U.S. appointed Iraqi administrator Paul Bremer says:

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia should give up their reparation claims for Iraq’s 1990 invasion and the subsequent Persian Gulf War because those two wealthy countries have 10 times the amount of money that Iraq does, the American administrator for Iraq said Friday.

According to the article western countries have suspended Iraqi debt payments for 18 months to help the country get back on its feet - but that’s not the same as giving up those debts completely is it? This call is not going to earn the U.S. any points in the Middle East and may well do considerable harm to the friendship it enjoys with Kuwait that allowed the attack on Iraq to go as well as they did.

The possibility of the U.S. being able to bring any significant pressure to bear to force the issue seems limited….. should we now be looking for an announcement from the hand picked Iraqi Governing Council that these debts will not be paid? ‘, ‘Cost is a huge and controversial issue at this point in time. The international community that refused to back the U.S.-led war are maintaining their stance of not sending troops or significant financial aid and both the American Congress and the people it represents are asking so pretty tough questions of the Bush administration over the $87 billion it has asked for.

Already 10,000 more American National Guard troops are being called up for duty in Iraq and another 5,000 have been put on alert, and the U.S. has that it:

…won’t pay for Iraq’s long-term reconstruction [and that oil revenue from Iraq] should be put towards the cost of rebuilding the country instead of international debt payments or Gulf War reparations

A move that will do nothing to build any bridges between itself and the countries it has already alienated.