ODIOUS DEBTS
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James Joyner | Friday, October 17, 2003 |
Apropos my comments on Iraq’s debt, and specifically whether it couldn’t be repudiated simply on the basis that the tyranny that incurred them was out of power, I’ve apparently raised some eyebrows. While my PhD is in international relations, I’m by no means an expert in international law.
A bit of research reminds me that there is a longstanding doctrine called odious debt that may be applicable.
The short answer would seem to be that some of the debt is still enforceable against the successor government: that spent for their own good. So, if Saddam borrowed money to, say, build an electric generating plant for the good of the citizenry, the new regime would be responsible. If he spent it on palaces for himself, they likely wouldn’t.
Update (1529): Some folks at WSJ beat me to this one by a few months.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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None who did business with Saddam did so with clean-hands. Money owed on these debts bought death and subjugation for the Iraqi people and that nation's neighbors. Many of these transactions were made in spite of international law and UN agreements banning such trade. I say the Iraqi people should not owe Saddam's bloodmoney and any who extended that butcher credit deserve to lose.
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