mark thomas.

IRAQI economy; DEBT cancellation; PUBLIC finance; HUSSEIN, Saddam, 1937-2006; MILITARY occupation; DEBT service; DEBT relief; DEBTOR & creditor; INTERNATIONAL finance; INTERNATIONAL trade; PETROLEUM industry; UNITED Nations; INTERNATIONAL business enterprises; STIGLITZ, Joseph E., 1943-; MARKETS; MILITARY spending; GOVERNMENT ownership; PRIVATIZATION; DEBT

Comments on the controversy surrounding whether Iraq's debt should be cancelled. Size of the debt; How it was amassed; Abuses by dictator Saddam Hussein; Iraq's military spending; Effects of the oil-for-food programme on Iraq's debt; Concept of "odious debt", coined by Joseph Stiglitz; Position of the United Nations; Trade in Iraq's debt on international markets; Speculation that cancellation of the debt would lead to the privatisation of Iraq's assets.