The capitalists see it as a good thing, naturally.
Iraq: Baghdad may yet fulfill its potential
By Carola Hoyos
Published: May 26 2009 05:25
After almost 40 years of exile, international oil companies are about to return to Iraq.
For companies such as BP, Shell, Total and ExxonMobil, Iraq represents the biggest opportunity in decades.
Not since the fall of the Soviet Union led to the revival of Russia’s industry and significant discoveries in central Asia, has such a promising oil frontier emerged.
The companies are among those expected to bid next month for oil service contracts. They hope their work in helping revive Iraq’s tired old fields will lead to being allowed to tap its vast undeveloped reserves.
Iraq has reserves of 115bn barrels, but war, sanctions and underinvestment have meant the country is able to produce only about 2.4m barrels a day, a fraction of its potential.
But the fall in oil prices – to about $60 a barrel, from $147 last July – has left a gaping hole in Iraq’s budget. As a result, politicians in Baghdad have finally become serious about writing contracts that oil companies are willing to accept, even without a hydrocarbons law.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Iraqi govt finally tackling corruption
It looks like the Iraqi government is trying hard to clean up its image before the elections. It's a bit late, in my opinion.
Iraq trade minister resigns amid scandal
Published: May 25, 2009 at 3:59 PM
BAGHDAD, May 25 (UPI) -- Iraqi Trade Minister Falah al-Sudany, accused of bribery, has resigned ahead of a scheduled vote of no confidence in parliament, officials said Monday.
Sudany was the first Cabinet minister in the history of the modern Iraqi state, dating back to the 1920s, made to publicly answer corruption charges, McClatchy Newspapers reported.
Sudany was interrogated on national television over a two-day period, struggling to answer a list of bribery allegations brought by the head of parliament's Integrity Committee, who alleged that Sudany and his brothers took a $40 kickback for every ton of rice imported into Iraq, the news service said.
A vote of no-confidence was set for Tuesday.
McClatchy said the Integrity Committee is also preparing to quiz other government agency officials, such as the ministers of electricity and oil.
Iraq trade minister resigns amid scandal
Published: May 25, 2009 at 3:59 PM
BAGHDAD, May 25 (UPI) -- Iraqi Trade Minister Falah al-Sudany, accused of bribery, has resigned ahead of a scheduled vote of no confidence in parliament, officials said Monday.
Sudany was the first Cabinet minister in the history of the modern Iraqi state, dating back to the 1920s, made to publicly answer corruption charges, McClatchy Newspapers reported.
Sudany was interrogated on national television over a two-day period, struggling to answer a list of bribery allegations brought by the head of parliament's Integrity Committee, who alleged that Sudany and his brothers took a $40 kickback for every ton of rice imported into Iraq, the news service said.
A vote of no-confidence was set for Tuesday.
McClatchy said the Integrity Committee is also preparing to quiz other government agency officials, such as the ministers of electricity and oil.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
As the "resistance" continues...
Innocent Iraqis continue to die. Since 2003 I've heard the claim that the "legitimate" resistance does not target innocent civilians. I'm not sure what we're supposed to call people who kill Americans and Iraqi civilians with the same bomb. There are those who don't mind killing Iraqis while they kill US soldiers, or they will try to justify it by insisting that the Iraqis who died will go to heaven. This has happened many times in the last five years, with the attack on July 13, 2005 being perhaps the best example of the apathy some suicide bombers have for Iraqi kids, considering their primary aim is to kill US soldiers.
LAT: "Three American soldiers on foot patrol were among 25 people killed Thursday in Iraq in a fresh upsurge of violence that brought to 60 the number killed in the last 24 hours, the U.S. military and Iraqi police said.
The Americans were killed in the south Baghdad neighborhood of Dora by a roadside bomb that detonated near their patrol, the military said in a statement. According to Iraqi police, five U.S. soldiers also were wounded.
A dozen Iraqis were reported killed in the blast, in a busy shopping street in a once mostly Christian area known as the Assyrian market, police said. Dora is a former Sunni insurgent stronghold that has been largely pacified with the help of the Awakening Councils, comprising Sunnis who joined up with U.S. forces to fight the insurgency.
...Thursday's attacks came a day after a car bomb exploded at a busy market in the Shula district of northwest Baghdad, killing 35 people and shattering a relative lull in the capital over the last three weeks. April saw a spate of high profile bombings that caused hundreds of civilian casualties, but May had so far been quieter."
