IRAQ--'CAPITALIST DREAM'

Brookline, Mass.

Surely other Nation readers were puzzled by some of the assertions in Naomi Klein's November 24 "Lookout" column, on Order 39 of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, which The Economist called "a capitalist dream." Order 39 (www.cpa-iraq.org/regulations) does some of the things Klein and The Economist claim but not others. For example, it permits foreigners to own all or part of an Iraqi company (but not a bank) and to move resources out of Iraq freely. However, Klein also says that under the order "200 Iraqi state companies would be privatized" and that "foreign firms can retain 100 percent ownership of Iraqi banks." The Economist further says, "Income and corporate taxes would be capped at 15%. Tariffs would be slashed to a universal 5% rate." The text of Order 39 does not contain any of these provisions. The bulk of Klein's article was directed at her claim about privatization. Where in Order 39 did she find that "Iraqi state companies would be privatized"?

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