US deaths in Iraq hit all-time low
Article from: Agence France-Presse
From correspondents in Baghdad
June 02, 2008 05:39am
US forces recorded their lowest monthly death toll in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, officials said today as Baghdad also reported a big drop in Iraqi deaths.
Nineteen American soldiers were killed in May, the lowest death toll since the US-led invasion, the US military said as the government reported an almost 50 percent reduction in the number of Iraqi fatalities.
Visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner commented on the "improving security" situation in Iraq and said he was pleased that local military and civilian authorities were taking charge of their own affairs.
The US military said last week that the overall level of violence across the country had hit a four-year low.
"The efforts of the Iraqi security forces and coalition forces are bringing stability to Iraq," the Office of the Secretary of Defence, a US military spokesman said.
On Thursday, the US military announced the withdrawal of another 4000 of the extra troops who were deployed to Iraq last year after reporting a sharp decline in the levels of violence.
It said the latest drawdown would be completed by June. It is the fourth brigade to withdraw from Iraq out of five that deployed under the surge in US troop numbers that was ordered in February 2007.
Washington has said it wants to complete the withdrawal of the 30,000 surge troops by July and have a 45-day evaluation period before considering overall force levels.
There had been a decline in attacks in the south of Iraq after heavy fighting in Basra in March when security forces clashed with Shiite militiamen.
The number of insurgents or militiamen said to have been killed by security forces also showed a marked drop, totalling 170 in May as against 355 in April.
According to figures made available by security officials, the number of Iraqis wounded in May was less than half the April figure at 1003 compared with 2008.
Seven weeks of street fighting in the Baghdad Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City died down by May 14 when a truce between the Mahdi Army militia of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and government forces came into effect.
However, Iraqi soldiers announced a new offensive against insurgents in the main northern city of Mosul, which is considered by US commanders to be Al-Qaeda's last urban bastion in Iraq.
The US military has warned that although al-Qaeda is on the run, the group still has the ability to stage spectacular bomb attacks against security forces and civilians in Iraq.
Iraq oil output, exports hit post-war high
Sun Jun 1, 2008 9:02pm BST
By Ahmed Rasheed
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq has raised oil exports to a post-war high, earning billions of dollars to fund reconstruction after Baghdad cracked down on sabotage of its strategic pipelines, the oil minister said on Sunday.
In an interview with Reuters, Hussein al-Shahristani said he expects oil revenue to reach $70 billion this year if crude prices stay high and output flows remain stable.
"In May, we have exceeded for the first time 2 million barrels-per-day (bpd) as an export rate," Shahristani said.
"This is mainly because of the improved security along northern pipelines from Kirkuk (oilfields) to the Turkish border and also from increased production from our southern and northern fields."
Iraqi oilfields are pumping more than 2.5 million bpd, he said, the highest since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Iraq will produce up to 2.9 million bpd by the end of 2008, he said.
He was optimistic Iraqi forces would keep security tight at oil facilities and raise the confidence of foreign investors discouraged by sectarian violence, al Qaeda and Shi'ite militants who had a grip on Basra, home to Iraq's biggest oilfields.
"We are going to make steady progress on security and the reconstruction front," he said.
Sky-high oil prices have raised the prospects of a quicker recovery. Oil is still within sight of a record $135 a barrel hit last month, supported by concern supplies will struggle to match demand in the longer term and a weak U.S. dollar.
Strong prices could also improve Iraq's chances of meeting goals set out in a 10-year plan to raise production and exports.
The U.S. military says violence in Iraq is at a four-year low following crackdowns by U.S. and Iraqi forces on Shi'ite militias in southern Basra and Baghdad and on al Qaeda in the northern city of Mosul, its last major urban stronghold.
"Iraq has improved the overall security situation in the country through its military operations in the south against the militias and in Mosul area against al Qaeda and in Baghdad itself," said Shahristani.
"I believe the improvement in the security is real and is going to last. Al Qaeda has basically been defeated in Iraq."
FOREIGN INVESTMENT
Starved of access to oil and gas prospects by governments who increasingly favor development by their state oil companies, Western oil companies are eager to invest in Iraq, home to the world's third biggest oil reserves.
But Baghdad expects to see activity this summer.
Major oil companies have all turned in their proposals for oil service deals and some will be signed this month.
Iraq is negotiating six short-term service contracts with international oil companies, each aimed at boosting production by 100,000 barrels per day.
I thought I'd share with the board, my own story, of how I got interested in the Iraq Dinar.
I was living in Vancouver, British Columbia, during the first half of the 1990s. I had an interesting hobby, at the time, collecting stories about what I like to call "human oddities"
I have a collection of many thousands of odd and unusual stories, culled from newspapers around the world. I collected them, over a ten year period.
Whether it's a story about how scientists took the gene that causes fireflies to glow in the dark, and put it into tobacco plants, and produced tobacco plants that glow in the dark, or a story about a baby moose adopting a horse as it's surrogate mother, or a story about a man who couldn't pay his hotel bill for a 10 week stay, and left his mother behind as collateral, or several hundred other categories, I'm likely to have it in my collection. In other words, I've always been fascinated by Ripley's Believe it or Not type of stuff.
So, anyway, I was sitting in a coffee shop, in Vancouver, in the early 1990s, reading the newpaper, having a coffee at a Tim Hortons Coffee Shop, which incidently sells Tim Bitts, which are tasty sugary little donuts.
And I spot a story about a guy who bought the Kuwaiiti Dinar, when it was nearly worthless, after Saddam Hussein had invaded Kuwaiit. Now, I'm quoting from memory, so my figures are not exact, only roughly accurate, but he bought something like 20 thousand American dollars worth of the Dinars, and cashed them in, a few years later, when the economy got back on line, in Kuwaiit, for something like 3 million. Smart move.
I always remembered that story. It stuck in my mind, like glue. And then, when Saddam was getting kicked out, again, and the Iraqi Dinar, this time, was nearly worthless, I made my move, and now have a tidy pile of millions of Dinars, sitting in a safety deposit box, in a bank vault.
Will it happen again? I think so. It's a little more complicated this time, and is taking a bit longer, but I think it will happen again.
And that, fellow board members, is how I ended up, pecking away, occasionally, at my keyboard, on this site.
Very interesting story. We can all probably rememeber where, when and how we first came in contact with the infamous Dinar.
I had just been introduced to my daughters multi-millionaire Real Estate friend. While talking about a RE transaction we were in the middle of, he made a slight mention of the Kwait currency and how he "missed the boat" on that one, but was certainly going to catch the Dinar issue. In the weeks that followed my daughters and their families and friends got Dinar fever.
I was the last to jump on board, and the biggest attraction for me was #1- I hated being out of the loop with my family, since Dinars were all they could talk about, #2 I have 2 daughters whom are divorced and struggle financially, as well as a few very good friends that are very poor and I thought that for very little money, I could maybe provide them with an opporotunity for wealth. So I bought several thousand Dinars for my husband and I and equal amount to be divided by the 5 people who couldn't. And you know the rest!
Soooooo, while I am a very big skeptic with the whole thing, I surely still hold out for a good results.
Maliki to raise Iran's role in Iraq in Tehran talks
Mon Jun 2, 2008 11:58am BST
By Wisam Mohammed
BAGHDAD, June 2 (Reuters) - Iraq wants to discuss evidence of Iranian intervention in Iraq and the two countries' overall relationship during a visit to Tehran this week by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a government spokesman said on Monday.
It will be Maliki's second visit to Tehran after he travelled to Iran in August last year and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a visit to Baghdad in March.
Government officials would not confirm the date of the visit, but local media in Iraq and Iran said it would be on Saturday.
Maliki's government treads a fine line in its relations with Iran, accused by the United States of supporting Shi'ite militias in Iraq while at the same time seeking support from its neighbour.
"Part of the talks will discuss the subject of the evidence of Iranian intervention in Iraq. We will also talk about the entire relationship with Iran," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told Reuters. "All the issues will be on the table."
Dabbagh would not say which ministers would travel with Maliki but described it as "a political/security delegation".
Iraq's Addustour newspaper said Maliki would be accompanied by Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani, Electricity Minister Karim Waheed and Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari.
The report said Maliki would ask for Iranian help with electricity, which is in short supply in Iraq.
Ties between Iran and Iraq have improved since Sunni Arab strongman Saddam Hussein, who led Iraq into an eight-year war against Iran in the 1980s, was ousted in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and a Shi'ite-led government came to power in Baghdad.
But relations are dogged by repeated accusations from Washington and Baghdad that Tehran is fomenting violence in Iraq by backing Shi'ite militias. Tehran denies meddling in Iraq and blames the violence on the presence of U.S. forces.
Dabbagh said last month Maliki had ordered the formation of a committee to compile evidence of Iranian "interference" in Iraq that would then be presented to Tehran. It is not clear if that evidence will be handed over this week.
A delegation from Iraq's ruling Shi'ite alliance went to Tehran at the start of May to show Iranian officials evidence of the Islamic Republic's backing for Shi'ite militias in Iraq.
Washington accuses Iran of funding, arming and training Shi'ite militias to attack U.S.-led troops and Iraqi government forces, despite its public commitment to stabilising Iraq.
Dabbagh said last month that Iranian missiles had been found in the southern city of Basra during a recent crackdown by government forces on militias there.
