Why is war-torn Iraq giving $190,000 to Toys R Us?

[Toshi]

now how is this just? :think:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1328664,00.html

Since Saddam was toppled in April, Iraq has paid out $1.8bn in reparations to the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), the Geneva-based quasi tribunal that assesses claims and disburses awards. Of those payments, $37m have gone to Britain and $32.8m have gone to the United States. That's right: in the past 18 months, Iraq's occupiers have collected $69.8m in reparation payments from the desperate people they have been occupying. But it gets worse: the vast majority of those payments, 78%, have gone to multinational corporations, according to statistics on the UNCC website.

[MikeD]

Holy crap. I really don't know what to say!

[ioscope]

Corporate America Is My Hero

I :heart: CORPORATIONS

[Changleen]

Is this one of those '747,234 Iraqi Children could have been kept in ritalin for a year' things? Double edged humour aside:

Halliburton ($18m), Bechtel ($7m), Mobil ($2.3m), Shell ($1.6m), Nestlé ($2.6m), Pepsi ($3.8m), Philip Morris ($1.3m), Sheraton ($11m), Kentucky Fried Chicken ($321,000) and Toys R Us ($189,449). In the vast majority of cases, these corporations did not claim that Saddam's forces damaged their property in Kuwait - only that they "lost profits" or, in the case of American Express, experienced a "decline in business" because of the invasion and occupation of Kuwait. One of the biggest winners has been Texaco, which was awarded $505m in 1999. That is FUBAR. Can I claim against Iraq for lost earnings as well? I think I spent quite a lot of time watching the invasion on TV, which I could have spent in pursuit of the almightly $$$.

What a bunch of ****. I will try quite hard not to patronise those organisations.

[nicklin]

Is this one of those '747,234 Iraqi Children could have been kept in ritalin for a year' things? Double edged humour aside:

That is FUBAR. Can I claim against Iraq for lost earnings as well? I think I spent quite a lot of time watching the invasion on TV, which I could have spent in pursuit of the almightly $$$.

What a bunch of ****. I will try quite hard not to patronise those organisations.


You know, changleen, this may sound absurd, but i agree with you on this one.

I havent eaten in a KFC for quite a while now ever since i heard of what their chickens look like now a days.

SO now I support local producers as much as possible.

Good call on that one

Nick

[Skookum]

i pledge allegiance to Pepsi and Kentucky Fried Chicken where it's served. And to Halliburton for whom keeps Mobil pumping. One Shell station serving Nestle Crunch Bars, with a room at Sheraton and a Marlboro for all. Amen.

[DRB]

Isn't this fund run by the UN? Aren't we supposed to follow the UN's lead?

[fluff]

I havent eaten in a KFC for quite a while now ever since i heard of what their chickens look like now a days.

If that's the eye-less, beakless, featherless story it's BS. But there are many other sound reasons for boycotting KFC.

As for the main topic of this thread, if it is true that companies are getting compensated for 'loss of profits' it is indefensible.

[Silver]

Speaking of KFC, my wife and I are having an argument. They keep advertising this thing called a game pack, I think it's 6 pieces of chicken, a dozen wings, and a 64oz soda.

I think it's meant for one person, but I can't verify that? Anyone else seen the ads?

[valve bouncer]

and a 64oz soda.

?
Isn't that like a bucket of Coke? I went on base with Partsbara in Germany and we went to Taco Bell (that stuff is pure evil) and I got one of those buckets. I was seriously impressed, that is one big f*cker of a Coke. :thumb:

[nicklin]

Isn't that like a bucket of Coke? I went on base with Partsbara in Germany and we went to Taco Bell (that stuff is pure evil) and I got one of those buckets. I was seriously impressed, that is one big f*cker of a Coke. :thumb:


Then you ain't seen nothing, boy!!! You're all a bunch of pansies

i love my 128 oz tub-o-soda from Cheveron station near my aunt's house in Dallas. Now that's a thirst cruncher!!!!!! :drool:

[Changleen]

Isn't that like a bucket of Coke? I went on base with Partsbara in Germany and we went to Taco Bell (that stuff is pure evil) and I got one of those buckets. I was seriously impressed, that is one big f*cker of a Coke. :thumb:When I worked in AZ, there was a few poeple who would drink 2 of those (Diet Coke) EVERY day. :drool:

[LordOpie]

i love my 128 oz tub-o-soda from Cheveron station near my aunt's house in Dallas. Now that's a thirst cruncher!!!!!! :drool:
this cat drank one of those...


http://home.pacbell.net/a23l1/cat.jpg

[valve bouncer]

Then you ain't seen nothing, boy!!! You're all a bunch of pansies

i love my 128 oz tub-o-soda from Cheveron station near my aunt's house in Dallas. Now that's a thirst cruncher!!!!!! :drool:
Bloody hell, what's the dispenser, a fire hose?

[ALEXIS_DH]

haha, funny thing happened to me.

i went to a burguer king the next week i moved out of the US. and i asked for the largest sized cup of coke. when i drove to the pickup window, i got a tiny 10oz cup!!!!!!!!!!!! the medium was like 6oz, and the little (for kids i wonder) was basically a lab crucible.

and it was a $1.59 cup of coke!!!!!!
maaaaan, i missed the mountain dew buckets from 7eleven that no cupholder can handle.....

i guess its because the franchise makes them buy the US coke rather than buying the locally make cocacola.

[Silver]

It's merely a matter of time before a medium coke comes in a keg.

[Skookum]

It's merely a matter of time before a medium coke comes in a keg.
Nah we'll have Camelback's full of syrup hooked up intravenously way before that.

