Truck and Barter

Comments

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Kevin Brancato wrote:

Testing...

-- March 6, 2007 8:57 AM ∞

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Rob N. wrote:

All:

Glad to see the new pad.

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 6, 2007 9:05 AM ∞

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Rob N. wrote:

All:

Iraq to investigate joint raid on suspected torture centre
By Steve Negus

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06 March 2007 (Financial Times)
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The Iraq government's decision to investigate a raid by Iraqi and coalition forces has raised fresh questions over who has charge of the country's security forces.

In a statement late on Sunday, the government said Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, had ordered the inquiry into a raid on a police intelligence headquarters in the southern port city of Basra. The statement vowed to punish "those who carried out this illegal and irresponsible act".

British military sources had announced on Sunday that Iraqi troops backed by multinational forces had stormed the offices of the National Iraqi Intelligence Agency, where they found 30 detainees who showed signs of torture and abuse.

Major David Gell, the British military spokesman, said the raid had been led by an Iraqi special operations force "with the multinational forces very much in support". He said it had targeted individuals suspected of kidnap, torture, and murder but did not specify the nationality of the multinational forces, although the British make up a large majority of the troops in the region.

The UK military has been involved for more than a year in an attempt to weed out corrupt officers from the Basra security forces, parts of which are reportedly loyal to one of the city's half-dozen feuding Shia Islamist political factions.

In December, British forces raided police station of the city's major crimes unit, which it suspected of involvement with death squads.

The operations in Basra fit into a larger campaign against Shia militias, many of which have supporters in the security forces.

Iraqi special forces have been instrumental in this campaign, participating in a number of raids against militia targets in Baghdad.

Mr Maliki has denounced several of these raids, claiming he had not been consulted in advance. However, such disavowals have become less frequent in recent months as Washington has begun to put more pressure on him not to offer the militias political cover.

Supporters of Shia radical groups targeted by the special forces refer to them as the "Dirty Forces" and officials in the Baghdad district of Sadr City have asked that they be excluded from the neighbourhood.

Most Iraqi security units still technically answer to a US or British chain of command, although an increasing number have been passed to the control of Mr Maliki's government. Iraqi government statements frequently conflict with US or British statements on the extent to which Mr Maliki's government is aware of its own troops' activities.

Iraqi civilians who have encountered the special forces at checkpoints and elsewhere in Baghdad say that even relatively small units will answer directly to a US commander. US and British commanders say they consult the Iraqis before any significant operations, but the government often claims to be ignorant of politically sensitive raids.

Britain has 7,100 troops in Iraq, mostly based around Basra. Tony Blair said last month he would withdraw about 1,600 troops from Iraq over the coming months, and bring the number of troops to below 5,000 by late summer - if Iraqi forces secure the southern region.

Violence continued in Baghdad yesterday when a car bomb detonated in a book market killed at least 26 people.
(www.iraqupdates.com)

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 6, 2007 9:09 AM ∞

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Rob N. wrote:

All:

Controlling investment in Iraq

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06 March 2007 (Gulf News)
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With considerable fanfare, Iraq's Cabinet last week announced approval of a draft law that would permit foreign investment in the nation's oil industry and provide for distribution of oil revenues among the regions and thus the country's main sectarian blocs. Details of the draft are tricky. Revenues from current oil fields are to be shared according to population. Yet no recent census has been taken. The Kurdish region in the north and the provinces can sign new oil contracts, but these must be reviewed by an independent federal committee, not yet appointed. There is concern that foreign oil companies might try to get better terms by playing the provinces against one another. But some oil experts are sceptical of the significance of the measure. "It will not mean anything on the ground," says A.F. Al Hajji, an oil economist at Ohio Northern University in Ada.

As long as Iraq suffers from political instability, major oil companies will shy away. "The situation is so bad no one in his right mind wants to go there to be attacked or nationalised a second time." Fearing the consequences, "The oil companies never supported the invasion," Dr Al Hajji adds. Iraq's oil remains important to a world highly reliant on petroleum and its byproducts. Iraq has proven reserves of 115 billion barrels and, according to Iraqi oil economist Mohammad Ali Zainy, another 215 billion to 240 billion barrels not yet proven. Some of that new oil may cost as little as $1 a barrel to extract. By comparison, Saudi Arabia has 264 billion barrels of proven reserves.

Rush to approve

Because of sabotage by insurgents, Iraqi oil production has been running at less than 2 million barrels per day, down from 2.8 million barrels before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, says Zainy, now with the Global Centre for Energy Studies in London.

To Al Hajji, the "rush" to approve the draft law reflects the need of the Iraqi government and the Bush administration to show some success‚ "even if it is as cosmetic as the new oil law." Zalmay Khalilzad, US ambassador in Iraq, stated the draft was the "first time since 2003 that all major Iraqi communities have come together on a defining piece of legislation."

Iraq's government hopes the nation's 275-member parliament will approve the draft before the end of May. The legislation will be extremely controversial. Opposition is expected from the powerful Oil Workers Union of Basra.

It staged strikes in 2005 objecting to America's plan to privatise Iraq's oil industry. A reviving Communist Party will oppose it.

Much of the Iraqi press also objects to aspects of the law. One sensitive provision allows "production sharing agreements" (PSAs) with foreign oil firms. In theory, Iraq would retain ownership and ultimate control of the oil in such a deal.

A PSA would merely grant the firm or consortium the right to explore, develop, and sell the oil, while getting a share of the oil extracted. History, however, is full of "unequal" PSAs highly favourable to oil companies and less favourable to oil nations. Zainy says that details of an oil contract are more important than whether it is called a PSA, a "production and development contract," or a service contract.

He fears "corruption, presently rampant in Iraq" could affect contracts, wasting much of the nation's main resource. During the 20th century, oil became the fulcrum of politics in the Middle East, with countries nationalise ing their oil resources and winning better oil deals.

American influence

The draft law "reverses everything that has happened in the Middle East since 1901," charges Rashid Khalidi, director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia University in New York.

Implying that American occupiers have had much influence on the measure, Khalidi asks: "Does [Vice-President] Cheney think he can stand against history?" Khalidi's latest book, "Resurrecting Empire," spells out the history of foreign exploitation of Iraqi oil, noting that resentment over "insufficient benefits" to Iraqis led to the popularity of the Baath government and nationalisation of the oil industry in 1975.

Khalidi doubts the draft law will pass parliament. "It is so manifestly against the interests of Iraq," he says. If it does, though, he doesn't expect the law to last. Presumably, an Iraq no longer occupied would seek better terms for any deal reached under the proposed law.

Al Hajji notes that contracts signed "under duress" are not legally binding. After Iran nationalised its oil industry in the 1950s, British lawyers for the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (now British Petroleum) contested the action in the International Court in the Hague and lost, despite Britain's superpower status then. In the future, Iraqi lawyers could similarly argue that any oil deal signed while Iraq was occupied was done under duress and thus was invalid.

After reading the draft law in Arabic last week, Al Hajji says, "It is so broad and loose, it has no significance."

Often, he says, nationalism in oil-rich nations rises during and after occupation by foreigners. That "will cause problems."
(www.iraqupdates.com)

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 6, 2007 9:17 AM ∞

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Rob N. wrote:

All:

Turkey to invest in Iraqi oil sector

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06 March 2007 (MENAFN)
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The Turkish Energy Minister announced that the Turkish government will host discussions with US and Iraqi officials over Iraq's oil development program, Iraq Directory reported.

The objective of the meetings is to welcome Turkey to invest in the Iraqi oil sector and contribute to the development of the oil in the northern region of Iraq on the basis of the new Iraqi oil law, which the government drafted last month.

The discussions will highlight the necessity of international contribution to the reconstruction of Iraq to achieve stability in all Iraq's regions.
(www.iraqupdates.com)

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 6, 2007 9:19 AM ∞

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Rob N. wrote:

All:

Trowers & Hamlins advises on USD3.8 billion purchase of a controlling stake in 'Wataniya' - Kuwait's second mobile telecoms operator

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06 March 2007 (AME Info FZ LLC)
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Trowers & Hamlins the international law firm is advising Qtel, Qatar's leading telecoms provider, on its USD3.8 billion acquisition of a 51 per cent stake in Kuwait's second mobile telecoms operator Wataniya (also known as the National Mobile Telecommunications Company of Kuwait) in addition to two non-Wataniya-owned stakes in Iraqi and Algerian operators forming part of the Watanaiya Group.

Wataniya has over 10 million subscribers and owns mobile telecoms assets in Algeria, Iraq, the Maldives, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia as well as Kuwait.

The controlling interest in Wataniya is being purchased from a consortium of shareholders led by Kuwait Projects Company (KIPCO) advised by Morgan Stanley. The financial adviser to the Qtel team was ABN AMRO.

The acquisition is the largest ever transaction of shares in a KSE listed company and is the second record breaking telecoms deal that Trowers & Hamlins' has scooped this year. Both deals were led by partner Abdullah Mutawi who is the head of the firm's new International Telecoms Team.