The Iraqis have repeatedly said they do not want their territory to become a battleground for a proxy war between the United States and Iran, which are also at loggerheads over Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, told a conference on Iraq in Sweden last week that Tehran was keen to play a major role in rebuilding Iraq and lambasted the United States and its allies for "mistaken policies" in its neighbour. (Writing by Adrian Croft; Editing by Sami Aboudi)
Ministry of Electricity to sign contracts with Siemens and Hitachi for generators
The Ministry of Electricity has announced that it is currently in the process of negotiating multi-million dollar contracts with engineering giants Siemens and Hitachi for electricity generating units to boost output across the national grid.
(www.noozz.com)
4 Iranian training camps exist on Iraqi soil, says MP 02/06/2008 14:50:00
Baghdad (NINA)- MP Muhammad al-Dayni from the Arab Bloc of National Dialogue -19 seats- announced that there are four Iranian camps in Iraq for training Iraqi militiamen.
(www.ninanews.com)
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner
IRBIL, June 2 (KUNA) -- Visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Monday expressed optimism about Iraq's future as he opened a diplomatic mission office in Iraq's Kurdistan.
Kouchner said in a joint statement with the Governor of the northern Iraqi semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, Massoud Barazani, that Iraq "is heading toward a brighter future." The French minister said he was pleased with the Kurds' warmth welcome, and that he conveyed to the local leaders French President Nicolas Sarkozy's greetings, while Barazani said that "major positive changes have altered the French policy" toward his country.
Kouchner said the Iraqi constitutional article No. 140 must be applied, that the United Nations (UN) would submit its proposals in this regard and that "this issue should not exaggerated." On his part, Barazani said Kouchner's visit to Kurdistan was of special importance with regard of establishing distinguished bilateral relations at all levels.
Barazani said he and his French guest discussed the situation in Kirkuk, adding that he had shown noticeable flexibility and cooperative stance toward the UN to solve the dilemma.
Kouchner opened the diplomatic office in Irbil, to be France's first representative bureau in Kurdistan, noting that Paris would spare no effort to strengthen the political, economic, cultural and diplomatic relations with Kurdistan.
Kouchner said he would encourage French investors to establish businesses in that region.
Prime Minister of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Nejervan Barazani welcomed the French gesture, inviting the European countries to stretch their hand to reconstruct Kurdistan.
The opening ceremony was attended by Kurdistan Regional Assembly Speaker Adnan al-Mufti and the Iraqi Foreign Ministry Undersecretary, Abdulkarim Hashim.(end) sbr.sab KUNA 021128 Jun 08NNNN
(www.kuna.net.kw)
Milestones in Iraq: Fewer Troop Deaths, More Oil
12:16 pm, 02 Jun 2008
U.S. troop deaths in Iraq hit an all-time low last month as oil production hit a post-war high, officials said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, along with Iraq's oil minister, credited better overall security for the two milestones.
"We've still got a distance to go but I think lower casualty rates are a reflection of some real progress," Gates told reporters in Singapore.
In an interview with Reuters, meanwhile, Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani said improved security help Iraq - with the world's third-largest oil reserves - boost production to 2.5 million barrels per day.
France expresses renewed commitment in Iraq
02/06/2008 French foreign minister arrived in Iraq on Saturday on an unannounced visit to underline renewed political commitment in the war-ravaged nation.
BAGHDAD - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner arrived in Iraq on Saturday on an unannounced visit to underline the "renewed political commitment of France" to the war-ravaged nation, diplomats said.
Kouchner arrived in Nasiriyah in southern Iraq at the start of a two-day trip during which he held talks with Vice President Adel Abdel Mahdi and later travelled to the capital Baghdad, diplomats said.
He arrived in Baghdad later Saturday and opened talks with President Jalal Talabani, who had invited him to Iraq.
"This visit reflects the renewed political commitment of France with regard to Iraq and the Iraqi people," the foreign ministry said in Paris.
During his stay, Kouchner will also meet Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.
On Sunday, the French minister is also expected to travel to Arbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdish region 350 kilometres north of Baghdad to open a French representative office.
France has an embassy in Baghdad, but had announced it would also open two more diplomatic offices in Iraq - one in Arbil and the other in the oil-rich port of Basra, 550 kilometres south of the capital.
The visit will be "an opportunity to express the availability of France to work to promote national reconciliation in Iraq," the foreign ministry said.
His trip comes two days after the International Compact with Iraq conference in Stockholm where the international community hailed the Baghdad government's progress in security and reconstruction.
A French diplomat said in Paris, "It is important that the international community, particularly the European Union, rise to the occasion to help Iraqis," noting that Paris will have the rotating EU presidency in the second half of this year.
Kouchner arrived in the country from Jordan where he said on Friday that France was ready to receive 500 refugees from Iraq "as a first step".
It looks like the US is finally getting a little credit for how well they treat detainees..
even if it is here in a left-handed way.
Let's face it, the US isn't into torturing, as even the critics now admit:
==
Critics see progress at US jails in Iraq Detainee turnover to Iraqi prisons puts gains at risk
By Alissa J. Rubin
New York Times News Service
June 2, 2008
BAGHDAD - Once a byword for torture and disgrace, the American-run detention system in Iraq has improved, even its critics say, as the military has incorporated it into a larger counterinsurgency strategy that seeks to avoid mistreatment that could create new enemies.
But these gains may soon be at risk. Thousands of detainees are to be turned over to the Iraqi government, some perhaps as early as the end of the year, a further step toward Iraqi sovereignty. Yet however tarnished America's reputation may be for its treatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, the reputation of many Iraqi prisons is worse.
"The Americans are better than Ministry of Interior prisons," said Mahmoud Abu Dumour, a former detainee from Fallujah, the Sunni stronghold west of Baghdad. "They will torture you. Maybe you will die. With the Americans, if you enter Abu Ghraib, they will only wage psychological war on you."
While nearly all of the more than 21,000 detainees in Iraq are in US custody, Major General Douglas M. Stone, who runs detainee operations countrywide, is proceeding with a broad experiment to restructure it. His goal is to use the system of detention centers as another front in the counterinsurgency war, trying to reduce the likelihood that they become a recruiting ground for militants.
Stone's goal now is to isolate those he believes are extremists, who are the minority of detainees, and convince the other detainees that they will have better lives if they keep away from those who preach jihad. It is part of the effort to bring detention policy in line with US military strategy that seeks to separate insurgents from civilians, mentally and physically.
Stone's goal is to move detainees, particularly more moderate ones, through the system faster by instituting review boards to hear each detainee's case. So far, these boards have released at least 8,400 people. He has also pushed to expand paid work programs, like carpentry shops, brick factories, and laundries, as well as educational programs, especially for juvenile detainees and for the many illiterate adults.
Recidivism is down: Since Stone's arrival last year, just 28 of those released have been jailed again. That number, less than 1 percent of the total released, reflects considerably fewer repeat detentions than before the administrative hearings and other reforms, when recapture rates ran at 5 percent to 10 percent, according to military lawyers.
“But regardless of what you think about how we got where we are, it is terribly important not to get the end game wrong in Iraq, because the consequences for the whole Middle East, and frankly, I think, for the world, are quite dire if we do..
===
End game the main focus in Iraq, says Gates
Uzbekistan News.Net
Sunday 1st June, 2008
With progress being made in Iraq, the United States must focus on getting the “end game” right, while being patient enough to refrain from making “a tactical decision that has strategic consequences,” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Sunday.
Gates, addressing questions after his keynote address at the Asia Security Summit, conceded that the war in Iraq war has been controversial.
“But regardless of what you think about how we got where we are, it is terribly important not to get the end game wrong in Iraq, because the consequences for the whole Middle East, and frankly, I think, for the world, are quite dire if we do,” he said.
Gates cited “broad, if often grudging, admission” that progress has been made in the past year since the strategy supported by the troop surge took hold.
“My hope is that the situation in Iraq will continue to improve,” he said. He said she shares Army Gen. David H. Petreaus’ goal, stated during his confirmation hearings for the top U.S. Central Command post, that the United States will be in a position to continue troop drawdowns this fall. Over time, he said, the United States expects to see a “transition of mission,” with the Iraqis assuming more roles currently carried out by the U.S. military.
The growing concerns in the world energy market about the risks of a supply crunch have been a critical factor behind the recent surge in oil prices to a new record of US$135/barrel. Speculators are betting huge sums on the assumption that the oil market (and other primary energy markets) will remain tight for many years to come, owing to the inelasticity of demand and to the constraints on long-term supply. Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, is doing its bit to allay these concerns, but has acknowledged that once its current crop of oilfield projects is complete in around 2013, there will be little scope for further capacity increases. Similar strains are evident in most of the other major oil-producing countries. One significant exception is Iraq, which holds (at least) 10% of the world's proven reserves, but accounts for only 2.5% of total production. Iraq has the potential to furnish a long-term solution to the oil market's long-term supply problem, but it will need to improve dramatically on its recent performance before buyers of oil futures will be convinced that it can deliver.
