Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Jim Baker Keeps Doing His Thing...
First, his law firm was defending Saudi Arabia against the families of 9-11 victims alleging Saudi involvement in the attacks.
Now, he's got his hand in the honeypot as he tries to get several nations to forgive Iraq's debts.
A noble cause, to be sure, but as with most seemingly noble deeds undertaken by the Bush administration, something fishy is going on:
President Bush's special envoy, James Baker, who has been trying to persuade the world to forgive Iraq's crushing debts, is simultaneously working for a commercial concern that is trying to recover money from Iraq, according to confidential documents.
Mr Baker's Carlyle Group is in a consortium secretly proposing to try to collect $27bn (£15bn) on behalf of Kuwait, one of Iraq's biggest creditors, by using high-level political influence. It claims Mr Baker will not benefit personally, but the consortium could make millions in fees, retainers and commission as a result.
Other countries, including Britain, have been urged by Mr Baker to relieve the new Iraq regime of its $200bn debt burden. Iraq owes Britain approximately $1bn.
One international lawyer described the consortium's scheme as "influence peddling of the crassest kind".
There's more to take in here...
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