In January Trowers & Hamlins advised Cable & Wireless on the US $506m sale of their stake in Batelco the Bahraini telecoms company. The Batelco deal was also the largest ever transaction of shares in a Bahraini listed company and the country's largest ever telecommunications transaction.

Qtel currently operates or has key strategic mobile investments in Qatar, Oman, Singapore and Indonesia and is one of Qtar's largest publicly listed companies.

Comments Abdullah Mutawi: 'We are very proud to be involved in such a significant deal for Qtel and one which has significantly added to Qtel's rapidly expanding international footprint.'

"This deal underscores the huge appeal of emerging markets for telecoms M&A activity where massive growth potential and attractive synergies are proving to be a magnet for operators seeking to propel themselves onto the global stage. The proportion of these deals led by Middle Eastern telecoms operators is quite remarkable." Abdullah Mutawi, described the negotiations for Wataniya as 'marathon' but says that he found it incredibly satisfying to be leading the team advising on an M&A deal of this magnitude.

Adds Abdullah Mutawi: 'Working with Qtel on a number of their important projects over the past year has been an enormous pleasure. What makes this deal especially satisfying is that it really puts our International Telecoms practice on the map. I think Qtel's decision to instruct us vindicates our commitment to invest in bringing together a formidable team of specialist telecoms lawyers with both regional and international experience.'

Abdullah Mutawi was assisted by senior corporate finance associate Patrice Michaud, also based in the firm's Bahrain office.
(www.iraqupdates.com)

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 6, 2007 9:23 AM ∞

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Rob N. wrote:

All:

Dollar Demand Drops Sharply in Iraq Exchange
Monday Auction Barely Reaches Half of Sunday's $68 Million
Posted 19 hr. 12 min. ago
Baghdad, March 5, (VOI) – Demand for the dollar sharply declined in the Iraqi Central Bank’s daily auction on Monday, only reaching $35.555 million compared with $67.810 million on Sunday.

In its daily statement, the bank said it had covered all bids, which included $11.040 million in cash and $24.515 million in foreign transfers, at an exchange rate of 1,279 dinars per dollar, one tick lower than yesterday.

Thirteen banks participated in Monday's auction and offered to sell 4 million dollars, which the Central Bank bought at 1,277 dinars per dollar.

Abdul-Razzaq al-Abaiyji, an economist, told VOI that the bids and offers made by the banks at the Central Bank's daily auction are governed by, amongst other things, the principle of supply and demand, adding that "a tick lower in the exchange rate could not have considerably affected demand for the dollar, as it sharply dropped in today's session."
(www.iraqslogger.com)

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 6, 2007 9:31 AM ∞

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Rob N. wrote:

All:

The 877 daily currency auction was held in the Central Bank of Iraq day Tuesday 2007/ 3/ 6 so the results were as follows :

Details Notes
Number of banks 15 -----
Auction price selling dinar / US $ 1279 -----
Auction price buying dinar / US $ ----- -----
Amount sold at auction price (US $) 105.320.000 -----
Amount purchased at Auction price (US $) -----
Total offers for buying (US $) 105.320.000 -----
Total offers for selling (US $)
(www.cbiraq.org)

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 6, 2007 9:35 AM ∞

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Rob N. wrote:

All:

Camp Liberty Soldiers Up-Armor Humvees
Army News Service | Sgt. Alexandra Hemmerly-Brown | March 06, 2007
CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq - As the enemy changes its tactics in warfare, the military constantly updates strategies on how to keep servicemembers safe.

At a new center on Camp Liberty, Soldiers are working hard to up-armor M1115 Humvees with the newest and highest level of protection available: Frag 5.

"We have more people outside the wire now that are needing this protection," said 1st Lt. Aaron J. Kravitz, the Frag 5 yard officer in charge of the 541st Combat Support Sustainment Battalion.

Soldiers work 12-hour shifts turning out about 10 Humvees per day, Kravitz said. Their mission is to fully strip Humvees of all prior armor, add the new Frag 5 kits and hand them back to the units as quickly as possible.

The process of giving Humvees their Frag 5 facelift is a six-step assembly-line process, Kravitz said.

"We rebuild the Humvee, kind of like a puzzle," he said. "It's an evolving process. The Humvee wasn't originally built for the mission it's doing now."

From start to finish, the process takes about 40 hours. With an augmented staff of Soldiers from different units, the shop is more productive than it was a few months ago.

"When we first started we had a small section of about 12 to 15 people," said Sgt. Kevin D. Gatlin, a quality control noncommissioned officer. Gatlin, who works the night shift, said operations shifted dramatically in October when they changed their mission from working on other levels of Frag armor, and turning out one or two vehicles per day, to working strictly with Frag 5.

They increased tempo, boosted staff and changed locations to supply safer vehicles to the battlefield. This change in mission was due to the incoming surge of Soldiers in the Baghdad area who did not have the most current armor on their vehicles, Kravitz said.

The Soldiers and civilians working at the new center are trying to ensure that all Soldiers traveling on the roads of Iraq have the most current and sophisticated safety equipment possible.

"Right now we are turning out a truck every two to three hours," Kravitz said. "We try to get it through as quick as we can because the more trucks we get out, the more trucks are out there saving people's lives."

Kravitz said he is most proud of the job he does when Soldiers come to his shop thanking him and his unit because their work saved a life.

"Just knowing that we make a difference is the best," Kravitz said. "Everybody has to do their own little part, and this is our part."
(www.military.com)

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 6, 2007 2:23 PM ∞

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Rob N. wrote:

All:

Ghost Soldiers Discover Hidden Cache
Army News Service | Sgt. Paula Taylor | March 05, 2007
MOSUL, Iraq - Two Garryowen troops assigned to Ghost Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, netted one of the largest weapons caches in the Ninewa Province Feb. 9.

Located in a walled-off compound, the cache was discovered by Pfc. Ryan Kennedy and Spc. Isaiah Johnson, both infantrymen assigned to Company A, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment.

"Our battalion got information that there was a weapons cache in one of the lots in the city," said Kennedy.

When Kennedy's platoon arrived in the suspected area, the Soldiers began taking small-arms fire from a mosque across the street. After securing the area with the help of Iraqi Army troops, the Soldiers detained 10 suspects.

"We pushed forward to continue searching another lot after another platoon moved up to secure the detainees," he said. "There were four garages and a small building with two rooms in it; one was like a tool room and the other was like a living area. We cleared the building and the garages."

After a brief search by 1st Squad, 1st Platoon, Sgt. Shen O split his team up for a more comprehensive search.

"Me and Specialist Johnson went back to the room that was like a living area and started busting all the floor tiles," Kennedy said.

"We saw a sink and tried turning it on," Johnson said. "It didn't turn on. At the time, we didn't think anything of it."

The two continued busting floor tiles to see if the ground would give way. Kennedy eventually busted the inoperable sink.

"Once we broke the sink, we saw there weren't any pipes under it," Johnson explained. "The XO (executive officer) noticed there was no grout between the tiles."

"We could tell something was wrong with it because the tiles under it were real loose," Kennedy added. "I hit it with a sledgehammer and it fell through. We could clearly see some rocket-propelled grenades, bags and different types of munitions.

"We were overjoyed to find the cache. All these months we weren't finding anything. We were going on raids, searching vehicles. When we saw it, we just started yelling out, 'Hey, we found it; we found the cache!'"

After discovering the secret room beneath the sink, a member of the explosive ordnance disposal team was called into the compound to check the area for dangers. Once he deemed the area safe to enter, other troops began arriving to help remove the items.

"There was everything you could name in there," Johnson recalled. "Missiles you shoot helicopters with, grenades, mines, wiring, cell phones, tons of AK-47s and ammo. It took us several hours to get it all out. It made us feel happy finding that stuff, knowing the enemy couldn't use the weapons against us.

"It was sneaky how they had it set up, with the sink and the stove. They tried to make it look like it was a kitchen. We put the clues together and we figured it out," Johnson bragged.

The day's find included 30 blasting caps, about 250,000 rounds of small-arms ammunition, 25 grenade fuses, 37 high-explosive anti-tank weapons, 100 unfused grenades, one Iranian PG-7 grenade rocket, six Chinese 75mm APERS rocket fuses, 13 French 68mm SPAMV rockets, 72 rocket motors, 10 Iraqi 40mm rockets, 221 mortars, 300 various fuses, 40 pounds of propellant, 50 pounds of detonation cord, 13 PG-7 launchers, 17 AK-47 assault rifles, one Russian machine gun, two sniper rifles, one PKC machine gun, 40 million Iraqi Dinar, more than 400 fake identification cards, and various Motorola radios, including one Iraqi police radio believed to have belonged to an IP who had been previously kidnapped and subsequently killed.

"People can say I found it, but everyone was searching that day," Kennedy said. "We were all working really hard. Everyone was covered in sweat even though it wasn't that hot. It was back-breaking labor."