All about oil
If history had been kinder, Iraq could now be producing at a comparable level to Saudi Arabia. Instead, three wars, 13 years of sanctions and five years of internal conflict have eroded Iraq's oil infrastructure and human capital. However, Iraq also has a history of recovery. Production peaked at over 3.5m barrels/day (b/d) in 1980 on the eve of the Iran-Iraq war, but then averaged less than half that level during the eight-year war. It had nearly recovered to 3.5m b/d in 1990, after which the invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent UN sanctions severely limited exports, and hence production. In the five years before the US-led invasion of 2003, the sanctions regime gradually permitted greater exports, and production was often above 2.5m b/d. However, it fluctuated considerably due to the impact of years of underinvestment, restrictions on the import of spare parts and isolation from the international oil industry.
This volatility in production has continued in post-Saddam Iraq, although the average level has usually been below 2m b/d, and only exceeded the immediate pre-war level of 2.3m b/d for the first time at the end of 2007. Operations have been frequently disrupted by events ranging from the bombing of pipelines to the murder of oil workers. Moreover, the competition between political factions for influence at every level in the industry—as well as widespread corruption—has not provided suitable conditions for a revival of the industry. There is even concern that damage may have been caused to some fields in order to maintain production at modest levels.
Things may be changing. Iraq's deputy prime minister, Barham Salih, said in April that Iraq's total reserves, could be as high as 350bn barrels, triple the 115bn that has been its officially stated level for many years. The figure is aspirational and should be treated carefully but, given that there has been barely any new exploration of Iraq's promising geology in 30 years, an upward revision of the official reserves figure seems long overdue. This underlines Iraq's uniquely large reserves-to-production (RP) ratio, which was already the world's highest and, based on Mr Salih's estimate and at the expected production level of 2.3m b/d in 2008, would stand at a remarkable 415 years (compared with a world average of about 40 years). If Iraq were able to achieve the average Middle East RP-ratio of 80 years then it would be pumping 4m b/d based on the current reserves, and 12m b/d based on Salih's aspirational estimate. Getting there would take some time, around five years for 4m b/d and probably more than 20 years for the most optimistic level. It would also require Iraq to achieve a sufficient degree of stability. However, if there are promising signs of progress over the next 18 months, then it might be enough to mitigate fears of shortages next decade and dampen the futures market.
Fair share
The issue on which everything hinges is the basis on which Iraq's oil will be developed. Although at its height in the 1970s, Iraq's national oil industry would have had the capacity to implement a significant part of the exploration and development needed, it has been severely eroded since then. Therefore, it is widely recognised that foreign expertise will be needed, but Iraqis are split on two important issues which have so far held back progress. The first is whether the development and operation of the oil sector will be managed entirely from Baghdad or also at a regional level, particularly in the Kurdish region. The second is the terms under which international oil companies (IOCs) will be invited to participate. In particular, the idea of production-sharing contracts (PSCs) has aroused such considerable opposition—from parliamentarians and oil workers' unions who believe that Iraq should fund the development itself (particularly now that there is a large budget surplus)—that the government has apparently backtracked. These controversies have blocked the ratification in parliament of a national hydrocarbons law which was first approved by the cabinet in February 2007. Although no draft has so far emerged that elicits a majority of support, it may yet pass this summer as part of a bundle of laws.
Stop-gaps
In the meantime, the oil minister, Hussein Shahristani, announced plans in January for a series of two-year technical service agreements to upgrade five existing fields by 100,000 b/d each. This is a relatively uncontroversial first step, simply paying IOCs for their services without granting them any claims on revenues or reserves—but none of the contracts have yet been finalised. Then, in mid-April, Iraq released a long-delayed list of 35 IOCs initially approved to bid for more substantial long-term contracts covering exploration, development and production. Theoretically, bidding on the first round of contracts could be complete by the end of the year, and if Iraq—or at least the regions containing the respective oil fields—is sufficiently stable, then work could begin soon afterwards. However, there is a significant risk that this timeline could slip due to bureaucracy and possibly to political shifts following the provincial elections in October.
Kurdish exception
In contrast to delays at the national level, there has been a great deal of activity in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. The Iraqi Kurds had long felt that their region had been deliberately deprived of an oil industry by successive governments in Baghdad, and therefore pressed ahead with development in their essentially autonomous region. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) began drawing in IOCs both because it had little capacity itself and also to provide some international leverage in the inevitable confrontation with Baghdad. Given their weak position and limited finances, the KRG has been happy to sign PSCs, and the first oil well was drilled by Norwegian company DNO in 2006 and now produces about 7,000 b/d. It has signed PSCs with other IOCs including Canada's Western Oil Sands, the UK's Sterling Energy and most recently with Niko Resources of Canada in May. Also, in frustration at the failure to agree a national hydrocarbons law, the KRG passed its own in August 2007. Until now most oil majors have avoided the KRG because of the potential backlash from Baghdad, demonstrated by the fact that companies such as the Korea National Oil Corp that have signed contracts with the Kurds were explicitly excluded from the list of 35 approved IOCs.
Hurdles
Although there is some way to go, 2008 may be seen as the year in which Iraq's oil industry began to recover and, when the markets recognise this, it may take some of the edge off the oil price. However, given Iraq's history of dashed expectations, it would be unwise to factor major production increases into oil supply projections until Iraq has passed a series of important tests. One of these is whether the Iraqi army will be able to maintain security as the US draws down its troops. Another is whether the rival Shia movements led by Muqtada al-Sadr and Abdel-Aziz al Hakim can make the transition from street fighting to purely political competition—an issue that will probably not be resolved until the next general election in December 2009. Finally, the KRG and the rest of Iraq will need to conclude that it is worth reaching a compromise on Kirkuk (the disputed northern province that contains Iraq's largest oilfield) and regional autonomy in order to share in the benefits that a major expansion in the oil industry will bring.
The US military, unappreciated but STILL.. doing a great job:
==
Iraq: US military captures roadside bomb suspect north of Baghdad
Monday, June 02, 2008
BAGHDAD - The U.S. military says a criminal suspected of manufacturing and planting roadside bombs has been captured northwest of Baghdad.
A statement issued Monday says the suspect is responsible for the bombing deaths of several Iraqi soldiers and civilians. He's also allegedly connected to the bombing of a bridge north of the capital that killed several Iraqis last year.
The military says soldiers with the 25th Infantry Division captured the man Saturday in Tarmiyah, 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Baghdad.
Thanks for the stories, timbitts and Carole.
For you two and the board...
About putting your Dinar into a safety deposit box..
I know you are Canadian, timbitts, but I know some people in Canada who also had theirs seized..
so this article is applicable to you as well.
Think about it.. wouldn't suddenly MILLIONS in assets be very... tempting?
When I read something this eye opening.. it is worth sharing.
Also when the Dinar hits.. where will you put your valuables you collect?
(Carole, note the references to California..)
Not-So-Safe-Deposit Boxes: States Seize Citizens' Property to Balance Their Budgets
Resources to Search for Unclaimed Property in Your Name
By ELISABETH LEAMY
May 12, 2008
The 50 U.S. states are holding more than $32 billion worth of unclaimed property that they're supposed to safeguard for their citizens. But a "Good Morning America" investigation found some states aggressively seize property that isn't really unclaimed and then use the money -- your money -- to balance their budgets.
Unclaimed property consists of things like forgotten apartment security deposits, uncashed dividend checks and safe-deposit boxes abandoned when an elderly relative dies.
Banks and other businesses are required to turn that property over to the state for safekeeping. The problem is that the states return less than a quarter of unclaimed property to the rightful owners.
Not-So-Safe-Deposit Boxes
San Francisco resident Carla Ruff's safe-deposit box was drilled, seized, and turned over to the state of California, marked "owner unknown."
"I was appalled," Ruff said. "I felt violated."
Unknown? Carla's name was right on documents in the box at the Noe Valley Bank of America location. So was her address -- a house about six blocks from the bank. Carla had a checking account at the bank, too -- still does -- and receives regular statements. Plus, she has receipts showing she's the kind of person who paid her box rental fee. And yet, she says nobody ever notified her.
"They are zealously uncovering accounts that are not unclaimed," Ruff said.
To make matters worse, Ruff discovered the loss when she went to her box to retrieve important paperwork she needed because her husband was dying. Those papers had been shredded.
And that's not all. Her great-grandmother's precious natural pearls and other jewelry had been auctioned off. They were sold for just $1,800, even though they were appraised for $82,500.
"These things were things that she gave to me," Ruff said. "I valued them because I loved her."
Bank of America told ABC News it deeply regrets the situation and appreciates the difficulty of what Mrs. Ruff was going through. The bank has reached a settlement with Ruff and continues to update its unclaimed property procedures as laws change.
California's Class Action Lawsuit
Ruff is not alone. Attorney Bill Palmer represents her and countless other citizens in a class action lawsuit against the state of California.
"They figured the safety-deposit box was safer than keeping it under the mattress," Palmer said. "In the case of a lot of citizens, they were wrong, weren't they?"
California law used to say property was unclaimed if the rightful owner had had no contact with the business for 15 years. But during various state budget crises, the waiting period was reduced to seven years, and then five, and then three. Legislators even tried for one year. Why? Because the state wanted to use that free money.
"That's absolutely correct," said California State Controller John Chiang, who inherited the situation when he came into office. "What we've done here over the last two decades has been dead wrong. We've kept the property and not provided owners with the opportunities -- the best opportunities -- to get their property back."
Chiang now faces the daunting task of returning $5.1 billion worth of unclaimed property to people. Some states keep their unclaimed property in a special trust fund and only tap into the interest they earn on it. But California dumps the money into the general fund -- and spends it.
