances coming from migrant workers. The overall amount they sent home reached $80 billion in 2002, up from $60 billion in 1998.

The increase in remittances helps ensure greater financial stability compared to reliance on debt. The report observed that remittances tend to be countercyclical, since economic downturns encourage additional workers to emigrate while those already abroad tend to send more money to families left behind.

Remittances were particularly important for the Latin America and Caribbean region. In 2002 this area received $25 billion from migrant workers sending part of their paycheck back home. Mexico, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Colombia, Brazil and Ecuador are among the top-20 country recipients of remittance, with Mexico being only second to India. As a percentage of gross domestic product, remittances are largest in Central America.

Remittances were also important for the countries in South Asia, which received $16 billion last year. This is the second highest among developing regions and equals 2.5% of the GDP for the area.

Regional variations

Economic growth in developing countries was 3.1% in 2002, up by 0.3% on the 2001 performance. According to the World Bank, growth was restrained by the weakness in richer countries, and by financial and political uncertainties in several large emerging markets.

The report noted that growth in Latin America and the Caribbean was held down by the government debt default and banking collapse in Argentina. Other factors were the uncertainty about Brazilian elections, worsening conditions in Venezuela, and an associated falloff in financial market flows. GDP in the region dropped by 0.9% in the year.

In terms of regional trends in debt and investment, the Latin American and Caribbean region paid $9 billion more on old debt than what it received in new private loans. Foreign direct investment dropped to $42 billion, from $69 billion in 2001, the severest decline among all regions. But Brazil and Mexico were the second- and third-largest recipients of investment (after China) with $16.6 billion and $13.6 billion, respectively.

Overall, the report expects growth in Latin America and the Caribbean to accelerate by the most of any region in 2003, led by a recovery of Argentina. Regionwide GDP is expected to grow 1.7% this year and 3.8% in 2004.

The situation in South Asia is healthier. The report notes that South Asia's GDP rose 4.9% in 2002, and is expected to rise by 5.3% this year. The report is also forecasting a rise in foreign direct investment from $5 billion in 2002 to $9 billion in 2005.

In East Asia and the Pacific, foreign direct investment rose to $57 billion in 2002, up from $48.9 billion in 2001. The increase was largely due to the continuing rise in investment in China. In 2002, China became the largest foreign direct investment recipient, surpassing the United States for the first time, by attracting a record high of $52.7 billion. This amount accounted for 37% of the developing countries' total in 2002.

In the Middle East and North Africa region, capital flows are traditionally much more modest. In recent years foreign direct investment has been around $2 billion to $3 billion a year. The report noted that the region has the lowest returns on investment in the world. This factor, combined with prewar uncertainty over Iraq and the continuing Israeli/Palestinian conflict, has eroded investor confidence and posed obstacles to investment.

Regarding the role of developed countries, the report said that they could support development most directly "through coherent aid and trade policies that promote development." The report particularly called on industrial countries to reduce agricultural subsidies and trade barriers that discriminate against exports from developing countries.

Regarding aid to developing countries, the report pointed out that the commitment to increase assistance made prior to the U.N. Conference on Financing for Development, in Mexico in March 2002, was a welcome contrast to previous cuts. However, the amounts promised are insufficient to reach the development goals set for 2015. One can only hope that the richer countries will not be too distracted by their own problems to forget the plight of developing nations.

<a href=www.cambridge-news.co.uk>Cambridge News OnLine MOTOR SPORT

ERNESTO VISO is the latest South American prospect to take the Cambridge route to the top in motor racing. The 18-year-old Venezuelan, who made a dramatic start to the season by grabbing pole position in the opening two races of the Formula 3 B series, has made his home in the city.

And, like Formula One star Rubens Barrichello and other top racers Luciano Burti and Antonio Pizzonia, who have previously lived in the area, he reckons it is the perfect base.

“Maybe the lifestyle in Italy, where I have raced, would have been closer to what I was used to in Venezuela,” he said, “but I wanted the tougher racing you get in England, and Cambridge is a very nice place to live.

“I am not surprised all those other top drivers were based here at some time. There are good restaurants, a lot of foreign students, and maybe not some of the distractions of bigger places.

“I live near the Grafton Centre, I go to the gym close to there, and I enjoy my time when I am not racing or practicing with my team, Sweeney Racing near Snetterton.”

The “Cracker from Caracas” caught the eye when he won the British F3 Winter Series this year, after being named as Young Driver of the Year by the motorsport Press in his own country.

Last year he was a teenage sensation in the United States, where he won 13 out of 16 rounds to race away with the Skip Barber Dodge Eastern championship, as well as finishing fifth overall in the Italian Formula Renault series.

