One of the Forgotten Reasons We Went to Iraq

[Scriptor Ignotus]

...was to test out conservative policies so they could be adopted here in America. Witness this relic from another era -- 2003.

http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed111003c.cfm

If a Flat Tax is Good for Iraq, How About America?
by Daniel J. Mitchell, Ph.D.
November 10, 2003 | Send to a Friend


Few Americans would want to trade places with the people of Iraq. But come tax time next April, they may begin to wonder who’s better off.

That’s because the Iraqis soon will enjoy something we don’t -- a simple and fair tax system. Beginning in January, all Iraqis will pay a “flat tax” of 15 percent. President Bush’s administrator in Baghdad, L. Paul Bremer, recently approved this pro-growth tax system, which replaces Saddam Hussein’s soak-the-rich system that had tax rates as high as 45 percent.

An Iraqi flat tax is good news for the United States on several counts. Perhaps most importantly, it will advance our national security interests by boosting the Iraqi economy. A prosperous and growing Iraq will be less susceptible to radical politics -- and less fertile territory for terrorist groups seeking new recruits. And the sooner Iraq is stable and free, the sooner our troops can come home.

/snip

Educate U.S. politicians. If American officials recognize that a flat tax is good for Iraq, this raises an obvious question: Why isn’t it also good for the United States? One of the indirect benefits of the Iraqi flat tax is that it will create another case study showing the benefits of a fair, simple, pro-growth tax system. Not that politicians should need more evidence: Hong Kong’s flat tax, after all, is a long-time success story, and the flat taxes in Russia, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia are helping their economies grow as well.

[TwilightGardener]

1. Yep--Shock Doctrine. Time to experiment with people who have no choice!

[gratuitous]

2. In the words of Dr. Phil

How's that whole Iraq thing workin' out for ya, Daniel J. Mitchell, Ph.D?

[Kitty Herder]

3. Yep, the flat tax saved Iraq.

:sarcasm:

[tech3149]

4. It's all working out very well for them

The only reason I'd trade places with someone from Iraq is out of guilt and shame.

[Kat45]

5. A link to a Heritage Foundation article??!!

:scared:

[cynatnite]

6. So by that logic...

If Canada's health care system is good enough for them....

[Scriptor Ignotus]

7. eh, these guys refuse to believe Canada's

health care system is good enough. No amount of evidence will prove them wrong.

But great point nonetheless.

[Wizard777]

8. Another forgotten reason from Plan B.

Saddam was using torture. We had to put a stop to that....... Because that's our job!