Fellow Soldiers also found Iraqi Dinar and fake IDs nearby.

In recognition for their part in the discovery, Johnson and Kennedy were given a 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Coin of Excellence, which was presented to them by their first sergeant.

"It was a large cache. They knew it had to be right under their feet," said 1st Sgt. Eric Volk. "These guys are very determined to have a positive impact in this area. They've got a lot of pride, and I think they feel like they've finally achieved that big step against the insurgency. I couldn't ask for any better troops than what I've got."

(Sgt. Paula Taylor writes for the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs.)
(www.military.com)

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 6, 2007 2:26 PM ∞

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Rob N. wrote:

All:

Bush Seeks Funding for Extra Troops
Associated Press | March 06, 2007
WASHINGTON - The White House is ready to ask Congress for more money for President Bush's plan - already hotly debated - to send 21,500 new combat troops into Iraq.

The move would pay for support personnel and otherwise update last month's request for the Iraq war. It probably will draw criticism from Democrats who say the Pentagon had low-balled estimates of the costs of Bush's plan for improving security in Baghdad and Anbar province.

The latest request could come as early as Tuesday, modifying last month's $93.4 billion request for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through Sept. 30.

Though the changes may be relatively modest, they nonetheless are embarrassing to the White House and the Pentagon, which earlier dismissed criticism from lawmakers that the original $5.6 billion estimate for the troop buildup was too low.

Take Action: Tell your public officials how you feel about this issue.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England told the Senate Budget Committee last week that about 6,000 additional support personnel - such as headquarters staff, military police, and medical personnel - would be needed to complement the 21,500 additional combat troops.

Hours after England testified, White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten paid a rare visit to the Capitol to press Senate GOP leaders for the additional money.

The modified request was being finalized Monday, said administration and congressional aides. In addition to the money for increased troop strength, the White House will press for more dollars to battle the Taliban's resurgence in Afghanistan and get mine-resistant vehicles.

The request probably will come to about $2 billion. It will be accompanied by equal-sized reductions to elsewhere in the larger request, which contained money for two next-generation Joint Strike Fighters and a V-22 tilt rotor aircraft.

At the same time, lawmakers have signaled they will provide an additional $3 billion to put in place the latest round of military base closings. The military base money - cut from the president's budget when Democrats pushed through a huge spending bill last month - has the strong support of the administration.

In addition to concerns about Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq, Democrats say the Pentagon has underestimated the cost of the new mission. The $5.6 billion price covers deployment of combat troops through Sept. 30.

Typically, it takes 5,500 support troops for a 4,000 combat brigade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. But the Defense Department says the most recent addition of troops will require far fewer support troops because a sizable support infrastructure is in place in Baghdad and Anbar province.

Democrats are looking at the must-pass supplemental spending bill as a way of attaching their domestic initiatives. They include farm disaster aid, money for a children's health insurance program and improvements to levees around New Orleans.
(www.military.com)

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 6, 2007 2:30 PM ∞

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Rob N. wrote:

All:

I have posted a number of articles today. I hope they are informative at minimum.

Did anyone see Lindsey Graham's appearance on Meet The Press Sunday? Tim attempted to pin him on several key Democratic issues, but he showed himself to be succinct and articulate.

I am further convinced the more the U.S. invests in Iraq, the more Dinar I should by. I think we all need to pick up a few more million.

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 6, 2007 2:35 PM ∞

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chelseadave wrote:

Thanks Rob N.

The articles are much appreciated.

-- March 6, 2007 6:24 PM ∞

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chelseadave wrote:

Announcement No.(878)

D.G. of Foreign Exchange Control

The 878 daily currency auction was held in the Central Bank of Iraq day Wednesday 2007/ 3/ 7 so the results were as follows :

Details Notes
Number of banks 12 -----
Auction price selling dinar / US $ 1278 -----
Auction price buying dinar / US $ ----- -----
Amount sold at auction price (US $) 66.260.000 -----
Amount purchased at Auction price (US $) -----
Total offers for buying (US $) 66.260.000 -----
Total offers for selling (US $) ----- -----

-- March 7, 2007 3:30 AM ∞

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Rob N. wrote:

All:

Bush sees 'test' for Iran, Syria, on Iraq
3/6/2007

by Olivier Knox 36 minutes ago

US President George W. Bush challenged Iran and Syria Tuesday to prove at a pair of upcoming international conferences on Iraq that they are serious about helping to quell deadly violence there.

"These meetings will be an important test. They'll be a test of whether Iran and Syria are truly interested in being constructive forces in Iraq," he said in a speech to the American Legion US veterans organization.

The conferences will also "will be a test for the international community to express its support for this young democracy, to support a nation that will be at peace with its neighbors," said Bush.

Bush was referring to Iraq's call for a March 10 conference in Baghdad grouping officials from Iraq's neighbors as well as the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States -- and the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

The US president also noted that there would be a subsequent meeting in April of foreign ministers from around the world, including US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, to discuss Iraq's future.

Tehran said on Monday it was "not hostile" to joining its arch enemy Washington and other permanent UN Security Council members at the March 10 talks.

Iran's foreign ministry had stressed on Sunday that no direct talks were planned between Iran and the United States at the Baghdad conference.

The US ambassador in Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said in a television interview that no decision had yet been taken on US-Iran talks at the meeting.

"We have not decided at this point with regard to anything bilateral, but we will be prepared to play our role as constructively as possible," he said.

Iran and the United States have had no diplomatic relations since Washington severed ties in 1980 in the wake of the seizure of its embassy in Tehran by Islamist students.

Any direct contacts between the two sides would mark a major break in the frozen relations, which have been marked by mutual recriminations and enmity over almost three decades.

Washington has repeatedly accused Tehran of fomenting the violence in Iraq and arming Shiite extremists who have carried out deadly attacks on Iraqis and US troops. Iran vehemently denies the charges.

In his speech, Bush also took aim at opposition Democrats now in control of the US Congress over their efforts to curb the war in Iraq and even in some cases threaten to cut off funds for US military operations there.

Bush said lawmakers have "a responsibility" to pay for the war and warned against "undue interference from politicians in Washington" in the way US military commanders in Iraq "carry out their missions."

And he assailed lawmakers calling for a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.

They "seem to believe that we can have it all: That we can fight Al-Qaeda, pursue national reconciliation, initiate aggressive diplomacy, and deter Iran's ambitions in Iraq -- all while withdrawing from Baghdad and reducing our force levels," he said.

"That sounds good in theory, but doing so at this moment would undermine everything our troops have worked for," he charged.

Bush sees 'test' for Iran, Syria, on Iraq - Source
(www.safedinar.com)

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 7, 2007 9:01 AM ∞

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Rob N. wrote:

All:

Bush says gradual progress in Iraq despite violence
3/6/2007

26 minutes ago

President George W. Bush insisted on Tuesday a new Iraq security plan is making gradual progress, despite the deaths of nine more U.S. troops and another major bomb attack.

Bush used the bulk of a speech to the American Legion veterans organization to defend his plans to deploy 21,500 more U.S. troops to Iraq aimed at taking control of and holding restive neighborhoods of Baghdad rife with sectarian violence.

Bush also said a regional conference in Baghdad next month will be "a test of whether Iran and Syria are truly interested in being constructive forces in Iraq."

The United States has agreed to attend the conference but U.S. officials have said American representatives will not have side meetings with officials from Iran and Syria.

Washington accuses Iranians of providing explosive devices to Iraqi insurgents for use against U.S. troops.

Insurgents killed 112 Shi'ite pilgrims streaming to the holy city of Kerbala in attacks across Iraq on Tuesday, including more than 70 after suicide bombers blew themselves up in a street lined with tents.

The attacks are likely to increase sectarian tensions between majority Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs that have threatened to plunge the country into all-out civil war.

The U.S. military announced on Tuesday the death of nine U.S. soldiers in two bomb attacks north of Baghdad, the deadliest day for U.S. forces since they launched the security crackdown in the capital three weeks ago.

"Iraqi and U.S. forces are making gradual but important progress almost every day and we will remain steadfast until our objectives are achieved," Bush said.

Arguing against any congressional attempt to scale back the mission, Bush said: "The mission is America's mission and our failure would be America's failure."

Bush called on lawmakers to avoid adding billions of dollars of unrelated domestic spending to a $100 billion budget request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying Congress should approve it "without strings and without delay."

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino cautioned against expecting immediate results from the security plan.

"Our commanders are not taking their eye off the ball. We are going to have unfortunate days." she said.

Bush says gradual progress in Iraq despite violence - Source
(www.safedinar.com)

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 7, 2007 9:03 AM ∞

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Roger wrote:

Were all supposed to act surprised here.....Wow a new scratchpad!!

-- March 7, 2007 7:44 PM ∞

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Roger wrote:

Why is the Dinar still very undervalued?

We have seen a very gradual increase in value since Nov, and some of us are jumping with joy, (me for one), and thinking this is a very great step.