Now, with 24 races still to go, he is among the favourites in the F3 B Scholarship championship, despite his double disappointment at Donington Park.

“I was very encouraged to get pole position twice,” he said, “and I was also in the top 10 A Series times. They have 15hp more, and better gearing, but I was within half a second of the best time.

“In the first race, though, I spun out on the third lap. Maybe the tyres were a bit cold, and in the second race I went out on round two because someone spun in front of me and I had to take evasive action.

“But overall it has given me confidence for the Easter meeting at Snetterton.”

<a href=www.plastic.com>Plastic.com Found on New York Times (registration required) written by Djerrid, edited by Peter (Plastic) [ read unedited ] posted Sat 12 Apr 4:29am

Brent Scowcroft, the national security advisor for Pres. Bush Sr. posed this question to him:

"What's going to happen the first time we hold an election in Iraq and it turns out the radicals win? What do you do? We're surely not going to let them take over."

Of the many reasons the current Bush Administration has given for the invasion of Iraq, freeing the Iraqi people from a dictatorship and replacing it with a representive democracy is the one they are currently touting (especially since WMD are nowhere to be found). Both Bush and Blair made pronouncements on Iraq's state television airwaves with Bush saying "The government of Iraq and the future of your country will soon belong to you" and "You deserve to live as free people". Blair was as generous stating: "The money from Iraqi oil will be yours; to be used to build prosperity for you and your families". What would happen if the Iraqis actually took that at face value?

Defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld told congress last month that "When it comes to reconstruction, before we turn to the American taxpayer, we will turn first to...the Iraqi government and the international community" and that the US would "tap Iraq's oil revenues". Assuming that Iraqis wouldn't want their oil taken from them to enrich Bush's bedside partners, if a true representative democracy was put in place, they would elect someone who would fight to keep control of their oil. As we have seen in Venezuela, the Bush Administration supports US- and business-friendly regimes over democratically elected governments. Can we expect anything less here? Especially with the second largest oil reserves in the world at stake? Will it then be possible for Iraq to vote for someone who isn't in tight with Bush's cronies?

[ comment on this story | more plastic... ]    

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1.  Democracy needs prosperity by somebaudy     at Sat 12 Apr 5:13am score of 1     A democratic Iraq would be a wonderful thing. This will be difficult to achieve because the people there are poor. Any radical promising them anything is likely to win votes. It looks like there are islamic clerics managing towns. Let's hope this is not a remake of Iran in 1979.

It will take money and investments benefiting directly to the iraqi people before political parties that are all believing in democracy can emerge.

It could be wise to heal the country's economy first, maybe doing a smaller version of the Marshall plan first, wait for a democratic political scene to emerge and then hold elections. "insert something witty here"  

2.  An interesting question. by MAYORBOB     at Sat 12 Apr 5:32am score of 1.5 compelling     The one about whether the U.S. government will stand by as the Iraqis democratically try to pick up the pieces. What would be pleasing to Washington would be some sort of secular client state of ours, eternally grateful to us for getting rid of Saddam. But what if the democratic Iraq that emerges isn't what we would like to see?

Supposing that the Iraqis democratically decide to rebuild their military? After all, at the point in time that they become a democratic Arab nation, they would sort of stand alone among the nations of the Middle East, other than Turkey and Israel. They would have a hostile Syria next door. They would have an antagonistic democracy in Iran next door with all those bones to pick with Iraq. They would have a democratic Turkey just to the North with an eagle's eye out if those pesky Kurds get the autonomy they have been insisting upon for years. What if they democratically selected some firebrand politician whose main platform was to get the U.S. out? Lastly, supposing they were to democratically decide to opt for the democratic model of Iran with a rather fundamentalist Islamic streak running through the body politic?

About the only thing I will predict is that the coming few years promise to be extremely interesting times for Iraq. "Illegitimi Non Carborundum"

  3.  Re: An interesting question. by MAYORBOB     at Sat 12 Apr 5:39am score of 1 in reply to comment 2     A correlating interesting question is should Iraq be declared debt free. This was the topic of a previous plastic thread where the prevailing wisdom was yes. "Illegitimi Non Carborundum"

  4.  Here's an idea by Anonymous Idiot     at Sat 12 Apr 9:14am score of 2 intriguing     Sharing, Alaska-Style By Steven C. Clemons

The New York Times April 9, 2003

Though most Americans don't believe this war is about oil, much of the rest of the world does. How the United States handles Iraq's oil after the war is therefore crucial. For guidance, America might look to its experiences in Japan after World War II and — perhaps more surprisingly — in Alaska in the 1970's.