LAT: "Three American soldiers on foot patrol were among 25 people killed Thursday in Iraq in a fresh upsurge of violence that brought to 60 the number killed in the last 24 hours, the U.S. military and Iraqi police said.
The Americans were killed in the south Baghdad neighborhood of Dora by a roadside bomb that detonated near their patrol, the military said in a statement. According to Iraqi police, five U.S. soldiers also were wounded.
A dozen Iraqis were reported killed in the blast, in a busy shopping street in a once mostly Christian area known as the Assyrian market, police said. Dora is a former Sunni insurgent stronghold that has been largely pacified with the help of the Awakening Councils, comprising Sunnis who joined up with U.S. forces to fight the insurgency.
...Thursday's attacks came a day after a car bomb exploded at a busy market in the Shula district of northwest Baghdad, killing 35 people and shattering a relative lull in the capital over the last three weeks. April saw a spate of high profile bombings that caused hundreds of civilian casualties, but May had so far been quieter."
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Pics of abuse at Abu Ghraib were AQ recruitment tool
"Pictures from Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib have been among al Qaeda's most widely used and most potent recruitment tools in the post-9/11 era. Since early 2002, not a day has passed without Guantánamo being mentioned somewhere on the jihadi Internet. Outrage over Abu Ghraib was the single most important motivation for foreign jihadists going to Iraq in 2004 and 2005."
It's too bad our Arab brothers did not see the pictures of Iraqis tortured at Abu Ghraib before 2003.
PS: One of Saddam's Mukhabarat was waterboarded: 'The man was Muhammed Khudayr al-Dulaymi, head of the M-14 section of Mukhabarat, one of Saddam’s secret police organizations, Windrem reports. “His responsibilities included chemical weapons and contacts with terrorist groups.” Duelfer, “the man in charge of interrogations of Iraqi officials,” is quoted as saying: “To those who wanted or suspected a relationship, he would have been a guy who would know, so [White House officials] had particular interest.” Duelfer doesn’t cite Cheney’s office, but Windrem writes that “two senior U.S. intelligence officials at the time tell The Daily Beast that the suggestion to waterboard came from the Office of Vice President Cheney.”
PPS: I don't think anybody should feel too bad about waterboarding this scum bag.
It's too bad our Arab brothers did not see the pictures of Iraqis tortured at Abu Ghraib before 2003.
PS: One of Saddam's Mukhabarat was waterboarded: 'The man was Muhammed Khudayr al-Dulaymi, head of the M-14 section of Mukhabarat, one of Saddam’s secret police organizations, Windrem reports. “His responsibilities included chemical weapons and contacts with terrorist groups.” Duelfer, “the man in charge of interrogations of Iraqi officials,” is quoted as saying: “To those who wanted or suspected a relationship, he would have been a guy who would know, so [White House officials] had particular interest.” Duelfer doesn’t cite Cheney’s office, but Windrem writes that “two senior U.S. intelligence officials at the time tell The Daily Beast that the suggestion to waterboard came from the Office of Vice President Cheney.”
PPS: I don't think anybody should feel too bad about waterboarding this scum bag.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Saddam's Killing Fields
I'm reposting this documentary because the YouTube clips I linked to in this post have been removed.
PS: I'm glad I found this video, the entire documentary, which was made in 1993. If you want to understand how the Iraqi Kurds and Shia felt about Saddam's regime before 2003, this is a must see documentary. Even Sunni Arabs might be enraged, as they should be, because many Iraqi Sunni Arabs were murdered by Saddam's regime.
A few parts are untranslated, like the interviews with Iraqi Shia who fled to Kurdistan. At 14 minutes into the video, survivors of the 1991 massacre in the south tell of relatives who were tortured and then killed in front of them. At 25 minutes there is incredible footage of the southern marshes that was taken in the 70s, and then footage of how it looked in the 90s, after Saddam's regime drained them.
Ahmed Chalabi has his faults, but he is undoubtedly brilliant.
"In 2006, Wood [the historian who made this documentary] joined the British School of Archaeology in Iraq campaign, aiming to train and encourage new Iraqi archaeologists, and has lectured on the subject."
PS: I'm glad I found this video, the entire documentary, which was made in 1993. If you want to understand how the Iraqi Kurds and Shia felt about Saddam's regime before 2003, this is a must see documentary. Even Sunni Arabs might be enraged, as they should be, because many Iraqi Sunni Arabs were murdered by Saddam's regime.