Well, yes from 1475 to 1278 to 1 is indeed a significant step, 15-20 % seem like a great step as this is our nominal value that has increased.

However, if you are coming from a close to worthless, to an almost worthless currency this doesn't make much in a difference other then a slight superficial, almost cosmetic change.

If we take it from THEIR viewpoint, they have increased the value of their currency pretty much, we can see a difference.

However, if you already are so low down in the bottom of the scale that the value of the currency is almost an amplification of the bottom line, it wont matter much in the long run, unless you make a drastic currency revaluation.

Look at it from OUR viewpoint, you was able to buy 14 Dinars for ONE cant some time ago, and now we can ONLY buy 12 Dinars for ONE cent, it's still in a ridiculous low range. Almost worthless.

The value of a currency is not only determined by a country's resources, it's productivity, and how stable it is, but also how valuable that currency is IN COMPARISON with other currencies.

Lower the value of all the other currencies in the world and the Dinars will go up in value.

It's like Einstein's theory of Relativity.

If you drive a car, it is meaningless to argue whether the universe moves backwards, and you are sitting still, or that the universe is sitting still, and you move forward in it.

It's just a matter of what viewpoint you take.

Right now, the Iraqi currency is by all comparison to the buying power to any major currency very weak and have almost no to slim buying power.

From the Iraqis viewpoint they have raised it about 20% or thereabout, and that is in their eyes quite a lift.

From our viewpoint, nothing really significant has happened.

It has happened, just enough to say that it HAS happen, but the magnitude is very very small.

1475 to 1 going to 1278 to 1......from our viewpoint it is like feeding an elephant with a table fork of hey.

For them it is a magnificent 20%.

Stirling, Euro and Dollar have such a buying power that it dwarfs the Dinars buying power, ONE unit of those currencies, will get thousand or more of the Dinar currency.

The Dinar has an even higher climb to do if they want to get to the levels of the surrounding countries, in the Gulf, where an average of 1 to 3.25 is the norm.

So if they want to do that, they better get the climb going, or do a decent reval pretty quick.

Doing one point per day will take slightly more than 4 YEARS to get to get to 1 CENT = 1 Dinar.

That's the perspective we have here, before they even get on OUR board being worthy of at least ONE lousy penny.

I don't know how old you are, I guess it is an age issue, but I don't bend over for a penny any more, it's not worth bending over, and picking up.

(Dime, ok I bend over.)

I just wanted to communicate the idea that the value of the Dinar is still just in between Disney Dollar and Lala land.

The opportunity to buy more Dinars is right now, the difference in value from the time they started to climb, in Nov and now, is so insignificant, compared with the shear volume of the currency you can buy, that the situation is almost the same as before....with other words, go for it.

Get em while you can.

-- March 7, 2007 8:35 PM ∞

---

Valerio wrote:

We'll have this thing licked, and our boys will be aboard transports on their way home, and the Dem's will still be mulling around trying to figure out what their withdraw plan is. Why don't they wake up and take a look at what's happening?

-- March 8, 2007 12:30 AM ∞

---

chelseadave wrote:

Announcement No.(879)

D.G. of Foreign Exchange Control

The 879 daily currency auction was held in the Central Bank of Iraq day Thursday 2007/ 3/ 8 so the results were as follows :

Details Notes
Number of banks 11 -----
Auction price selling dinar / US $ 1279 -----
Auction price buying dinar / US $ ----- -----
Amount sold at auction price (US $) 54.145.000 -----
Amount purchased at Auction price (US $) -----
Total offers for buying (US $) 54.145.000 -----
Total offers for selling (US $) ----- -----

-- March 8, 2007 2:55 AM ∞

---

thor wrote:

http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic?expr2=&script=..%2Fconvert%2Fclassic&language=en&lang=en&value=1&date=03%2F07%2F07&SUBMIT=Convert%20Now&date_fmt=us&margin_fixed=0&exch2=&expr=USD&exch=IQD

this is interesting, value is alot different

-- March 8, 2007 3:02 AM ∞

---

Carole wrote:

Rob N.

While I can appreciate the time and energy it takes you to post the ad infinitum articles, you are causing the flavor of this blog site to change from one of discussion to archives of articles. Can you just post the Subject matter and reference where one might read it, if interested, instead of writing out the whole dang thing?

One Sara is enough!

I don't know where you 2 get the time.....

I truly miss the dialogue and the expression of ideas that used to be the main attraction of this site.

IT IS SOOOOOOO BORING NOW! Even more boring than watching the Dinar doing nothing more than gaining cob webs in my safe!

Valerio,

Thanks for your explaination of the zero looping. I got it now! Thanks!

Roger,
The next time you are ready to buy more Dinar, would you first consider a deal of a lifetime----I have some ocean front property in Wyoming, I am selling ---cheap!??

Carole

-- March 8, 2007 9:02 AM ∞

---

Rob N. wrote:

All:

Iraqi Minister of Finance authorized to sign agreements

The government’s official spokesman, Ali Addabagh, said that the Cabinet decided to ratify the Convention of debt reduction signed with Paris Club during its tenth regular session.

Addabagh explained in a press statement that the Cabinet authorized the Minister of Finance, Baqir Jabr Al-Zubaydi, to sign all the executive agreements of the Convention and signing the agreements of reducing and reorganization Iraqi debt with Switzerland and Germany, as well as writing-off Iraq's debts with Romania.

Al-Zubaidi said: "the ministry responsible for the debt settlement and the signing of loan agreements is the Ministry of Finance, while the ministry responsible for grants is the Ministry of Planning, "pointing out that his ministry and his government are working actively to resolve the Iraqi debt issue once and for all.

The Minister of Finance said that his country is committed to the International Monetary Fund under the Convention that imposes on Iraq making economic reforms like raising the prices of oil derivatives, while the IMF is committed to supporting Iraq in the reduction of 80% of its debt, and that what has been done during the past three years.

He disclosed that one of the conditions of the International Monetary Fund is: "raising the added subsidy" on oil derivatives.

He said that "Iraq obtained important loans from Iran and Japan," saying that two agreements were signed this year: the first was with Iran, which provided a long-term loan of one billion dollars, over forty years; it is a "facilitated loan" because no interests will be paid during the first ten years. The second agreement was with Japan, which provided a loan of 3.5 billion dollars; it is a facilitated loan also, in addition to obtaining 500 million dollars from the International Bank.

Source: Iraqdirectory.com
(www.dinartrade.com)

-- March 8, 2007 9:25 AM ∞

---

Rob N. wrote:

All:

Wall Street drools over prospect of capturing Iraq oil wealth

The Iraqi cabinet’s adoption last week of a law creating the legal framework for turning over the country’s oil wealth to American corporations has touched off a chorus of salutes from the Bush administration, congressional Democrats and the corporate-controlled American media.

Perhaps the crassest expression of money-grubbing glee came in the Wall Street Journal, which published an article March 4 celebrating the unlocking of untold riches, including “dozens of untouched oil fields loaded with proven reserves and scores of exploration blocks that may prove a magnet to international oil companies.”

The draft law lists 51 oil fields, 27 in production and the balance with proven reserves, as well as 65 exploration blocks. The fallow fields and exploration blocks are located in every region of the country, while the working fields are concentrated in the northern region around Kirkuk and in the southern region near the border with Kuwait. Citing a cabinet document, the Journal reported that “Iraqi officials must first agree to the framework of contracts to be used when negotiating with foreign oil companies by March 15 if the country’s draft hydrocarbons law is to be submitted to parliament for its approval.”

The draft law calls for reviewing and renegotiating contracts with Russian, French and Chinese oil producers, signed under Saddam Hussein. These countries, which initially opposed the US invasion, are expected to be cut out of any lucrative oil deals in favor of American and British companies.

The government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki endorsed the draft law February 26, after months of bitter conflicts among the representatives of rival bourgeois factions within Iraq—Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite—over the terms of the deal. Approval is likely in the Iraqi parliament, although not certain, as news of the agreement is sure to provoke widespread popular outrage over the sell-off of the country’s most valuable resource.

The cabinet conflict revolved around two related issues: Kurdish determination to hold onto Kirkuk, a city of mixed Arab, Kurdish and Turkomen population that is the center of the northern branch of Iraq’s oil industry; and the Sunni demand for revenue-sharing at the national rather than regional level, since the proven oil reserves are largely in the Shiite and Kurdish populated areas, with relatively little in the central and western provinces where most Sunnis live.

Neither issue was completely settled, but the formula agreed upon under heavy pressure from outgoing US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who reportedly dictated the final terms, provides rather more concessions to the Sunnis, largely at the expense of the Kurds.

In public, the Bush administration and congressional leaders of both parties have cited the working out of inter-ethnic compromises as the main purpose of the oil legislation. In reality, however, the Bush administration sought an agreement on whatever terms it could impose, so that the Iraqi oil industry could be placed on legal foundations suitable for opening it up to foreign (and largely American) capital.