Most revolutions that produce stable democracies expand the number of stakeholders in the nation's economy. America's occupation of Japan succeeded not just because the United States purged Japan's warmongers and established a peace constitution but because it imposed land reform. American occupiers broke up vast estates held by the Japanese aristocracy and redistributed the land to farmers, thus linking Japan's most lucrative resource to millions of citizens. Now America should do the same with Iraq's most lucrative resource, oil.

Here is where Alaska comes in. In the 1970's, during the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, the state realized that the new oil leases would produce an enormous windfall. Its citizens set up the Alaska Permanent Fund to manage this income, directing that the revenue be invested, the principal remain untouched and the gains be used for state infrastructure investments. A part of the proceeds was distributed as dividends to every Alaskan. By July 2002, the fund had grown to more than $23.5 billion. Dividend payments to Alaskan families averaged about $8,000 per year.

Iraq's annual oil revenue comes to approximately $20 billion. A postwar government could invest $12 billion a year in infrastructure to rebuild the nation. The other $8 billion could anchor an Iraq Permanent Fund, to be invested in a diverse set of international equities. The resulting income would go directly to Iraq's six million households. These payments would make a huge difference to families in a country whose per capita gross domestic product rests at about $2,500.

Establishing this fund would show a skeptical world that America will make sure Iraq's oil revenues directly benefit Iraqi citizens. By spreading capital broadly among new stakeholders, the plan would also prevent a sliver of Iraq's elite from becoming a new kleptocracy. Finally, the creation of an Iraqi oil fund could begin to help repair America's damaged image abroad — itself no small dividend at a time when many people remain suspicious about American motives in the Middle East.

Copyright: 2003 The New York Times

  13.  'The Spice Must Flow' by Djerrid     3 hours, 28 minutes ago score of 1 in reply to comment 4     Interesting, I wrote something similar in my original submission. If an economic liberal ran on the platform that a few percent of gross revenues from all oil sales were distributed equally between all Iraqis as a dividend, every average impoverished Iraqi would vote for him. So this idea could come about internally or externally.

The question I put forth in the submission was would this admin. with its history of trying to obtain as much power and control through every means, actually let control of the oil the hawks fought so hard for slip into the hands of the Iraqi people? Instead I'd bet the admin. would work to make sure Iraq is rebuilt just enough to get the oil flowing and to appease the international communitee, thereby retaining control of who will profit from the oil (themselves and their companies). So look forward to "terrorist" attacks and "pockets of resistance" to be used to justify the direct or indirect control of Iraqi's political and economic freedoms. Dad's Big Plan has a groupie  

18.  Re: 'The Spice Must Flow' by advancedatheist     5 minutes ago score of 1 in reply to comment 13     If an economic liberal ran on the platform that a few percent of gross revenues from all oil sales were distributed equally between all Iraqis as a dividend, every average impoverished Iraqi would vote for him.

That would actually be a good idea for the U.S. With our absurd GDP, you'd think we could get a basic dividend just for breathing. A no-strings stipend of even $5,000/year, regardless of income, could help more people get health insurance or buy their prescription drugs. That would give us a taste of what it's like to be shamefully dependent on multigenerational inherited wealth like some politicians I could name. "Stargate" is right: God IS our enemy!