"It's supposed to be segregated and protected," Palmer said. "California has taken all of that $5.1 billion and has used it as a massive loan."
California became so addicted to spending people's money, that, for years, it simply stopped sending notices to the rightful owners. ABC News obtained a 1996 internal memo in which the lawyer for the Bureau of Unclaimed Property argued against expanding programs to notify rightful owners. He wrote, "It could well result in additional claims of monies that would otherwise flow into the general fund."
Seizing More Than Safe-Deposit Boxes
It's not just safe-deposit boxes. A British man went to retire and discovered the $4 million in U.S. stock he had been counting on had been seized and sold for $200,000 years earlier -- even though he was in touch with the company about other matters.
A Sacramento family lost out on railroad land rights their ancestors had owned for generations -- also sold off as unclaimed property.
"If I had hung onto it, I would be a millionaire, multimillionaire," said John Whitley. "But that didn't happen because we didn't get to hold it."
State Reforms
California's unclaimed property program was so out of control that, last year, the courts issued injunctions barring the state from seizing any more property until it made reforms. Since then, Chiang has taken several steps to try to clean up the program.
For example, the state now sends notices alerting citizens about unclaimed property before it is handed over to the state -- the only state to do so. Once unclaimed property is delivered to the state, it is now held for several months while the state tries to contact the owners, rather than it being immediately sold off or destroyed.
Which raises the question, in the Internet era, is anybody really lost anymore? California and other states are just beginning to make use of modern databases that can find most anyone in minutes. Unfortunately, California only uses those databases to search after it has already seized a citizen's property.
If California does get better at locating people, that could present another challenge. Remember, right now, the state spends the money.
"It's like the last guy in line at a pizza parlor," Palmer criticized. "There is only so much pizza. At the end, when I get up to the counter to claim my pizza, there may be no pizza for me."
California's fiscal problems are legendary and once again in the news, so it's reasonable to question whether the state can afford to repay its citizens if a bunch of them surface at once.
"There is always going to be money to give the owners when they make their claim, " Chiang insisted. "I don't want my legacy to say I continued a broken program. I want my legacy to be 'this guy was the guy who truly cared about the people and returned their money.'"
California is not the only state to come under fire for its handling of unclaimed property. In Delaware, unclaimed property is the third largest source of state revenue. Idaho recently passed an unprecedented law that says the state gets to keep unclaimed property permanently if the rightful owners don't claim it within 10 short years. And all 50 states pay private contractors 10 to 12 percent commissions to locate and seize accounts for them. It's an inherent conflict of interest: the more rightful owners are found, the less money the contractors make.
Of course, there are some states who handle their people's property with respect. Oregon never takes title to unclaimed property. Instead, it holds it in a perpetual trust fund.
Colorado uses the interest on its unclaimed property fund to pay for some state programs, but leaves the principal untouched.
Missouri, Iowa and Kansas make extra efforts to reunite people with their property –even setting up booths at state fairs to get the word out. The State of Maryland actively compares the names on unclaimed accounts with state income tax records. If it finds a match, the state simply cuts a check and sends it to the citizen.
Protecting Your Property
So, the question for citizens is, how do you protect yourself?
Make contact with your bank, your brokerage firm, etc. at least once a year, in a way that creates a paper trail. Make sure they have your current address.
If you own stock, occasionally vote your proxies or take other steps to keep your stock ownership active. Stay in touch with your broker.
Write a list of all your accounts and keep it with your will, so your heirs will know where to look.
Consider insuring valuables even if you keep them in your safe-deposit box. That way, you're covered financially if the bank or state makes a mistake and empties your box. Plus, safe-deposit contents have been known to be destroyed by fire or flooding.
If you want to search for unclaimed property in your name, you do not need to pay other people to do it for you. Check out the following links for more information:
National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators
www.missingmoney.com
Comments:
1) The same thing happened to my grandfather about 25 years ago in Oklahoma. He went to his safety deposit box to check on some bonds that he had put in there several years before. To his surprise they were gone. His safety deposit box was empty. He never did find out what happened to his bonds. We still don't know. He had been paying the rent on his box every year.
Posted by:
carlyonsue 1:28 AM
2) Unclaimed property going to the state due to no activity? How about finding the box missing 3 or so months after you last accessed your box? No one at * could help nor did they know where the box was. Told to come back on Monday only to be told that the manager is on the phone, can you return on Tuesday. The manager amazing found the tin in another bin (of course the cash and jewelry were gone) a few days after the incident. Filing a police report (nothing they can do, a bank matter), talking to the FBI (nothing they can do unless it was a bank account), talking to an attorney (an uphill battle, how can you prove what you had in there). Only after writing the CEO; the regional manager who "investigated" the matter said they were not liable, the customer must have placed the tin in the wrong location, but offered $500. Subpoena for employees (one allegedly was no longer there, how convenient) and bank documents to show up for small claims court brought on delay tactics by their lawyers which postponed court dates but generated another offer for $6500 (they said they weren't liable, right?) which victim refused. The battle pursued to the date of court, but the bank's legal rep said they wouldn’t fight it & would pay the $7500 max for small claims; therefore the case wouldn't go before the judge since they were willing to pay the max. The judge never got to hear what happened (perhaps a mistake on the victim's part) but he didn't feel he had any other recourse at that point. $7500 didn't cover the total lost but he would not have gotten that if he had given up. Apparently banks can do whatever they please and get away with it. Valuables buried in the ground in New Orleans before Katrina flood water is safer than safe deposit boxes at *.
Posted by:
savethewetlands May-12
3) My mother just experienced the same in April of this year with *. She is a retiree and she spends the winters in Alabama. When she came back to NY and went into the bank to get a piece of jewlery she was told that her safe deposit box had been drilled and all of her belongings (40years) had been removed. Visibly upset the bank told her that she had signed over the contents in Jan of 07 when she told them that it was a lie and repeatedly asked for proof they called the police to have her from the bank because she was causing a disturbance and interfering with their ability to conduct business. After getting my mother to calm down a bit (not have a stroke or heart attack) I called the bank and was told that that the branch manager was out of the office and they could not start an investigation until she came back . I left several messages with 7 on your side to try to get help and still have not gotten a call back. We got a lawyer and my mother was able to get the contents of her box back, but we are still are trying to track down her annuities and she lost her life insurance all because no one changed her address in the system. Can you imagine the look on a 73 year olds face when they go into the bank to check their box and are casualy told that it was drilled and the contents which is their entire life savings has been removed. My mother has a support system, but what about other seniors are out there that has happned to and have no family to hold the banks accountable for their actions. I hope this investigation continues and the banks are forced to stop taking advantage of retirees. Its not right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! People work a lifetime and put their trust in the banks only to be betrayed by them.
Posted by:
nybeauty18 May-12
4) I kids had stock in a bank in California affiliated with Bank Of America and now I can't find anyone to help me locate it. We have the stock paper work but no one seems to know what happen to it. How can we find out?
Posted by:
evaerlich May-12
5) My recently deceased father left over $42,000 in Savings & other accounts at * with my brother named as Trustee. An unauthorized family member with NO legal standing, not named on the account or was not a check signer was able to get Bank of America to empty/raid my deceased fathers accounts. Now I am holding thousands of dollars of my dad's final medical expenses with no funds to pay for them. My dad took pride in paying his bills on time and had a perfect credit record. He stated my times prior to his death that his final expenses were to be paid and them the balance of any monies to be split among children. * took it upon themselves to disperse his money how they saw fit, disregard the names on the account and totally abuse the trust my dad had put in them to safekeep his hard earned money. Now we have to pay thousands in legal fees we don't have to get the money back, seek criminal prosecution against that family member and all because * is a giant in the banking industry and we are just "the little people". In searching for legal aid I found a Class Action Lawsuit against * filed in October 2004 for the very same thing they did to us. What can we do to stop this from happening to others...Their arrogance is amazing. They are so big and have endless resources they can cheat and steal from anyone not paying attention or violate all forms of trust. Can someone help us?
Posted by:
lrrios May-12
6) We also lost - albeit temporarily - the contents of our B of A safe deposit box a couple years ago. When I went to access our box at the branch where we hold mulitple accounts, key in hand, I was told we didn't have a box. The manager told me to be quiet and he would check, which he did later that day and found the contents of our box ready to be shipped off to the state. Occupant Unknown was written on the outside of the envelope which contained stock certificates and the deed to our house - obviously with our names readily observable. The lock had been changed because it showed no one was paying on the account - and we weren't because years before we had been given the free box because we held accounts with the branch, so I was never surprised when I didn't get a bil - because we never had. I was relieved to retrieve the papers, that also included my husband's discharge papers. A close call that could have been a disaster, especially if something unforseen had happend to us and our kids had needed to access all the papers.
Posted by:
Raywood Housewife May-12
7) g4girl - I feel you. I used a Virginia state site & found that my mom had some unclaimed property. After a few exchanges back & forth I filled out the necessary form online & got a standard reply stating that there was a backlog. Well of course over time I forgot about it and it was only after cleaning out old email files a year later that I remembered that my claim was never addressed. So after a few more emails back & forth they finally sent my mom her money. They definitely don't make it easy and you have to ride them in order to get the property.