Source: Bay Area Indymedia
(www.dinartrade.com)

Thanks,
Rob N.

-- March 8, 2007 10:04 AM ∞

---

Rob N. wrote:

All:

U-turn as US tries to revive Iraq state industry
By Steve Negus

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

08 March 2007 (Financial Times)
Print article Send to friend
Four US Blackhawk helicopters come in low over a sprawling automotive plant near the town of Iskandariya, south of Baghdad. The complex is a mess, strewn with jumbled railway cars and fields of broken concrete.

But amid the decay sits a line of newly painted police cars freshly out of the factory's workshops, evidence that this plant - once a flagship of Iraqi heavy industry but virtually shut down after the 2003 US-led invasion - is getting back on its feet.

The helicopters unload a team from the US Department of Defense and several dozen US businessmen from defence, manufacturing and other companies. They are part of a push to reinvigorate the Iraqi public sector, an idea that emerged in Washington as post-invasion plans to dismantle the state sector and create a model of economic liberalism in the Arab world gave way to the necessity of fighting an entrenched insurgency.

Factories once seen as deadweights are now considered - at least by the US - a potential source of work for hundreds of thousands of Iraq's unemployed and an opportunity to drain the militias' recruiting pool.

Members of the defence department team say that in the middle of last year, the State Company for Automotive Industries at Iskandariya was overgrown with weeds, the employees despondent. Today, it is producing armoured buses - a contract given by the US military to jumpstart the business - in addition to smaller contracts, such painting police cars.

Only 1,000 of the 5,000 workers listed as employed at the plant are in full-time work. A plant that the management says could roll out six to 10 buses a day is only assembling five a month.

The factories were built in the 1970s, part of the industrialisation campaign led by the regime's then-number two, Saddam Hussein.

The SCAI specialised in assembling buses from parts provided by Sweden's Scania. During the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war it built armoured trucks and missile launch platforms. After the Gulf war and the imposition of sanctions, the factory became a jack of all trades, even dabbling in oil refining.

But though state-owned heavy industry may have been an engine of Iraq's prewar economy, it was financially a burden, annually billions of dollars in the red.

The US-led Coalition Provisional Authority, which ran the country after the invasion, slated the factories for privatisation and slashed their subsidies.

"The initial approach . . . was a rapid disempowerment of state-owned industry, in an expectation that in a secure stable environment private industry would quickly emerge," says Paul Brinkley, deputy undersecretary of defence for business transformation.

The Americans say this model has seen at least partial success in regions such as eastern Europe, but in Iraq it was a flop.

CPA policy - combined with electrical shortages and the purge of technocrats who held high rank in the former ruling Ba'ath party - may have "disempowered" the sector, but no factories were sold and no private sector capable of employing anywhere near the sector's 500,000 workers emerged.

Soon, the US military was facing Sunni guerillas and a Shia militia movement. It became convinced economic desperation pushed many Iraqis to become the insurgency's foot soldiers.

Local commanders began to eye the vast, idle industrial complexes as a means to drain the recruiting pool of their opponents, while senior officers pushed for job creation to be considered a key means of combating the insurgency. Iraq's coalition government still has the factories slated for privatisation, but the Americans are trying to get the plants running in the meantime.

Mr Brinkley was put in charge of a taskforce that is touring Iraq's factories to introduce potential clients and partners. But managers at Iskandariya say the policy is meeting resistance from the Iraqi government itself.

The Shia Islamists who run most ministries may be shunning the state factories because they were too closely associated with the old regime. Contracts for vehicles are going abroad, or to the private sector. One senior manager says: "We export oil, we buy goods, but we're not employing people here."
(www.iraqudates.com)

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 8, 2007 10:14 AM ∞

---

Rob N. wrote:

Carole:

I respectively disagree with you. Yes, I post a number of articles. Primarily, pieces relevant to the economic and political development of Iraq; specifically, as it relates to the Dinar.

I think your concerns about this blog are unwarranted. You are still free to discuss any topic at will. I do not understand how the information I share impedes your ability to share your own thoughts. Though I post several articles, Roger seems to be able to post his comments about the Dinar being undervalued without any obstruction.

Granted, the discussion of late has been less than stellar. I have not seen postings from Okie, Lance, Taxmama, and others in a long time. I doubt articles related to our investment have driven them away.

Let the posting and dicussion continue.

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 8, 2007 10:44 AM ∞

---

Sara Madgid wrote:

Rob N;

Thank you so much for the informative articles you post.
Don't be discouraged - it is much appreciated by some of us!!
I know how difficult it is to wade through the plethora of information out there
and find the ones which impact Iraq and our investment.
Please keep up the good work!
And Thank You! :)

Roger - Bored?? Ready for a religious discussion?
(Just kidding.. I think. ;) )
I am in the midst of one off board and I have been
giving my attention to it lately.
Working on a discussion on the Big Bang..
worth posting and getting a lively discussion going?
Oh, also.. my computer lost its hard drive..
that takes time to resolve, too.

Sara.

-- March 8, 2007 11:08 AM ∞

---

Sara Madgid wrote:

US Military Commander in Iraq says Security is Top Priority
By VOA News 08 March 2007

The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus, says his top priority is to provide security for Iraqis and that the buildup of American forces will continue.

General Petraeus was speaking Thursday at his first news conference in Baghdad since taking over command last month.

Petraeus said since coalition forces began a security crackdown in Baghdad three weeks ago, mostly Sunni Arab insurgents have sought to intensify attacks, which are aimed at provoking a civil war between the country's Shi'ite and Sunni communities.

He noted some positive developments, saying several insurgent cells have been destroyed and their leaders captured.

He said the number of sectarian killings in Baghdad has also gone down. But added that it is "critical" for Iraq's political leaders to halt any drift toward sectarian conflict.

In Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates Wednesday approved General Petraeus' request for 2,200 more military police to help deal with an expected rise in detainees during the security crackdown.

The extra police are in addition to the 21,000 combat troops and 2,400 support troops being sent to Iraq as part of President Bush's Baghdad security plan.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-03-08-voa10.cfm

-- March 8, 2007 11:10 AM ∞

---

Sara Madgid wrote:

Top US General Says Iraqis Want Baghdad Security Plan to Work
By Al Pessin 07 March 2007

The top U.S. military officer says there are indications that the Iraqi people want the new Baghdad security plan to work, but he and Defense Secretary Robert Gates both also said that while the plan is going well so far, it is too early to predict success. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace, told a Pentagon news conference that although large-scale bombings have increased in and around Baghdad in recent weeks, he is encouraged that smaller-scale attacks have decreased.

"The murders between Sunni and Shi'ia are down," said General Pace. "The numbers of bombs that have gone off killing large numbers has gone up. With just those few data points, it means to me potentially that the Iraqi people do want to stop killing each other, but that the al-Qaida wants to find ways to get them to start killing each other again."

General Pace said he only has those two bits of information, but he was encouraged by what he sees so far.

At the same news conference, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said there are some "very preliminary positive signs" in the early stages of implementing the Baghdad security plan, and the increase in bombings did not surprise him.

"I think that we expected that there would, in the short term, an increase in violence as the surge began to make itself felt, as the Baghdad security plan began to be implemented," said Secretary Gates.

Secretary Gates said the Iraqi government continues to meet its commitments in the security operation's early stages, but he said no one is getting "too enthusiastic" because this is still the "very beginning" of the effort.

President Bush announced the new Baghdad security plan in January, including an increase of 21,500 U.S. troops.

General Pace said a goal set last year to hand over all Iraqi provinces to local control by the end of this year is still realistic, although the insurgents could affect the process. He said three of Iraq's 18 provinces have already been put under local control, and three more are nearly ready. He said the process is on track, under the supervision of an Iraqi government committee.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-03-07-voa74.cfm

-- March 8, 2007 11:15 AM ∞

---

Sara Madgid wrote:

Top U.S. Commander Says More Troops Will Be Sent
BAGHDAD, March 8, 2007

(CBS/AP) Petraeus stressed that military force alone is "not sufficient" to end the violence in Iraq and political talks must eventually include some militant groups now opposing the U.S.-backed government.

"This is critical," Petraeus said in his first news conference since taking over command last month. He noted that such political negotiations "will determine in the long run the success of this effort."

The Pentagon has pledged 17,500 combat troops to the capital. Petraeus has said the full contingent should not be in place until early June. He declined to say how many U.S. forces will be deployed to Diyala, which the group al Qaeda in Iraq has made one its main staging grounds.

CBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan reports that Petraeus did not put a time limit on how long the additional troops may remain in Iraq, but he said they're likely to be there "beyond the summer."

Maj. Gen. John Batiste (Ret.), a CBS News military analyst, said on The Early Show that the problem is not a failure of the military to do its job. "Our military is fantastic," he said. "We have not set our military up for success. We're not firing on all cylinders, diplomatically, economically and politically.