  5.  Hell If I Know by uncarved block     at Sat 12 Apr 9:17am score of 1     but in grand Plastic tradition, here's a few thoughts anyway.       Unlike many others, I don't think the problem with the next government is going to be its repressiveness, at least not right away. A recent comment pointed out that unlike the post WWII reconstructions, there isn't any government left, nor would we want to return former Baath party officials to power. So the US is going to train this generation of police, firemen, and clerks. Men who want to push around others will not be welcome. Now, if we start shipping a few to the School of the Americas (or whatever it's called currently), then I'll pray for the future of normal Iraqis.       The real trouble is going to be, IMHO, corruption. The notion of honest public officials seems to be very much a European one, from everything I've heard; our 'corruption' would be thought restrained by leaders in Russia and even Mexico. The chances that the first elected leader of Iraq will be corrupt seems near certain. The name highest on the list right now, Chalabi (sp?), has a track record of 'misplacing' large sums of cash, but I doubt any of the other candidates with US ties are much better.       Like it or not, fair or not, the first man will be "our man", no matter how independent he tries to be. Speaking in purely political terms (ie. amoral), it might be better for this chap if the US runs the oil operations for a while. You can't sell out what you don't control, after all, and that likely will be the charge levied against the first government a few years down the road. To answer the writeup, I don't think there's a chance in hell we'll allow anyone into office who won't cut a deal over the oil. For one, he will likely be doing so in the name of something else (Islam, national pride, political extremism of right or left) that will allow the US to label him 'unacceptable'-- and really, who's going to stop us from stepping in again, if we've even left by then?       I'd also like to bring up a point made by Bernard Lewis, namely that this invasion hasn't changed as much as it seems, because the lesson taught the Muslim world has remained the same since Napoleon arrived in Egypt-- the only way change occurs in the region is when a Western power steps in and makes it happen. The French were displaced the British, and in Iraq, the US has deposed a regime we at least fostered, even if we didn't create it. This is the source of the sense of powerlessness that motivates men like bin Laden, and is the reason I (and others) never thought replacing Saddam was going to change the war on terror much.       Now, one way we could counter this image is to allow an openly religious government to come to power in Iraq, but the chances of this are nil, IMO. Conventional wisdom in the US equates Islamic law with the Taliban, despite (again, thanks to Lewis) a long rich tradition of limited state and religious power. Iraq is secular enough, from what I've read, that a religious government might work; Iraqis have seen (and lived) enough modernity to know they don't want an Iranian style theocracy. Replacing Saddam with a functional Islamic democracy would be the single biggest blow we could strike against the Islamofacists-- but will it fly with the base of Bush's party? As a general rule, any policy that takes more than one sentence to explain is a political loser, and man, explaining this would take a paragraph.       (Oh, and in reference to a recent Plastic article, there's really no problem using 'he' throughout-- the chances of a woman attaining any power next door to Saudi Arabia seems very, very slim indeed). Eschew Obsfucation Assiduously

  12.  Re: Hell If I Know by mightygodking     5 hours, 43 minutes ago score of 1 in reply to comment 5     The notion of honest public officials seems to be very much a European one, from everything I've heard

I don't think anybody told Italy or Spain that.

  6.  A Revelant Fable by Anonymous Idiot     at Sat 12 Apr 10:59am score of 0.5 interesting     Once upon a time, there were some people who had been living in a desert with two rivers for about 7,000 years. They may have independently discovered or invented civilization as we know it, but they were incapable of conceiving anything but a despotic tyrant to run it. Thus it had always been, for 7,000 years.

Then along came a cowboy called Dubya and his sidekicks. They reckoned they had a better idea. So they called their buddies, the Marines and the Airborne, who kicked the current tyrant's ass. Then they told the people that they were to use something called "democracy" to choose a leader who was NOT a tyrannical, blood-thirsty despot. The people were supposed to organize not just one, but at least two "political parties," and hold "elections" to a "parliament" or "national assembly" as well as select a "president" to run the show.

Dubya told them that they also needed a "supreme court" and a "constitution."

The people got to work, doing as they were instructed, but Dubya didn't like the results. The "politicians" chosen by the people to staff the national assembly and the presidency didn't want to sell their natural resources to Dubya and his friends for the prices Dubya liked.

Fortunately, there were some irregularities in the "vote count," and the new supreme court appointed some people whom Dubya and his friends did indeed find suitable.

Moral: When exporting democracy, make sure to export your own brand of it.

  7.  bitter much? by chasing     at Sat 12 Apr 11:18am score of 1     If the Iraqi's vote for some radicals, well let them. It's their country. I just hope they keep the ability to vote the radicals out again, if they so desire. But you know, with radicals, you can never tell...

As for the oil. You'd prefer they gave the contracts to some happy local companies? Which ones? It'd be easier to pick apart the contracts already given if I knew exactly what was in them, but my (admittedly quick) perusal of related articles didn't uncover that. Are they contracts stretching years, or until such a time as a successor government can make determinations of their own? I think it makes a difference.

As for the "many reasons", talk about a pot-shot. I don't think one reasons ever really supplanted any other, rather they just sort of piled on. But what's WMD got to do with Bush's oil cronies (if you choose to look upon them as cronies anyway)? The administrations hasn't dropped the WMD argument, after all. Let's not pretend they have. I think maybe you're getting some (WMD) peanut butter in their (oil) chocolate. A valid concern, but better when tackled separately.

  8.  Iraq as libertarian utopia by advancedatheist     at Sat 12 Apr 11:33am score of 1.5 disingenuous     I'm wondering why all the world's oppressed libertarians aren't now flocking to Iraq.

After all, we now have a country with no taxes; no speed limits; no minimum wage laws; no environmental regulations; no age of consent laws; no restrictions on firearms, pornography, prostition & drugs; no social democracy; no public health provisions; etc.

What more would a libertarian want? "Stargate" is right: God IS our enemy!