Posted by:
tmoney22193 May-12
8) Shame on them for stealing peoples things. Yes, people should keep up with their goods but in the case of the woman who lived 6 blocks away from the bank, paid her safety deposit box rent and all of the papers had her name and address on them, that was just flat-out stealing. You can't go into a bank and pick-up someone's laptop from their desk while they are on vacation and say it's unclaimed, that's stealing! They stole that land and these peoples valuables. Shame on all involved, you knew better.
Posted by:
TJusteace May-12
9) Bank of America. Been there. Done that. Never again.
Posted by:
monicahais May-12
10) garryowen777: Maybe you should reread the article. People are being rob by states like California due that the states want money that they're going so far to said property is unclaimed when in fact it's clear who are the owners. That woman despite for years have an account in the bank and her name and address in the safety box have her valuables removed and marked as 'unclaimed'. This type of practice has to stop. It's robbery!
Posted by:
jupmod May-12
Thanks for your comments, Carole. I'm generally a fairly conservative investor, but with the Dinar, I don't think my conservative investment philosophy makes much sense.
Here's why:
The reason I say this, has to do with how I view common sense. Most of the time when people say that something is too good to be true, they're right. That's because for most situations in life, what tends to happen is not all that exciting. Most people are quite ordinary and lead ordinary lives. Most situations are humdrum. Most people who are reasonably intelligent will be presented with very ordinary investment opportunities, the vast majority of the time.
Extraordinary things don't happen, most of the time. Most people can't run a 4 minute mile. Most people can't jump, pivot and shoot, in a basketball game, like Michael Jordon. I used to play ice hockey, as a kid. I was pretty ordinary. Most hockey players are quite average, in ability. I read once that only about 1 hockey player, in 100,000 ever make the National Hockey League. I suspect the same averages apply to basketball, and other sports.
Extraordinary investment opportunities are just like that. They don't come up, all that often. They really don't. But the thing is, occassionally they really do. And if a person is clever enough to recognize opportunity, and take advantage at the right time, you can benefit.
Let me tell you a story, to illustrate this:
My friend, Mitch, is an example of that. Mitch was born into a very poor family. His father died young, leaving the mother destitute. She was forced to live off public welfare. Now Mitch left home, quite young. He didn't even finish high school. But Mitch is quite clever. He moved to Alberta about twenty-five years ago, and worked as a plumber. At the time, oil-rich Alberta was having a hard time, financially. Due to the Liberal government in Ottawa that had an exccessive taxation policy, confiscating much of Alberta's wealth, Alberta entered a severe economic crash, and recession, during the early 1990s. The value of real estate plummetted. A house that formerly cost $150,000, suddenly cost $50,000. Quite a bargain. Mitch had a steady job, and bought a cheap and modest house. Prices recovered a few years later, and Mitch was benefitting from his investment. Twenty years later, Mitch had nearly paid off his house. Keeping up with economic news, over the years, he sensed another boom was headed Alberta's way. So he took his initial investment equity, and flipped up houses three times, each time to a larger and larger house. This was possible, of course, because Mitch was hardworking, and reasonably shrewd, as a self-employed plumber, and probably made the same income level as a chartered general accountant.
So, the recent boom hit Alberta, due to the development of oil resources in northern Alberta. Calgary, being the business centre, benefitted. Mitch chose his real estate carefully, and bought some nice property, on two acres, on the outskirts of the city, with a view of the Rocky Mountains. And that's how my friend Mitch, with a grade 10 education, raised on public welfare, ended up living in a $2.1 million dollar house, with a beautiful view of the mountains.
Which is extraordinary, if you think about it. How many high school dropouts, raised on welfare, end up living in multi-million dollar houses?
Now, Mitch's wife is from Nova Scotia. She misses her family some times. Most of them, including her parents, are back in Halifax. Mitch and Sarah have one daughter, who's grown up, and going to university, back east. So Mitch and Sara decided to sell their house, at the height of the real estate boom, which was a little over a year ago here in Alberta. They are now living in Nova Scotia, and are quite happy about the move.
Tax laws being what they are, in Canada, homeowners don't have to pay capital gains tax, on the sale of a principle residence. So what that meant was, for that couple, they ended up with about $2 million in equity. As it turns out, compared to Alberta, real estate is quite cheap in Nova Scotia. For $150,000 and careful shopping, you can buy a nice house to live in, in a rural location. Since Mitch and Sara both love the country side, are now retired, at around age 50, that is what they decided to do. They bought a lovely farmhouse.
And Mitch, the high school dropout, who never went to university, and was raised on welfare, by a single mother with a grade 8 education, is a retired multi-millionaire before age 50.
Now, this is the sort of thing that does not happen every day, but it does, in fact, happen. In Mitch's case, the keys were buying at the right time, when prices were low, sensing future economic opportunity, and planning to take advantage of it, with good timing.
All of which we are trying to do here.
So, getting back to common sense, I think it's fair to recognize that extraordinary things do not happen every day. Probably 99% of high school dropouts do not end up, multi-millionaires. But a few do, due mostly to good timing and having the sense to take advantage of a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Now, I would guess, if a person ever did any sort of formal study, and statistical analysis, of a wide variety of investment opportunities, they would find a pattern that went something like this: The vast majority of investment would pay very ordinary returns. This would agree with most people's real world experience. In the pile of investments, there would be a fair number of really poor investments, that paid a low level of return. I'd guess maybe twenty percent would fall into this category. Then there would be maybe 10-20 percent of the investment pile, that paid a fairly high rate of return. And, if the pile of investments were large enough, there would be a few investments that paid off extraordinarily well.
Those are the investments I look for.
There's an old saying, 'if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.' Well, that makes good sense. That's because, statistically, most investments simply do not generate a high rate of return. In other words, common sense tells us that the vast majority of investments do not generate an extremely high rate of return. They don't. We all know that.
But, as I said, in a previous post, I'm interested in "human oddities", which are really, can be thought of as, statistical variations, from the norm. In other words, I've always been interested in looking for situations and occurances that are completely outside of the broad statistical norm.
And I think that the Iraqi Dinar is one of those situations. Due to a set of extraordinary circumstances, their currency is valued far lower than common sense would dictate.
And getting back to my conservative investment philosophy, I will stick to this philosophy, because it has done quite well for me. And since most investments are quite ordinary, a conservative investment philosophy aligns with that statistical truth, that most investments are average. Why take risks, all of the time, when most of the time, it's not worth it, since most investments will pay a humble rate of return? It makes no sense. That's why I, very very seldom buy riskier investments. I work too hard for my money to do that.
And that conservative philosophy makes sense, most of the time. However, variations in human norms being what they are, occasionally there will be an extraordinary investment opportunity come along. And what should common sense tell us, in that situation? First of all, check it out, very carefully, because the old addage really does apply most of the time, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
So, along that line, I have spent several years, part time, checking out this opportunity. For instance, while taking a break from this site, I spent hundreds of hours researching about the oil industry, worlwide, all with a perpective to try to figure out what role Iraq will play, in the future of world energy markets. And I came away from that quest thoroughly convinced that Iraq has an incredibly bright future, will be extremely wealthy. Which means the Dinar will be highly valued.
So, I feel I have done my due diligence, in looking at and analysing an investment opportunity that sounds too good to be true. Most once in a lifetime opportunities sound too good to be true, and they are, in fact. This one sounds too good to be true, but I believe it is, in fact, a once in a lifetime opportunity, that will pay off.
So, common sense tells me to look very carefully, at all investment opportunities that come along. I always do that. It tells me, occasionally something will come along that sounds extraordinary. The Dinar came along. Common sense tells me, most things that sound extraordinary, run the risk of being frauds, so you better check things out, very carefully. I've done that, and the Dinar has passed my skeptical internal fact and reality checker.
And finally, common sense tells me, once they have passed my skepticism internal fact checker, there are some investments that are so extraordinary, that if they are true, and pay off, and if I did not try to take advantage of the opportunity, and if the investment did in fact, pay off, extraordinarily well, and if I "missed the boat", that I would regret it the rest of my life.
That too, is a cost. Most people measure only, what they might lose, if an investment would fail. Many people would not invest in the Dinar, and risk, say, ten thousand dollars, because they would regret losing that money. They'd say, they could have taken a couple of very nice trips, with that money. But what about the risk of losing several million dollars, if the investment succeeds? Many people don't measure that risk, but that risk seems quite real to me. And that, Carole, is a risk I am not willing to take.
That being the case, why not invest in the Dinar? Most of my investments are quite conservative, always have been, always will be. But I can look for extraordinary opportunities, every now and then, because I will never risk the bulk of my capital. I'm not betting the farm, on this investment, Carole. Only the tractor.
That way, if this investment does not turn out, I will have had, a lot of fun, reading and learning about something that interests me, for thousands of hours. Since I get a lot of enjoyment out of it, even if the investment fails, I still feel like it was a success, because I spent a part of my life doing something I quite enjoy.
And if the investment does, in fact, pay off, as I suspect it will, then I will have the time of my life, in other ways. I am extremely curious about the world, and a great many things, and I intend to use a lot of my time travelling the world, learning and reading.
So, on this particular investment, I am throwing caution to the wind, being brave, and hoping for the best, while preparing for the worst.
McCain hits Obama on Iran, Iraq
Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor
June 2, 2008
John McCain went directly after Barack Obama today before a key pro-Israel group on Middle East policy.