Citing the still-unfolding debacle surrounding war veterans' hospitals, Batiste lashed out at what he described as "six years of insufficient military funding."

"We need to mobilize this country. They need to understand the what and the why, and what happens if we fail," he said.

In other developments:

- The Pentagon has approved a request by the new U.S. commander in Iraq for an extra 2,200 military police to help deal with an anticipated increase in detainees during the Baghdad security crackdown, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said. Gates also cited early indications that the Iraqi government is meeting the commitments it made to bolster security, although he cautioned that it was too early to reach any firm conclusions about the outcome.

- House Democratic leaders intend to propose legislation requiring the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the fall of 2008, and even earlier if the Iraqi government fails to meet security and other goals, congressional officials said. The conditions, described as tentative until presented to the Democratic rank and file, would be added to legislation providing nearly $100 billion the Bush administration has requested for fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the officials said late Wednesday.

- Violence across Iraq Wednesday left about 90 people dead. The deadliest attack, a cafe bombing northeast of Baghdad killed more than 30 people. According to a police officer, a suicide bomber detonated the explosive in a cafe in Bala Ruz. In addition to the 30 killed, dozens were injured.

Hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims have been streaming by bus, car and foot toward the holy city of Karbala, about 50 miles south of Baghdad, for annual religious rituals that begin Friday.

Petraeus said U.S. forces are ready to help provide additional security for the pilgrims if asked by Iraqi authorities.

"It is an enormous task to protect all of them and there is a point at which if someone is willing to blow up himself ... the problem becomes very, very difficult indeed," he said.

But Petraeus added that he saw no role for the powerful Shiite militia known as the Mahdi Army, which had sent out fighters to guard the pilgrimage in the past two years.

He said "extremist elements" in the militia have been engaged in "true excesses" in the past — an apparent reference to suspected gangs carrying out targeted killings against Sunnis.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/08/iraq/main2546422.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_2546422

-- March 8, 2007 11:29 AM ∞

---

Sara Madgid wrote:

I think it is worthwhile keeping an eye on anything which
could affect the global scene..
and thus.. our Iraqi interest in Dinar.
So... just a note:

US Defense Secretary Says China Is Not Strategic Threat
By Al Pessin 08 March 2007

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday he does not consider China a strategic threat, in spite of the country's sharply rising defense spending and capability. Still, the top U.S. military officer says the United States must be prepared to respond to any threat that develops.

Secretary Gates told a news conference China's rising military spending does not by itself represent a threat, unless it is accompanied by an intention to confront the United States.

"I do not see China, at this point, as a strategic adversary of the United States," said Robert Gates. "It's a partner in some respects. It's a competitor in other respects. And so we are simply watching to see what they're doing."

Secretary Gates repeated U.S. calls for more transparency in China's defense budget, which he said is likely larger than the official figure. China has announced an 18 percent increase in its official defense spending, the largest in a series of large annual increases.

At the same news conference, the top U.S. military officer, General Peter Pace, said even though it is not clear what China intends to do with its growing military capability, the United States needs to be ready.

"When you see the global capacity growing in any area, we need to make sure that the United States' military is capable of handling any threat that might develop, without regard to current intent, which is why, in the budget, when you look at it, there is not only the money for continuing the global war on terror, but also ensuring that we have the air force we need, the navy we need, and all the things we need for conventional battles," said said General Pace.

General Pace said it is important that any potential U.S. adversary not think the United States is too busy with the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan to respond to any other threat. He said the U.S. military is committed to maintaining the ability to, in his words, "over match" the capability of any potential adversary.

Earlier Wednesday, the top U.S. commander in the Pacific, Admiral William Fallon said China's recent test of an anti-satellite weapon is "clearly" aimed at countering U.S. military systems, which rely heavily on satellites for surveillance and communications. But other U.S. officials have said the U.S. military has plenty of back-up systems, and more are being developed, some of which do not rely on satellites.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-03-08-voa1.cfm

-- March 8, 2007 11:41 AM ∞

---

pat wrote:

Any new news on when the dinar might go the exchange ?

-- March 8, 2007 1:15 PM ∞

---

chelseadave wrote:

Rob. N
Speaking as someone who has only a limited time to get net access most days I have to say that I truly appreciate your posts.
Most days i am limited to logging on, check exchange rate, check e-mails, check T & B, log off. So to someone like myself who does not have time to trawl through endless sites, your posts are a major source for me keeping up with what is really happening in Iraq. I would much rather read your posts, than read posts of people banging on about religion. If I get invited to the pig roast I will be buying you many beers.

As someone who mostly sits on the sidelines and hardly ever posts, I must also say that the discussion aspect of this blog is also very important and also entertaining to those of us who view from the shadows. I therefore believe that there is adequate space for informative posts, and discussion type posts, to harmoniously co-exist on this blog.

Roger,
If we ever meet I will gladly try to educate you in the finer points of the game of cricket. However I do doubt whether anyone from your side of the pond, will ever be able to get their head around a sport which, in it's longest format, can end with two teams leaving the field of play after 5, yes five, DAYS play with the game tied. No sudden death, no shootouts, no extra innings, the teams go home with no winners and no losers. In an international test series there is normally 5 tests. So you can have 25 glorious days of cricket ending with a tied series.

-- March 8, 2007 3:36 PM ∞

---

Valerio wrote:

Carol,
Your right, the board has changed somewhat, but i don't think it's because of Rob N.'s cut and paste articles. It's evident that many appreciate the reading, even though we all can check the articles at dinartrader ourselves just as easy. I think it's more about the absence of the commentators, story tellers, and intellectuals we previously enjoyed. That is what made this site special. This absense is partly due to the increase in the movement of the dinar and Iraq, and partly because these discussions were offensive to those who are looking for news. I think there's a need for both. I like the news, but myself I don't need all the stuffing. Most of the news articles could be reduced to a few sentences, and still be effective to the benifit of this board. I like it when we are speaking when we are posting on this site. Communicating with each other as real people, and when we come together at the roast we will have something to talk about, and if things need settled we will have a ring there with some of those giant boxing gloves for that.

-- March 8, 2007 4:36 PM ∞

---

Valerio wrote:

Carol,
Your right, the board has changed somewhat, but I don't think it's because of Rob N.'s cut and paste articles. It's evident that many appreciate the reading, even though we all can check the articles at dinartrader ourselves just as easy. I think it's more about the absence of the commentators, story tellers, and intellectuals we previously enjoyed. That is what made this site special. This absense is partly due to the increase in the movement of the dinar and Iraq, and partly because these discussions were offensive to those who are looking for news. I think there's a need for both. I like the news, but myself I don't need all the stuffing. Most of the news articles could be reduced to a few sentences, and still be effective to the benifit of this board. I like it when we are speaking when we are posting on this site. Communicating with each other as real people, and when we come together at the roast we will have something to talk about, and if things need settled we will have a ring there with some of those giant boxing gloves for that.

-- March 8, 2007 4:37 PM ∞

---

Rob N. wrote:

Sara:

Thank you for your encouraging comments. In my opinion, I disagree with Secretary Gates. I perceive China as a great threat to the American way of life.

Our dominance in the world is being challenged on two fronts by the Peoples Republic of China. Fron one is an economic challenge.

Since the U.S. chooses to produce little to no steel or textiles we are uncomfortably dependant upon the whole of Asia especially China for these types of products. It is time to reclaim our independence from China and begin manufacturing these items once again in the U.S.A..

Unfortunately, America has not learned from history. As long as the colonists imported most goods, they were subject to the foreign powers who supplied them. Globalization and America's failure to produce manufactured goods could lead us to where the colonists were over 200 years ago. It is a cliche, but history can repeat itself.

The other front where China is challenging our dominance is militarily. An 18% increase in military spending by the Chinese is a big deal. Our military has seen continued cuts beginning with George Herbert Walker Bush and William Jefferson Clinton. Because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has the readiness of the military come back into vogue.

To maintain a readiness and keep our advantage the next President must be willing to increase military spending to that of Ronald Reagan's administration. Furthermore, it is time for the American military institute a four year mandatory tour of duty for this nations young people.

It is time to take the Chinese and their military seriously. In my opinion, once China's military has enough confidence to do so they will seek to reclaim Taiwan, hence an American/Chinese war. We are not ready.

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 8, 2007 5:49 PM ∞

---

DALE wrote:

CHELSEADAVE,
I went to South Africa for a couple of months in 98& 99, the springboks were playing the West Indies in the Crciket World Cup, I watched every game & ate it up. Loved the game.
A guy I met was a semiprofessional bowler, so he took me to a practice facility & showed this old Yankee that hitting a baseball is far easier than a cricket ball bounced & curved at a high rate of speed.

-- March 8, 2007 5:52 PM ∞

---

Rob N. wrote:

All:

I read an interesting article today in Success Magazine about the history of currency; specifically the American currency.

In 1775 the Continental Congress issues per-Revolutionary money, the Continential. Now for the interesting factoid. In 1777 the Continental inflates to the point that shoes costs $5,000.00 and a full suit over $1,000,000.

