In the Iraqi Interim (www.washingtonpost.com)

LAKHDAR BRAHIMI worked no miracles in the appointment of Iraq's new government. The veteran United Nations envoy had been cast by the Bush administration as a one-man nation-builder who would somehow produce an administration that was broadly representative and capable of taking over sovereignty from the U.S.-led occupation. In the end, hemmed in by hovering U.S. officials and their present and former Iraqi allies, Mr. Brahimi acquiesced to a cabinet led by the same former exiles and Kurdish politicians who populated the discredited Iraqi Governing Council.

Oh! NOW I remember!

Massive bankruptcy after a long period of denial, a renaming more than a restructuring, everyone pays except the crew that caused the problem, and we're supposed to pretend all that is old is now new.

Feh.

Counties cut deal on WorldCom debt

06/02/2004

Associated Press

The collapse of communications giant WorldCom cost Oregon counties hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid property taxes.

WorldCom owed $2.3 million to a dozen counties when it declared bankruptcy two years ago. The counties have since joined forces and negotiated a deal to recover more than 60 percent of the money.

Multnomah County stands to lose the most in the arrangement between MCI WorldCom and the counties. The unpaid tax bill in the county totaled just over $1 million, with recovery of $641,000.

Washington County also takes a substantial hit, collecting $428,000 of the $647,000 owed by WorldCom.

Lane County's share came to just over $134,000, and it looks as if the $82,000 the county collected through the legal agreement will be the last payment.

Lane County Assessor Jim Gangle said the deal was "the best possible result."

WorldCom had contested the tax bills on the basis that its properties had been overvalued, "and given the nature of the telecommunications industry at that time, the company may have had a good argument," Gangle recently wrote in a memorandum to the board of commissioners.

If the board agrees, it could vote this week to close the books on WorldCom's Lane County debt, writing off the remaining $52,000.

Baker, Clackamas, Columbia, Coos, Douglas, Josephine, Linn, Marion, Tillamook and Umatilla counties also participated in the bankruptcy proceeding against WorldCom and received lesser sums.

In June 2002, WorldCom announced it had uncovered nearly $4 billion in hidden expenses — the beginning of a spiral that would become the largest corporate fraud in U.S. history. The fraud is now estimated at $11 billion.

WorldCom filed for bankruptcy July 21, 2002. It emerged from bankruptcy protection in April, changing its name to MCI and with new headquarters in McLean, Va.