Before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's policy conference, the presumptive Republican nominee hit the likely Democratic nominee for voting against declaring Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. McCain, and Obama's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, voted for the resolution, which critics said gave the Bush administration too much license to consider military action.
"Over three quarters of the Senate supported this obvious step, but not Senator Obama," McCain said, according to prepared remarks. "He opposed this resolution because its support for countering Iranian influence in Iraq was, he said, a 'wrong message nt only to the world, but also to the region.' But here, too, he is mistaken. Holding Iran’s influence in check, and holding a terrorist organization accountable, sends exactly the right message -- to Iran, to the region and to the world."
"It’s worth recalling that America’s progress in Iraq is the direct result of the new strategy that Senator Obama opposed," McCain said. "It was the strategy he predicted would fail, when he voted cut off funds for our forces in Iraq. He now says he intends to withdraw combat troops from Iraq -- one to two brigades per month until they are all removed. He will do so regardless of the conditions in Iraq, regardless of the consequences for our national security, regardless of Israel’s security, and in disregard of the best advice of our commanders on the ground.
"This course would surely result in a catastrophe," McCain continued. "If our troops are ordered to make a forced retreat, we risk all-out civil war, genocide, and a failed state in the heart of the Middle East. Al Qaeda terrorists would rejoice in the defeat of the United States."
AIPAC is an influential group among Jewish voters, whom McCain is courting and whom Obama has been trying to reassure. In recent polls, Obama has not been faring as well among them as recent Democratic presidential candidates.
Baghdad, KRG to resume oil Talks Baghdad and Kurdistan governments will resume negotiations over the oil law.
01 June 2008 (United Press International)
The Iraqi central and Kurdistan regional governments will resume negotiations over the oil law and key issues in early June.
Falah Mustafa Bakir, the head of the Kurdistan Regional Government's Department of Foreign Relations, told UPI "there is better understanding" after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki launched the incursion into Basra and the Kurdish leadership backed him.
"It created a positive atmosphere in Baghdad," he said.
Kurdistan Regional Government, KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and Maliki will meet, as will their respective delegations, including KRG Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami and Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani.
The two energy ministers have butted heads over the KRG's signing its own exploration and production deals with foreign companies and a dispute as to what the oil law should look like.
"The KRG is determined to go ahead and contribute positively in order to have a hydrocarbon law, based on our belief that the private sector and foreign investment can be a good impetus and good incentive to enhance the economy," Bakir said. "We believe that our approach, which is a free market oriented, market economy approach, would help Iraq at this stage."
Many outside the semiautonomous Kurdish region favor to some extent the continuation of a more centralized and nationalized oil sector.
Bakir said the two prime ministers agreed that the February 2007 draft of the oil law would be under negotiation, and that all of the oil-related laws and issues would be sent to Parliament as a package.
These are the hydrocarbons law, the revenue sharing law, the laws re-establishing the Iraq National Oil Co. and reorganizing the Ministry of Oil, and a list of oil fields and exploration blocks that determine whether they are controlled by the central or local governments.
Tim,
Very inspiring and well thought out. You are correct about ordinary investments bring ordinary results. Which for stability, is great.
I too have my ears perk up when something seems like a riskier but very possible outcome. The attraction to the Dinar is the low cost.
Of course as well as all the other amenities that could attach itself.
Having said that.....what do you think about the Vietnamese Dong?
Sara,
Thanks for articles on Safe Deposit boxes. I have no confidence in Banks at that and a few other levels.
In 1978, I was awarded a large lawsuit settlement. I put the money in the bank. MY MONEY! A year later, we decided to take advantage of the "gold rush" going on at that time. I went to the bank to withdraw 25k and ws told I would have to order the money and that it would be several days before it would arrive. I WAS DUMBFOUNDED! I had just read the book "How to Survive the Money Crash", where similar predictions of banks controling your money. So I was in a panic! I told the Bank Operations officer I want ed to take all of my money out.
When I got home, I called my lawyer and the LA Times to tell my story. I spoke to the Financial Editor, who snickered and said I had every right to be skeptical and scarred, mostly hecause American Savings was in the process of being acquired by another bank within the next few weeks.
I held my breath for 10 days until I could pick up my cash.....which I had 2 carry out in 2 briefcases ( cause I wanted some small bills too). They were so upset with me and said it looked very suspicious. I was insistant on doing it my way. They wanted to write me a cashiers chec..but knowing what I did about the bank changing hands, I didn't dare.
Since then, the only money transactions Ihave with banks is a household checking account. I have bought several short term( never more than a year) CD's. I have never had more money in the bank than is insured by govt. ( BTW did you know thaat your bank only inusres 100k, even if you have more than one account and it adds up to more than 100k)
The only money or valuables I have in my house are very secured by a vault that would cut your arm off if you ever tried to steal it,,,,lol (remember my husband is a cop!)The rest is in realestate, and tax free municipal bonds.
Banks are dangerous! and Credit unions 100 x's worse!
Of course I was raised by a father that had a 5th grade education, from the old country, that kept his money "under the matress". He was a body and fender man until he saw opporotunity to buy his own body shop......one of those guys Tim was talking about. He died very wealthy leaving his family well taken care of while accomplishing all the things in life he wanted to do. He retired at 53 and him and mom had a lot of fun. I don't remember him taking any financial risks, and I have often said he would turn over in his grave if he knew what we were all dong with the dinar....but who really knows?
The one thing we all really can be sure of is that no mater how smart or dunb we may have been financially in this lifetime....no one gets to leave this planet with a penny.....soooooo with that in mind, I have always tried to make my money count for something more than networth.....like vacation memories with family,, and helping those not so fortunate. My dad was a very generous man, and God rewarded him. But my maternal grandmother was very poor, but gave all she had to help someone in need....she was a remarkable woman and had a funeral procession equvialent to royalty.
She had a lifelong dream to be able to go to a bus stop and give away a million dollars to a poor old lady waiting for a busd to go to work, as well as buy everyone a car at the bus stop.
I have fantasized that maybe, just maybe i MIGHT FUFILL PART OF HER DREAM.....we'll see :)
A side note, my dad would always see to it that my grandmother ( his mother-in law) was comfortable...but he never lavished her because he complained "she gives everything away"..........and I'm sure that made God smile!
You asked about the Vietnamese Dong. In my opinion, stay away from it. Currently the country is experiencing 20% inflation. The communist regime in Viet Nam will continue to keep the currency artifically low because of the inherent need to keep exports high.
The dollar showing signs of weekness against other currencies is still strong against the Dong. Stay away! Your skepticism about the Dinar would turn into outright depression if you invested in Dong.
Interesting comments and stories lately. :)
An enjoyable read.
Today I posted the words of John McCain where he said of Obama:
"He now says he intends to withdraw combat troops from Iraq -- one to two brigades per month until they are all removed. He will do so regardless of the conditions in Iraq, regardless of the consequences for our national security, regardless of Israel’s security, and in disregard of the best advice of our commanders on the ground. This course would surely result in a catastrophe," McCain continued, "If our troops are ordered to make a forced retreat, we risk all-out civil war, genocide, and a failed state in the heart of the Middle East. Al Qaeda terrorists would rejoice in the defeat of the United States." (end quote)
Because the consequences of electing this man are so dire for Iraq - an "all-out civil war, genocide, and a failed state" - and this would greatly affect our investment in the Dinar, I felt it worthwhile to note to you that I heard today that Obama has left his church, as it appears politically expedient to do so. Here is the article I found on it.. and a few of the comments on what it shows about him and his style of leadership:
===
Obama resigns from controversial church
May 31, 2008 Sen. Obama resigned from his controversial church, according to his campaign.
(CNN) — Barack Obama resigned Saturday from his Chicago church — where controversial sermons by his former pastor and other ministers had created repeated political headaches for the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination — his campaign confirmed.
The resignation comes days after the Rev. Michael Pfleger, a visiting Catholic priest, mocked Obama's Democratic rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, for crying in New Hampshire during the runup to the primary there.
Previously, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright — former pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ and Obama's minister for about 20 years — drew unwanted attention for the campaign when videos of several of his fiery sermons surfaced.
In them, Wright suggested the U.S. government may be responsible for the spread of AIDS in the black community and equated some American wartime activities to terrorism.
Obama has said he was not present for the controversial sermons by Wright or Pfleger and had condemned both — most recently saying he was "deeply disappointed" by Pfleger's "divisive, backward-looking rhetoric."
I didn't see the speech...I saw that it was coming on and thought oh, good grief, another speech! Can't this guy do anything without a speech!? And I decided that was a good time to go upstairs and vacuum. LOL
Did he really say he was "protecting" the church? From what, bad publicity? So they can continue their racist rants without outsiders looking on?
Oh, right, he's not doing it for his own benefit; it's just one more selfless sacrifice by the Obamessiah.
What a load of hogwash. It's about time he quit; but he should have said he decided that their cultural beliefs weren't his beliefs any more you know, what with wanting to bring people together and all....
If he were really honest, he would have pulled a Clinton and said "to preserve my viability within the system." LOL
2) Campaign of Cutting Losses by Gat New York
I have never seen a presidential candidate engaged in cutting losses as much as Obama has had to.
This guy has already thrown so many people under the bus - from his white grandmother to the entire congregation of his church - that he is going to need a fleet of buses because of how many more he will need to get rid of.
I agree that it will be a matter of time before he unloads his foreign policy advisors and eventually his wife.