Though this has nothing to do with the Dinar directly, I thought it to be an interesting symbol of where we hope the Dinar never rises. Can anyone say, HYPERINFLATION?

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 8, 2007 6:00 PM ∞

---

Sara Madgid wrote:

Thanks, Rob N.
I appreciated that comment about China.
I believe that such concern is warranted as well.
I'll stick to politics for now.. religion is too controversial.

Sara.

-- March 8, 2007 10:56 PM ∞

---

Neil wrote:

Sara: With your work on the "big bang" theory, please let us in on it when you get it prepared. I, for one, am very interested in how this bang could work. I've heard many ideas on the subject but very few made any sense.

Rob N: You are on the right track in being concerned about China. They have the technology, money and manpower to mount a powerful offensive against us. Taiwan is the sore spot with them and we are commited to protecting Taiwan, so eventually the fur will fly and we must be prepared.

I am not impressed with what I see going on in Iraq. It appears to me that our troops are attempting to perform with so many restraints that they are ineffective. They are providing target practice for the terrorists. I see very little of terrorists being killed but everyday I see many American soldiers, Iraqi citizens, soldiers and policemen killed. Why are we not locating those terrorist cells and killing them? They have to be making those bombs somewhere and we should be locating those sites rather than 50 soldiers charging a building looking for something.

The American people have got to start seeing some results.
The polls indicate that support for what is going on in Iraq is in the 20% area. We have got to turn these troops loose and let them start killing some terrorist even if there is collaterial damage.

We have also got to say "to hell" with what the Iraqi people think until we get things under control and then let them screw it up again.

-- March 8, 2007 10:58 PM ∞

---

Turtle wrote:

Neil: I think you missed the between the lines when I said that we can now use artillery again. You see, due to wind, etc, you never are quite certain where that first shot is going to land. Now, our boys are good and rarely miss by much, but that first shot is usually a guid for the barage that follows seconds later. From what I am seeing and hearing from my buddies, the gloves are off - at least around my base. A lot has happened recently that has not hit the news. My friend is in Sadr City. The area where they are has goen from almost 200 murders a month to about 10. He lost 2 soldiers in the first week (about a month ago) and has not lost one since. We have targeted death squad and Al-Qaeda leaders and are now getting local support. We have lists, often mentioned by the Generals, that tell our guys who to go after. Mosques are no longer off-limits if we have good reason to go there. Most of the time, Iraqi soldiers handle those but we can enter if we have good reason to. The rules of engagement have been changed to pretty much - apply as much force as needed. I won't say our military is in full click but I've heard some nice uses of technology and man-power. The changes have been drastic. According to my buddy in the transportation company, the roads are no longer lined with IEDs. My base is no longer getting attacked every couple days. From my perspective, I don't know if this is the end to our problems but it has put a nice dent in our current issues.

-- March 9, 2007 2:00 AM ∞

---

Rob N. wrote:

All:

Baghdad conference a chance to stabilize Iraq - British ambassador

The British ambassador to Iraq said on Thursday that the upcoming conference in Baghdad, next Saturday, will be a chance for Iraq's neighboring countries to end their support of armed groups, which aim to foil the ongoing political process.

"The conference will be a chance for the Iraqi government to show its policies and ability to its neighboring countries," Dominic Asquith told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

"It is a chance to solve all problems," he added.

"Preserving Iraq's security and stability is something that concerns all neighboring countries," the ambassador noted.

Regarding Iran's problems with the U.S. and Britain, the ambassador noted that the conference will only tackle Iraq's problems, "and all countries have to realize the importance of cooperation for achieving peace and security in Iraq."

He stressed that "Iran must stop providing armed groups with weapons, which are being used in attacks against Multi-National forces."

"All neighboring countries have to realize that they are dealing with a legitimate and sovereign government," he noted, highlighting that the presence of Multi-National forces in Iraq is due to Iraqi government's desire for their presence.

He also refused to comment on the incursion, a few days ago, by British forces into an intelligence building in Basra belonging to the Iraqi interior ministry.

However he acknowledged a disagreement between the political parties in Basra and other southern provinces and the British forces.

Iraqi army troops and British forces, at dawn on Sunday, stormed the intelligence headquarters in Basra, 600km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, and freed more than 30 captives there.

The conference is to be held in Baghdad, with the participation of Iraq's neighboring countries, Egypt, Bahrain, the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), the Arab League and the Security Council's five permanent members, to seek a means of restoring regional stability.

The conference also seeks to lend support to the ongoing political process in Iraq.

Source: Voices of Iraq
(www.safedinar.com)

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 9, 2007 9:42 AM ∞

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Rob N. wrote:

All:

CNPC seen regaining oil exploration rights to Iraq's al-Ahdab field

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BEIJING, 09 March 2007 (AFX News Limited)
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China National Petroleum Corp, the parent of PetroChina Co Ltd (HK 0857), is expected to obtain new exploration rights to the al-Ahdab oil field in Iraq, CNPC-owned China Oilnews said.

Assem Jihad, a spokesman for the Iraqi Oil Ministry, was quoted as saying that CNPC officials arrived in Iraq on March 6 to negotiate a new contract to jointly develop al-Ahdab.

After China won exploration rights to al-Ahdab in 1997, activities at the field were suspended due to UN sanctions and postwar security problems.

The field has projected reserves of up to one bln barrels, it said.

The 1997 contract was valued at 700 mln usd over 23 years. Planned oil production was 90,000 barrels per day.

In February, the Iraqi Cabinet approved a draft Oil Law aimed at encouraging international companies to exploit the country's petroleum reserves, estimated at about 115 bln barrels.

The legislation is pending approval from parliament, it said.
(www.iraqupdates.com)

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 9, 2007 9:46 AM ∞

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Rob N. wrote:

All:

Byblos Bank plans Iraq expansion from Kurdish North

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09 March 2007 (Financial Express)
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Byblos Bank, Lebanon’s third-largest lender, will open a branch in Iraq next month using the safety of the Kurdish north as a platform for expansion into a country that holds 10% of the world’s oil reserves.
“Iraq is very important, there is huge potential there,’’ chairman Francois Bassil, 72, said in an interview in his office in Beirut March 6. Byblos will open its branch in Arbil, capital of the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, because it’s more secure than other parts of the country, he said.

Baghdad is the focus of a security crackdown that began last month involving additional U.S. and Iraqi personnel to combat a growing insurgency and stop a full-scale civil war between majority Shiite and minority Sunni Muslims. The Kurdish region, which follows its own constitution while remaining loyal to a national government in Baghdad, has so far avoided the worst of Iraq’s ethnic conflict.

Iraq’s minority ethnic Kurds, persecuted during Saddam Hussein’s rule, maintain a pro-US, self-governing administration for the region of more than 6 million people that borders Iran, Turkey and Syria.

Benefiting from high oil prices and foreign aid, the region’s economy is growing at more than 6 percent a year and may expand 10% or more over the next two years, according to Empire Holdings, an Iraqi property developer building offices, malls and a five-star hotel in Arbil.

The Kurdish region has “fewer security issues’’ than the rest of Iraq ``and more economic activity linked to its proximity to Turkey,’’ said Monica Malik, economist for Standard Chartered Plc in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Byblos Bank, which has about $6.2 billion of deposits, plans to start in Iraq by financing trade and infrastructure projects. It also aims to become an intermediary for Iraqi banks trying to do business overseas, Bassil said.

A total 27 domestic banks operate in Iraq, seven of them state-owned, the Central Bank of Iraq says on its web site.

HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest bank by market value, in 2005 said it won regulatory approval to buy 75% o Baghdad-based Dar el-Salaam Investment Bank as a means to return to Iraq for the first time since Iraq’s banks were nationalized in 1964.
(www.iraqupdates.com)

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 9, 2007 9:49 AM ∞

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Rob N. wrote:

Pat:

I think the Dinar reaching the foreign exchange market while the World Bank and IMF are directing monetary policy in Iraq is unlikely.

Once Iraq has met all of the IMF and World Bank criteria in conjuntion with producing a significant amount of oil we may finally see a free floating exchange rate.

While Iraq is making progress toward meeting the benchmarks set by both the IMF and World Bank, they are still sometime away from a free floating currency.

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 9, 2007 11:48 AM ∞

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Sara Madgid wrote:

Iraq: U.S. Raids Kill Suspected Militant
The Associated Press
Friday, March 9, 2007

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. forces killed one suspected militant and captured 16 others in raids across Iraq on Friday morning, the military said.

Among those detained was an alleged al-Qaida operative who worked in the group's media operation, the military said in a statement. The man was captured along with seven others northeast of Karmah, 50 miles west of Baghdad.

The seven were believed to be part of an al-Qaida courier network, the statement said.

Nearby in Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, U.S. troops captured two men accused of helping foreign fighters come to Iraq, it said.