  15.  Things that make you go Hmmm... by Iluminati     1 hour, 56 minutes ago score of 1 in reply to comment 8     You know what, atheist dude, you have a point. Even though I was (and still am) the initiation of force by the US government the admittedly evil government of Saddam Hussein, you do have a point. This would be the ultimate chance for libertarianism to prove itself in the real world.

However, I'm a bit nervous about experimental governance. The last time libertarian-leaning people looked for a real-world test of their ideas, they (the Chicago boys) ended up turning to Pinochet's Chile. Can we figure out a way to do the free minds, free markets thing without some bloodshed? I just want a place when I can chill without cops harassing on general principle without thousands of innocent civilians dying first. All I ask, America, is to do what you said on paper. -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  

17.  Re: Things that make you go Hmmm... by advancedatheist     31 minutes ago score of 1 in reply to comment 15     This would be the ultimate chance for libertarianism to prove itself in the real world.

Not to mention Islam. The Koran forbids theft and commands that thieves lose their hands, but the Muslims shopping Iraq's going-out-of-business sale don't seem to be worried about that.

It's about time to put this romantic libertarian fantasy away. The empirical historical evidence shows that most people need an effective government to keep them in line because they lack foresight & self-control.

The last time libertarian-leaning people looked for a real-world test of their ideas, they (the Chicago boys) ended up turning to Pinochet's Chile.

Apparently the free-market fundamentalists who point to Chile's privatized social security system as a model for the U.S. aren't bothered by the fact that this system was imposed upon the Chilean people by a military dictatorship. Given the erosion of responsible civilian government in the U.S., these advocates might be more prophetic than they realized. "Stargate" is right: God IS our enemy!

  16.  Re: Iraq as libertarian utopia by Nameless Cynic     2 minutes ago score of 1 in reply to comment 8     You're correlating the fall of the government with "no laws." Sorry, AA. I know religion isn't your strong suit, but they have laws.

In fact, three of the items you mention (pornography, prostitution and drugs) are specifically mentioned. (Drugs fall under the same strictures as alcohol.) Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put. ~~ Winston Churchill

  11.  Not the Future You Would Expect.... by Krv     at Sat 12 Apr 3:42pm score of 1     I think that the Bush adminsitration is truthfull when they are promising the Iraqi nation freedom. The freedom they are promising the them is economic freedom, not political freedom. The model for the Iraqi future is not that which, we Americans are presently familiar with... the freedoms and personal liberties outlined in our Constitution, ideas distilled from the works of those great personages of the Age of Enlightenment. Iraq will be a society organized on the principle of a Capitalist Autocracy. The same model America is headed for in the future (where we will be joined by China and Singapore).

  14.  It's all in the rules by M. Mosher     2 hours, 37 minutes ago score of 1     Rebuilding the country and helping to institute democracy in Iraq will not happen by announcing an election and inviting candidates to step forward. Before elections, some sort of constitution or articles of federation will have to be drawn up. These will, after all, determine the rules by which the democracy is run. A constitutional convention (I'm using Americanisms here because that is what I'm more familiar with — it can just as easily be a parliament or something else) must be formed made up of tribal leaders, ethnic representatives, local and regional leaders, religious leaders, and others. This convention will hammer out the rules.

The rules will entail lots of things but elections and changes to the rules will be included. Ideally, the rules will disallow too much power in the hands of too few and it will disallow tyrants. The rules should make sure that one group cannot be brutalized by another. They should spell out rights and obligations of citizens and limits of governmental power. They might (probably should) separate the military and the police, they should remove the courts from the jurisdiction of the prime minister or president. In short, the rules should be written in such a way that no matter who gets elected Iraq will not sink back into a dictatorship.

Then, when the country is ready and everyone understands the rules as written by the Iraqis themselves, elections can be held for the actual administration and legislation of Iraq. This is the point at which the world will become interested to see if wannabe dictators rise to power and to see if newly elected leaders set about trying to change the rules. If Iraq decides to make itself an Islamic republic, that is their decision.

Where the US will get its knickers bunched is if Iraq wants from the very beginning to model itself into another 13th century caliphate. The US and UK hope that Iraqi dissident groups living in the west for so many years have absorbed western ideas of governance and will have the ability to influence the new rules enough to form a functioning democracy there.

Arabs have a traditional fondness and aptitude for capitalism and a distrust of socialism so the US is probably banking on not having to do much to steer the economic system under which the country will operate. Nationalizing oil revenues or setting aside a portion for a general fund is probably the extent of socialism the US is hoping for. However, since oil is about the only source of foreign exchange for Iraq, most of the needs of Iraqis will have to be paid for through socialized oil.

If it works well, the rules or constitution will prevent oil revenues from being siphoned away from people's needs and into palaces and a large military. Time will tell.