The bottomline is that Mr. Hopey Changey lacks good judgement and has zero character. Scott McClellan would fit in perfectly in an Obama Administration.
3) No backbone or loyalty by Scrapiron
Just like McClellan he has proven to be a man without honor. I can see him running the country, something stinks badly in a town (church) so don't try to fix the stink, bury the entire town (church). That is leadership? I've thought since I heard of him that his only concern was the advancement of Islamic law in this country. Now he proves to be a phony Christian as many of us thought.
Old, Retired and glad of it.
4) He said something that will by ckc1227
He said something that will raise even more questions about his choice of this church in the first place. Some folks have tried to defend his choice by saying he only chose this church because of the political connections it would afford him. He categorically denied this when asked about it, stating that if that were his goal, there were bigger, better, more politically connected churches in Chicago he could have chosen. He said(or implied) he took offense to any such implication. So, Obama, if that isn't the reason, why did you choose a racist, hate-preaching church? Maybe some of us just refuse to see the forest for all the trees.
Also interesting is he isn't leaving the church for anything that goes on there, or anything being taught there, he's leaving because of all the media attention they are getting.
5) too late by paulnashtn
By resigning now Obama only draws more attention to why he stayed so close for so long and only NOW separates himself from a very racialy biased church and to the fact that he saw no need to separate himself for 20+ years
HOWEVER, if we now
criticize him for this past association we will be called racists
Carole, if I were you, I'd take Rob N's advice. Stay away from the Vietnamese currency, with a ten foot pole. I haven't looked into it much, but as far as I know, Rob is correct, and they have a communistic system of some kind. I have a very low opinion of communist ideas, so for that reason alone, I wouldn't touch it.
That being said, I have had a number of Vietnamese friends over the years, and I have a very high opinion of the capability of those people. After all, these are the same people who fought toe to toe with America, in the Vietnamese war, a few decades ago. That's no small feat.
I have taken an interest in the plight of the so-called Boat People, who came to America, from Vietnam, a couple of decades ago. Culturally, they have very strong family values, and value education and hard work an awful lot. I've been close to a few of their families, in the past. They really push their kids to excel, in school, and want their kids to go to university.
As a result, you will find many Vietnamese kids, on the honour roll, when they attend high school. You will find a lot of them at university. I remember a friend of mine, who spent some time attending UCLA, and his joke, at the time was, the call letters of that university, really mean "United Caucasians Lost among Asians"
I mean no ill will or disrespect with that joke. The joke just illustrates a real phenomena: different cultures have different values, and lifestyles, and the fact is, the drive for success in that community is very high. Far higher than the overall average in the Caucasian community, in my opinion.
What that means, in the future, is that when the day comes, when a group of bright, Western-educated Vietnamese take over the government of that country, and modernize and educate the people, the vast majority of whom are now uneducated, then Vietnam will have a bright future.
Sometime around that point, if it happens in my lifetime, and an embracing of capitalism happens there, I would definitely invest in the future of that country. Having followed the modernization of countries like South Korea, now mainland China, and Taiwan, and Singapore, it's obvious to even the casual observer that, if these regions get good government, with good ideas, and leaders who embrace modern education and capitalism, the sky is the limit for these countries.
Many economists say mainland China, which is embracing capitalism with a vengeance, will overtake the United States, as the world's leading economic power, in about 20-25 years. I think Vietnam will also be very successful eventually, but certainly not with leadership embracing communistic ideas. That's just a recipe for disaster.
Do you think the below comments of Mr. Ahmadinejad's are just empty words.. or a statement of his intents... what he is working toward?
Quote:
Ahmadinejad: Israel Will Soon Disappear
Monday, June 02, 2008
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad predicted that Muslims would uproot “satanic powers” and reaffirmed his prediction that the Jewish state will soon be wiped off the map, the Agence France-Presse news agency reported Monday.
"Today, the time for the fall of the satanic power of the United States has come and the countdown to the annihilation of the emperor of power and wealth has started," the hard-line president said.
Ahmadinejad is a devotee of the Mahdi, who Shiites believe disappeared more than a thousand years ago and will return to bring a new era of peace and harmony, the AFP reported.
Ahmadinejad has been forecasting the disappearance of Israel since taking office in 2005.
Hey Timbits, where you at!! I put that call out a few times when you left the blog for awhile. I don't post much but today I think I will. I'm a Vancouver Island boy Tim at 52. LOL The questions about the other dinar sites is interesting. Every site I know of is down except this one for me at this time. June 2/08/1445 hrs PST time. Even the secondary sites. Most of which only a hundred or so people were even able to visit to get the address on the original site before it too was ddos's or what ever they call these attacks. Apparently most of the links to Iraq's banking system are not working too well. Make's a person go hmmm... Concerning your opinion about the entertainment value of this investment..I know that I have gotten more than my investment in entertainment out of it. God knows how many hours of observing. I work in the oil patch in northern BC and Alberta and have for the last 15 years. I had two consultants, the guys that run drill and service rigs tell me about their dinar investments long before I actually bought any. Both of these guys had spent a lot of time working overseas in the ME. When I finally researched it over two years ago it was a No Brainer for me. Only if they try to rip off the many many people that have invested time and money in Iraq will we lose. And I am not too worried about that. The money of a country is only worth what the people of the world think it is. JMHO
I remember you. We were talking about Quebec separating from Canada. It didn't happen last time, but I keep hoping!!!lol. It's a running joke in my family, all Western Canadians. We got so sick of the whole debate, I'm sure you remember how it dragged on for years, that all my brothers and sisters, we all went out and got memberships, over the internet, in the Bloc Quebecois!! Imagine that. The kids thought it was quite funny. A bunch of Anglophone Western Canadian rednecks with memberships in the Bloc. We had a family gathering, everyone pulled out their membership, and we called it a Bloc Party. No ill will towards Quebecers, we were just honestly sick of the whole thing, and decided, hey, if you want to leave, I'll open the door, and give you ten bucks. Don't slam your....
Vancouver Island is a great place to be from. I spent a lot of time there. I've travelled the world, and I can tell you, the Island is still one of the top spots in the world, for my money. I've done the West Coast Trail a couple times, when I was a bit younger, and I've been salmon fishing in Tofino a few times.
One of my brothers spent some time in Tumbler, B.C., when there was some kind of mine up there, and I've wanted to get up there. Probably will this year. He keeps raving about what a great place it is, especially for outdoorsmen.
Yeh, you're right. The only way they could rip off the people, who invested in Iraq, is if the Iraqi government decided to rip us off. That's partly why I have always supported a continuing American military presence there. Nothing like a few soldiers around, to make everyone see the benefits of being "reasonable," as Tony Soprano might say.
I read an article in Conde Neste Magazine, last week about Kurdistan, and the oil boom there. They had pictures of Kurds standing in front of open pools of black oil. That's how much oil there is there. As an oilman, I'm sure you can appreciate the value of that. I see a movie in there somewhere? The Bagdhad Hillbillies?lol
"Listen to a story about a man named Ahmed
Poor Kurd barely kept his family fed,
Then one day he was shooting at Abdhul,
And out from the ground, came a bubblin' crude!
Oil that is. Kurdistan tea!"
(banjo music kicks in)
If you run into people from other sites, tell them to drop in here, whenever they want. Some of the best conversations have happened when there were new or different opinions. New voices are always welcome. We're pretty friendly here.
Kudos to the Dinar Admin for keeping this thing up and running.
Mr. A's words are not empty threats. I'm sure Washington takes them very seriously. One of my beefs against liberals is they can't seem to comprehend the evil side of reality. They lack moral imagination, or can only imagine good, not evil. Screwtape might have a thing or two to say about that, to his nephew....They think it couldn't possibly be, that someone would be that crazy, and evil. Perhaps Mr. A is simply misunderstood, or had a rough childhood, they might say. I hope cooler heads prevail eventually, in Iran, and I hope Mr. A gets the hook one way, or another.
I read an English version of Mein Kampf, when I was 21. It was the most disgusting and evil thing I have ever read. Ever since then, I take lunatics in high office, who say they want to murder people on the basis of their ethnicity or religion, very seriously.
I hope the American people have the good sense not to elect Obama. If there are enough good and sensible people, like yourself, expressing your opinion, then Mr. Obama will remain a senator. Keep doing, what you're doing.
I tried to convince my liberal sister the other day, that he was a bad choice. I didn't change her mind, but at least I made her think a bit.
I'd say the same thing, to anyone on this site. Whatever your beliefs, try to engage other people around you, at appropriate times, if the time and context is right, to question beliefs, and support and choices for political office. That's what it's all about.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki head a conference to drop Iraq's debts held on Thursday. The meeting aims to assess progress in implementing a plan approved last year to help rebuild the ailing economy of Iraq after five years of war. The United States is exercising pressure on the Sunni Arab governments to support Al-Maliki government through writing off the debts and open diplomatic missions.
The following are some details on Iraq's debts:
-- Over the last three years, Iraq was exempted from about $ 66.5 billion of the total foreign debts amounting to 120.2 billion dollars. With the participation of all members of the Paris Club, it dropped $ 42.3 billion including debts owed to Russia amounting to $ 12 billion dollars.
-- The Paris Club is an informal group of government creditors whose role is to help debtor countries to manage their debt.