And in Mosul, American forces arrested an alleged al-Qaida suspect believed to be responsible for kidnappings, beheadings and suicide attacks, the statement said. Five other suspects were detained there, and one was killed, it said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/09/AR2007030900192.html

-- March 9, 2007 12:58 PM ∞

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Sara Madgid wrote:

Iraqi PM tours Baghdad streets before meeting
March 9, 2007

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq’s prime minister strolled Baghdad’s streets and visited police checkpoints Friday to showcase security ahead of an international conference aimed at stabilizing the war-torn country with help from its neighbors.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki toured a neighborhood and chatted with people, one of his advisers said. Security was heightened across Baghdad as international envoys prepared to arrive for Saturday’s conference, which would be held at Iraq’s Foreign Ministry just outside the heavily fortified Green Zone.

“Additional security measures have been taken to protect the officials participating in the conference and to secure the location of the meeting,” said Brig. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman.

U.S. forces, meanwhile, killed a suspected militant and captured 16 others in raids across Iraq, the military said. Among those detained were a man accused of working in al-Qaida’s media wing and another believed to be responsible for kidnappings, beheadings and suicide attacks.

Preparations for major summit

In Cairo, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said the foreign minister for Arab affairs, Hani Khalaf, would lead his country’s delegation to Baghdad on Saturday.

“Egypt will provide all possible aid to help the Iraqi people build its national institutions and rebuild the country,” a Foreign Ministry statement said.

David Satterfield, the top State Department adviser on Iraq, spoke to reporters in Washington before leaving for Baghdad, where he would lead the U.S. delegation.

“Iraq needs support not just from us, not just from our coalition partners, but it needs broader support from its neighbors, from the region, from the international community,” he said. “We see the neighbors conference...as a significant step in that process.”

Saturday’s meeting would be “a process, not just a one-off event,” Satterfield said.

“It is a process which allows them to articulate directly to their neighbors...what they are doing and what they are pledged to do in the future on security, on political progress, on economics,” he said.

The conference came a day after the new commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, told reporters in Baghdad that military force alone was “not sufficient” to end the conflict.

“Military action is necessary to help improve security ... but it is not sufficient,” Petraeus said. “A political resolution of various differences...of various senses that people do not have a stake in the successes of Iraq and so forth — that is crucial. That is what will determine, in the long run, the success of this effort.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17533172/

-- March 9, 2007 1:11 PM ∞

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Sara Madgid wrote:

Democrats and Bush head for Iraq showdown
March 9, 2007

The Bush administration and the Democratic party squared up for what could turn into a bitter constitutional showdown over a congressional plan unveiled on Thursday that is designed to force the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by 2008.

Senior administration officials said the president would "vehemently oppose" and "ultimately veto" the Democratic party's Iraq withdrawal plans. The plans took two months to hammer out and may still unravel over differences between moderate and liberal factions in the party.

The Democratic proposal, presented on Capitol Hill, will be attached to a $100bn Iraq and Afghanistan war funding measure that the House will vote on this month. The proposal is designed to force withdrawal of all US combat forces from Iraq by August 2008 at the latest and as soon as the end of 2007 should the Iraqi government fail to meet performance benchmarks.

"It would unnecessarily handcuff our generals on the ground, and it's safe to say it's a non-starter for the president," said Dan Bartlett, a senior counsellor to George W. Bush. "This is a political compromise in the Democratic caucus of the House, aimed at bringing comedy to their internal politics, not reflective of the conditions on the ground in Iraq."

Democrats have attached "sweeteners" to the proposal to help win Republican moderates, including higher levels of funding for US military veterans and US army medical centres. It also includes another $1.2bn for fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, which Democrats say is the true epicentre of the "war on terror".

John Boehner, House Republican leader, on Thursday said his party would strongly oppose the measure, which it claimed would undercut US forces on the ground in Iraq at precisely the moment when Mr Bush's 21,500 Iraq troop "surge" is under way.

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?Feed=FT&Date=20070309&ID=6591788

-- March 9, 2007 1:20 PM ∞

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Rob N. wrote:

Sara:

Are you still thinking June for some type of RV?

Thanks,

Rob N.

-- March 9, 2007 3:48 PM ∞

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chelseadave wrote:

Sara,

Maybe I didn't phrase what I was getting at very well, or perhaps you misunderstood my point.

Primariy I was trying to encourage Rob.N, as were you, that his research and posts were appreciated by some, if not all the people on this blog, and that his efforts were not in vain.

In my opinion, his posts are far more relevant to what we are all here for, than some other topics covered in posts and discussions. But thats all it is, my opinion. If I am not so interested in other topics I can scroll past.

Likewise if other people are not interested in Rob.N's posts, they can scroll past. But Rob should not be discouraged from making his posts.

I do not wish to discourage you from making your religious posts. I am not a religious person myself, but reading your posts shows me that you are deeply religious, and that you obviously get a lot of comfort and strength from your faith. I feel happy for you for that. Maybe one day I will get religion, although I'm not holding my breath on that one. The fact that we all have different interests and beliefs is obviously what makes life such a wonderful and interesting experience.

So my point is that people should be able to post informative posts and to discuss what is important to them, without getting grief. In my opinion Rob.N did not deserve any grief.

If my comments caused you offence, I apologise.

Dale,
I'm glad to hear you got to appreciate the game of cricket, and that you got to face a few balls and know that it isn't as easy as it looks. Now we just have to persuade Roger as to the merits of the game.

I spent 6 months travelling the continent of Africa in the early 90's. I saw most of northern, western and some of central Africa. Unfortunately I ran out of money and couldn't make it all the way down to South Africa. When the dinar comes in I'll be going back to finish my trip.
The main thing that lives with me from my African experience is the number of people you meet who have absolutely nothing. Not a penny to their name, living in squalor and often having to walk miles just to get fresh water. And yet they are happy. Always smiling.
So whenever the daily grind of working to pay the bills and keeping my children clothed and fed, and keeping the revenue off my back,starts getting to me, I remember those people in Africa and remember just how fortunate I am. If they can smile when they have nothing, then I have no reason to stop being happy.

-- March 9, 2007 5:12 PM ∞

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DALE wrote:

CHELSEADAVE,
If your looking for someone to travel Africa with, Let me know thats one of my to do list when the dinar ship comes in.

-- March 9, 2007 6:30 PM ∞

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Carl wrote:

As I Stated Several Months Ago...
COVERT...COVERT...COVERT..COVERT..
If you want to achieve things quickly...move within the shadows out of the limelight of the press and public...
Events Recently indicate certain things are happening... The top Iranian Nuclear Scientist ended up dying of a mysterious gas death...a Iranian General recently disappeared..and it now appears he defected..Sadr fled to Iran..I am sure because a little bird told him his feathers were about to plucked...Probably the Iraqi PM with the CIA supporting it...Now! the Arab League is taking a stand against Iran and insurgency within Iraq...other insurgency leaders are being turned in and now being captured..
Yep! finally progress being made...actually the Democrats in their own way by putting pressure on the Bush Administration, caused Bush to put intense pressure on the Iraqi leaders...the end result is positive movement.
The dinar keeps improving in value..however, don't look for the dinar to go on the FX until 2008. This is when Iraq is predicted to mean the IMF and World Bank Guidelines...
But then again...the WILDCARD is still in play...and can upset the game at any time..

-- March 9, 2007 8:42 PM ∞

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Sara Madgid wrote:

Thanks, Carl.. good insight! Glad to have you back. :)

As for June, Rob N.. it still looks possible to me that we are in a timeframe for a real RV of the Dinar sometime between now and the end of June. As Carl said, there are wildcards out there, and I think there are some out there in a few hands.. We will have to see how the Powers That Be are orchestrated, but I certainly continue to be hopeful for a real revaluation to happen in the near future.

chelseadave, thank you. I did think I might upset you if I posted a religious post, but as you pointed out, folks can just skip the post and Neil did seem interested.. so when I finish it, I will likely post it. :) I also appreciated your cheery view on how we have no reason to complain. I totally agree with you. We live like Kings in the days of old with all our modern conveniences. It is humbling to realize how much we have been given.

Sara.

-- March 9, 2007 9:03 PM ∞

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chelseadave wrote:

Dale,
That sounds good to me. The more the merrier. It sounds like your time in South Africa has given you an appetite for more. Did you get time for a look around while you were there?

-- March 10, 2007 3:25 AM ∞

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chelseadave wrote:

Dale,
That sounds good to me. The more the merrier. It sounds like your time in South Africa has given you an appetite for more. Did you get time for a look around while you were there?

-- March 10, 2007 3:28 AM ∞

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Roger wrote:

Hi All,

Cricket, well I don't have a clue what they are doing, ...a man initiation process,...(na that gotta be Rugby, I looooove the New Zealanders Maui like war dance when they try to intimidate the other team), I'm told it's a game, ...well we have a similar thing over here, that is as hard to grip as anything else,.....baseball.

20 minutes of nothing, public have all the attention on the beer and hot dog vendors th