[valve bouncer]

i guess its because the franchise makes them buy the US coke rather than buying the locally make cocacola.
that's too bad, I was kinda hoping that Coke in peru might still be made the "old fashioned" way using local products so to speak.

[Toshi]

Isn't this fund run by the UN? Aren't we supposed to follow the UN's lead?
this is a UN fund, yes, but the issue isn't so clear:

Away from media scrutiny, this has been going on for years. Of course there are many legitimate claims for losses that have come before the UNCC: payments have gone to Kuwaitis who have lost loved ones, limbs, and property to Saddam's forces. But much larger awards have gone to corporations: of the total amount the UNCC has awarded in Gulf war reparations, $21.5bn has gone to the oil industry alone. Jean-Claude Aimé, the UN diplomat who headed the UNCC until December 2000, publicly questioned the practice. "This is the first time as far as I know that the UN is engaged in retrieving lost corporate assets and profits," he told the Wall Street Journal in 1997, and then mused: "I often wonder at the correctness of that."

[ALEXIS_DH]

that's too bad, I was kinda hoping that Coke in peru might still be made the "old fashioned" way using local products so to speak.


hahaha, that would be cool

but actually coke leaves are legal here. its like an ethnical thing, since the ancient peruvians have been chewing coke for more than a thousand years (dammit cokeheads).

so you can buy coke-tea-bags in any supermarket, and there are legal coke leaves farms for this.
its good :thumb: like a very strong coffee in terms of the effect is has on the drinker.

that crap is ultra regulated, though i guess you can buy your own coke leaves, buy some keresone, a few other cathalists, and voila! homegrown coke!!! :thumb: , lol, though its very hard to get those other "catalists".....

[DRB]

this is a UN fund, yes, but the issue isn't so clear:

Jean-Claude Aimé, the UN diplomat who headed the UNCC until December 2000, publicly questioned the practice. "This is the first time as far as I know that the UN is engaged in retrieving lost corporate assets and profits," he told the Wall Street Journal in 1997, and then mused: "I often wonder at the correctness of that."

So, everyone on this board seems to be wondering at the correctness of that. Why isn't the UN doing anything about it? Again the UN was supposed to be acting in the best interests of the Iraqi people but this seems far from their best interests.

[Toshi]

So, everyone on this board seems to be wondering at the correctness of that. Why isn't the UN doing anything about it? Again the UN was supposed to be acting in the best interests of the Iraqi people but this seems far from their best interests.
isn't this line of reasoning analogous to blaming gun makers for firearms deaths? i think the blame lies on the corporations for exploiting the system with their sleazy claims of lost profits

[BurlyShirley]

isn't this line of reasoning analogous to blaming gun makers for firearms deaths? i think the blame lies on the corporations for exploiting the system with their sleazy claims of lost profits
Im no expert (although I did stay at a holiday in express last night) but it seems to me that anytime you're offering free money, people are going to want it. Corporations or not. The blame doesnt lie solely on them IMO.

[ALEXIS_DH]

Im no expert (although I did stay at a holiday in express last night) but it seems to me that anytime you're offering free money, people are going to want it. Corporations or not. The blame doesnt lie solely on them IMO.


and to add another degree up to this reasoning. is it out of question to wonder if such "events" which will obviously end up in "free money" givaways are not pushed nor lobbyed for by those who will benefit from it in the first placeÇÇÇ

specially when there are very suspicious links between those who decide the luck of such events and those who will benefit from the money giveawaysÇÇ

[BurlyShirley]

and to add another degree up to this reasoning. is it out of question to wonder if such "events" which will obviously end up in "free money" givaways are not pushed nor lobbyed for by those who will benefit from it in the first placeÇÇÇ
Well, if it could be proven that the reparations would only cover the losses and not turn any profit then hell, I dunno what would be the point...BUT, how would you go about proving that anyway?

And what are those little symbols at the end of your post?

[DRB]

isn't this line of reasoning analogous to blaming gun makers for firearms deaths? i think the blame lies on the corporations for exploiting the system with their sleazy claims of lost profits

I'm sorry is the UN fund incapable of saying no? I missed that part of the article. The rest of the UN seems perfectly capable of it so what's up these folks. The UN was responsible for those funds and how they are distributed not the corporations.

And its not even close to your analogy. We aren't discussing what the corporations are using the money they are getting from the fund nor are we blaming the UN if the corporations use the money to create beakless, boneless, featherless chickens.....

[fluff]

Who runs the UN these days anyhow?

[fluff]

corporations use the money to create beakless, boneless, featherless chickens.....

As much as I hate to be pedantic (my fingers are crossed), surely they would no longer be chickens?

[BurlyShirley]

Who runs the UN these days anyhow?
France

[ALEXIS_DH]

Well, if it could be proven that the reparations would only cover the losses and not turn any profit then hell, I dunno what would be the point...BUT, how would you go about proving that anyway?

And what are those little symbols at the end of your post?



the profits in those reparations are the same as in "non-profit organizations". that just means no profits are to be made by those who ask for them, like the US gvmt, but it doesnt matter that those companies who make them will not make a profit. of course they will, and big profits have to made if you account the risk.

who pays for thisÇÇ
there are 2 chances. you may argue the US, but actually, IMO the bill will be added up to Iraqs external debt, so in way, the oil of the next 200 generations of Iraquis is mortaged already.
2nd, the US, with US taxpayers bucks pays. so that means, all americans are being ripped off, socializing costs, for the sake of a few who will make lots of money.

my keyboard is messed up and instead of the question mark, i get the french ÇÇÇÇÇÇ

[DRB]

As much as I hate to be pedantic (my fingers are crossed), surely they would no longer be chickens?

Maybe not but they would taste like chicken.

Reminds me of the joke,
What do you call a dog with no legs?

Nothing, he won't come anyway.