-- A number of non-members of the Paris Club dropped a total of $ 8.2 billion of the debts, according to the Paris Club terms, while commercial creditors dropped $ 16 billion, according to the terms of the Paris Club as well.
-- Other members of the Club agreed to cancel 80 percent of Iraq's debts.
-- Estimates of the remaining debts:
$ 56.6 billion to 79.9 billion dollars include
Paris Club... 7.6 billion dollars.
Gulf Cooperation Council States... $ 32.4 billion to $ 55.4 billion.
Bilateral agreements outside the Paris Club... $ 646 million.
Other debts outside the Paris Club... $ 15.9 billion to $ 16.2 billion.
-- Debts dropped by some States:
United States... $ 4.1 billion
Japan... $ 6.8 billion
Germany... $ 5.6 billion
France... $ 5.1 billion
Russia... $ 12 billion
Italy... $ 2.4 billion
Bulgaria... $ 3.1 billion
Serbia, Slovenia and Bosnia... $ 2.2 billion
Romania... $ 2 billion
-- Saudi Arabia and Kuwait:
-- Last year, Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, said his country will cancel 80 percent of more than $ 15 billion owed them by Iraq.
-- In September last Ixave Musca, President of Paris Club, said that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait had not presented a report of Iraq's debts as done by the Paris Club in 2004.
-- The debt owed to Kuwait is about $ 15 billion.
(www.dinartrade.com)
Iraq Kurd PM says ready for power-sharing in Kirkuk
Tue Jun 3, 2008 7:41am EDT Email | Print | Share| Reprints | Single Page| Recommend (0) [-] Text [+]
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Iraq's Kurds to make Baghdad new offer on oil law
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Kurds, a minority in Iraq as a whole, see Kirkuk as their ancient capital and had led the push for a referendum to establish control. Arabs encouraged to move to Kirkuk under Saddam Hussein want it to stay under Baghdad's control.
The dispute could threaten the relative stability in the largely Kurdish north, spared some of the ravages suffered by the rest of the country, but it also resonates beyond Iraqi borders. Turkey fears extension of Kurdish control to Kirkuk and surrounding oil fields would spawn a wealthy, and hostile, Kurdish state that could foment separatism in its southeast.
Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said the Kurdish regional government that controls the north was pushing for a solution over the status of Kirkuk but that this did not necessarily have to come in the form of referendums proposed so far.
The Kurdish parliament voted in December for a six-month delay in a proposed referendum, partly to give the United Nations time to come up with proposals for settling the issue.
"In Kirkuk, as Kurds, we are ready for power-sharing," Barzani told Reuters in Dubai.
"We are pushing for a solution, not especially a referendum. We have asked the U.N. to be technically involved because the situation is complicated," he said.
A referendum had been due by the end of 2007 to decide the settlement of multi-ethnic Kirkuk's fate. There were fears a referendum could stoke ethnic conflict by delivering power to one side or the other, or lead to disruptive movements of population as groups manoeuvre for influence.
The U.N. special representative to Iraq, Staffan de Mistura, said in April a peaceful settlement must be found through a political formula and not a hastily organized referendum that could trigger violence.
(www.reuters.com)
Iraq's Kurds to make Baghdad new offer on oil law
Tue Jun 3, 2008 7:41am EDT Email | Print | Share| Reprints | Single Page| Recommend (0) [-] Text [+]
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DUBAI (Reuters) - Iraq's Kurdish regional government will make fresh proposals to Baghdad in two weeks to iron out differences over the federal oil law, the region's prime minister said on Tuesday.
Disputes between the largely autonomous northern region of Kurdistan and Baghdad have delayed the law for over a year. Iraq needs billions of dollars to modernize the oil industry and raise output after decades of sanctions and war, but uncertainty over the law has stalled international investment.
"Very soon, about two weeks from now, we will start negotiations to finalize the agreement," Barzani told reporters at a news conference in Dubai.
The two sides will discuss a package of proposals covering the oil law, revenue sharing, the functions of the oil ministry and the national oil company, Barzani added.
"It is important for all of Iraq," he said. "Without that law oil companies cannot come into Iraq."
Earlier, the Kurdish region's top energy official Ashti Hawrami said he hoped Iraq's parliament would pass the law this year.
Barzani said he would also hold talks with the federal government over Baghdad's decision to halt oil exports to Austria's OMV and South Korea's SK Energy after the companies signed oil deals with the Kurdish region. Baghdad claims the deals were illegal.
"We don't think they have the right to stop these deals," Barzani said.
Baghdad controls Iraq's export pipelines, and until the Kurdish region reaches an agreement with the federal government it is unable to produce more oil.
The Kurdish region was ready to pump 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, Barzani said. Actual output is just a few thousand bpd for the local market.
Norwegian producer DNO is producing from wells in the Kurdish region and has built a pipeline to hook up to Iraq's main northern export route to Turkey, but has yet to receive an export license from Baghdad.
Barzani said that the region was not exporting oil without Baghdad's consent. "We are not selling oil to anybody," he said.
The Kurdish region aims to raise output to 1 million bpd in around five years.
Iraq has the world's third largest oil reserves at around 115 billion barrels, although the country's deputy prime minister Barham Salih said in April reserves could be as much as 350 billion barrels.
Little exploration has been carried out in areas such as the Kurdish region. Hawrami estimated potential oil reserves in the region at around 45 billion barrels.
(www.reuters.com)
Shareef calls for national consensus to deal with agreement 03/06/2008 11:45:00
Baghdad (NINA)- MP Basim Shareef, of Fadheela bloc, 15 seats in parliament, has called political factions to reach a national consensus that allows dealing with the issue of the intended Iraqi-American long-term agreement
(www.ninanews.com)
Baghdad, 03 June 2008 (Kuwait News Agency (KUNA))
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US Iraq Envoy David Satterfield said here Monday Washington was very interested in bringing about success to negotiations with Baghdad for a long-term agreement.
Satterfield, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's Special Advisor and Coordinator for Iraq, made the remarks during a meeting with Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari at the latter's office in Baghdad, a government statement said.
Satterfield said the US government was keen on bringing success to the negotiations with Iraq in order to reach an agreement guaranteeing the interests of both countries and helped safeguarding the security and stability of Iraq.
The agreement aimed at giving a legal cover for the US forces' in Iraq beyond 2008.
Satterfield and Zebari discussed the state-of-play of the negotiations and how it was important to clinch the deal, said the statement.
They have also discussed the Iraqi government's efforts to strengthen human rights.
Some Iraqi political parties are opposed to the agreement because they believed it undermined the sovereignty and independence of Iraq.
(www.iraqupdates.com)
03 June 2008 (Iraq Directory)
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The Iraqi Body of Securities determined the controls of writing off listed companies in the stock market. A statement by the body, "the company will be written off when the trading volume of its shares is no more than 5% annually out of the number of issued shares, and for two consecutive years." It added, "another control is that the company should submit to the body and the market its closing accounts for the latest fiscal year, certified by the comptroller, for the purpose of identifying its financial situation, assets, reserves and its performance, for use in making the decision of the write-off."
The statement said, "the request of the company's withdraw from the market must be a substantiated decision by the General Authority of the company, and with the consent of at least 51% of the total number of shares of the company." It also stated that the company's board must commit to find a buyer for the shares offered for sale by shareholders during the period of one month from the date of the declaration; the price is based on the trading price for the last month or the last trading price, whichever is higher. The company must pay its full financial obligations to the Iraqi body and market for securities.
(www.iraqupdates.com)
Baghdad, 03 June 2008 (Voices of Iraq)
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A Baghdad-based newspaper gave prominence in its Tuesday issue to the long-term U.S.-Iraqi agreement, while another described a statement made by an Iraqi politician about linking Iraq's destiny to the future of foreign bodies as "unbalanced."
Al-Ittihad newspaper, the daily mouthpiece of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) led by Iraqi President Jalal al-Talabani, wrote about the controversial agreement between Iraq and the United States. The author of the article, Abdul Hadi Mahdi, said that the agreement has been a point of contention between different parties and will therefore be submitted to the Iraqi parliament for discussion and vote.
The agreement governs the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq after 2008 and will not come into force without the approval of the Iraqi parliament, which has 275 members from five blocs, in addition to the Sadrist movement and al-Fadhila party.
The author said that the Iraqi public should be made aware of the articles of the agreement because it concerns them in the first place, calling on politicians to adopt transparency while revealing the content of the long-term accord to them.
Dar al-Salam, the daily mouthpiece of the Islamic Iraqi Party led by Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, commented in its editorial on a statement made by an Iraqi politician in which he warned against the eruption of sectarian wars if Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama becomes president. The politician claimed that Obama will pull out his country's troops from Iraq as soon as possible, which he said will result in a power vacuum that competitive Iraqi forces will try to fill with the use of force, the editorial wrote, quoting the head of the Iraqi National Congress (INC), Ahmed al-Chalabi, during a public assembly.
The editorial described al-Chalabi's statement as "improper," arguing that it is very insulting to say that Americans are the "safety valve" that prevents the outbreak of a civil war in Iraq.
(www.iraqupdates.com)
Very encouraging news on debt relief. Quite an impressive list of countries releaving Iraq of debt. It shows a vote of confidence in Iraq's future by many governments. That gives me more confidence, as an investor. Just to state the obvious, countries don't forgive debt, unless there is somethin
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