A few parts are untranslated, like the interviews with Iraqi Shia who fled to Kurdistan. At 14 minutes into the video, survivors of the 1991 massacre in the south tell of relatives who were tortured and then killed in front of them. At 25 minutes there is incredible footage of the southern marshes that was taken in the 70s, and then footage of how it looked in the 90s, after Saddam's regime drained them.
Ahmed Chalabi has his faults, but he is undoubtedly brilliant.
"In 2006, Wood [the historian who made this documentary] joined the British School of Archaeology in Iraq campaign, aiming to train and encourage new Iraqi archaeologists, and has lectured on the subject."
Monday, May 11, 2009
Criminal Jarab entering Iraq via Syria again
Criminal jarab, like this guy.
US Urges Syria to Cut Flow of Foreign Fighters to Iraq
By David Gollust
Washington
11 May 2009
The United States Monday publicly called on Syria to do more to curb the traffic of foreign fighters to Iraq through Syrian territory. The transit to Iraq of foreign extremists, which had been reduced to a trickle in recent months, is reportedly increasing again.
The Obama administration has confirmed that senior U.S. envoys in Damascus last week made a direct appeal to Syrian authorities to again crack down on cross-border traffic of Arab militants, some of whom have apparently been involved in recent suicide bombings in Iraq.
The flow of foreign fighters through Syria to Iraq, which reportedly peaked at several dozen crossings a month in the middle of 2007, had been a major irritant in U.S.-Syrian relations.
continued
and
'Obama last week renewed a set of sanctions against Syria that had been due to expire. In a note to Congress, he cited Syria’s support of terrorism, pursuit of nuclear weapons and missiles, as well as its actions undermining “U.S. and international efforts with respect to the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq.” '
US Urges Syria to Cut Flow of Foreign Fighters to Iraq
By David Gollust
Washington
11 May 2009
The United States Monday publicly called on Syria to do more to curb the traffic of foreign fighters to Iraq through Syrian territory. The transit to Iraq of foreign extremists, which had been reduced to a trickle in recent months, is reportedly increasing again.
The Obama administration has confirmed that senior U.S. envoys in Damascus last week made a direct appeal to Syrian authorities to again crack down on cross-border traffic of Arab militants, some of whom have apparently been involved in recent suicide bombings in Iraq.
The flow of foreign fighters through Syria to Iraq, which reportedly peaked at several dozen crossings a month in the middle of 2007, had been a major irritant in U.S.-Syrian relations.
continued
and
'Obama last week renewed a set of sanctions against Syria that had been due to expire. In a note to Congress, he cited Syria’s support of terrorism, pursuit of nuclear weapons and missiles, as well as its actions undermining “U.S. and international efforts with respect to the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq.” '
Friday, May 08, 2009
Corruption plagues Iraqi govt
Corruption seen at root of Iraq's lack of services
Thu May 7, 2009 11:10am EDT
BAGHDAD, May 7 (Reuters) - Widespread corruption is at the root of Iraq's persistent, destabilising lack of basic services, Deputy Prime Minister Rafie al-Esawi said on Thursday. "The biggest challenge is not just the budget, which we were obliged to cut because of the drop in oil income, so that's beyond our control, but also corruption," he said.
Speaking at a conference on services in Iraqi provinces, Esawi cited a host of reasons for the lack of proper water, electricity and other basic services across the country.
Another major problem, he said, is continued violence, even though the bloodshed unleashed by the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 has fallen from its peaks in 2006-2007.
As violence fades, Iraqis focus more and more on problems plaguing daily life, such as intermittent electricity, a lack of clean drinking water and an outdated and overwhelmed sewage system.
continued
Thu May 7, 2009 11:10am EDT
BAGHDAD, May 7 (Reuters) - Widespread corruption is at the root of Iraq's persistent, destabilising lack of basic services, Deputy Prime Minister Rafie al-Esawi said on Thursday. "The biggest challenge is not just the budget, which we were obliged to cut because of the drop in oil income, so that's beyond our control, but also corruption," he said.
Speaking at a conference on services in Iraqi provinces, Esawi cited a host of reasons for the lack of proper water, electricity and other basic services across the country.
Another major problem, he said, is continued violence, even though the bloodshed unleashed by the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 has fallen from its peaks in 2006-2007.
As violence fades, Iraqis focus more and more on problems plaguing daily life, such as intermittent electricity, a lack of clean drinking water and an outdated and overwhelmed sewage system.
continued
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