JURIST - Paper Chase: Executive Order freezes Iraqi assets as part of "financial offensive"

[JURIST] President Bush Thursday issued an Executive Order freezing non-diplomatic Iraqi government assets in the United States:

I, George W. Bush, President of the United States of America, hereby determine that the United States and Iraq are engaged in armed hostilities, that it is in the interest of the United States to confiscate certain property of the Government of Iraq and its agencies, instrumentalities, or controlled entities, and that all right, title, and interest in any property so confiscated should vest in the Department of the Treasury. I intend that such vested property should be used to assist the Iraqi people and to assist in the reconstruction of Iraq, and determine that such use would be in the interest of and for the benefit of the United States.

Review the complete text of the Executive Order Confiscating and Vesting Certain Iraqi Property, now posted on the White House website. Treasury Secretary John Snow issued a simultaneous statement announcing that the Executive Order is the beginning of what he called a "financial offensive" against the regime of Saddam Hussein, and he called upon other nations around the world to "identify and freeze all assets of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi regime, and their agents pursuant to established international obligations."