Let Freedom Reign...My Ass!

Alternet has a piece on the rush to transfer "sovereignty" and even faster depature by L. Paul Bremmer. For those of you, like me, that have wondered what "full sovereignty--with limits" actually means, here's a small sample:

"Before flying off into the sunset, Bremer "issued a raft of edicts revising Iraq's legal code." The new rules -- which will be difficult, if not impossible, to overturn -- will "restrict the power of the interim government, and impose U.S.-crafted rules for the country's democratic transition." Controversially, Bremer empowered an appointed electoral commission to "eliminate political parties or candidates." Another last minute edict gave "U.S. and other Western civilian contractors immunity from Iraqi law while performing their jobs in Iraq" -- a provision that outraged many Iraqis because it "allows foreigners to act with impunity even after the occupation." Bremer also capped the tax rate at 15 percent, amended an industrial-design law to protect microchip designs, and stipulated the use of car horns be permitted in "emergency conditions only.""