Thread: Iraq/Dinar News. before Febuary 2nd 2006

International Relations

Iraq's Zebari urges neighbours to play "positive role"

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23 January 2007 (BBC Monitoring)
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Baghdad Al-Sharqiyah Television in Arabic is observed to carry reports on political developments in Iraq between its 1400 gmt and 1900 gmt newscasts on 22 January:

Al-Sharqiyah reports that Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has called on neighbouring countries, during a meeting with the new Turkish ambassador in Baghdad, to play "a positive role" in enhancing Iraq's security and stability. The report cites Zebari as saying that Iraq is ready to work on consolidating ties with Turkey.

Al-Sharqiyah also reports that Iraqi Oil Minister Husayn al-Shahristani denied that the decision to reduce Iraqi oil exports came in response to pressure from the Iranian Government, adding that the decision is a pure Iraqi decision. Al-Sharqiyah also airs a recorded telephone interview with Oil Ministry Spokesman Asim Jihad to comment on reports published this morning to the effect that the decision came in response to an Iranian demand. Jihad says: "I would like to stress that there is no coordination between Iraq and the Iranian side on the issue of reducing oil production. I would also like to deny what was reported by some news agencies on this issue." Jihad adds: "It is in the interest of Iraq to maintain the current oil prices.

The channel carries a report saying that Nasar al-Rubay'i, head of the Al-Sadr Bloc at the Iraqi Council of Representatives, asserted that the Al-Sadr trend returned to Parliament and the government, noting that the recommendations of the recently held negotiations on the Al-Sadr trend's demands were not "ideal."

It also reports that the Iraqi Council of Representatives, presided over by Speaker Mahmud al-Mashhadani, convened today, Monday, with "a large number of MPs" in attendance. The report notes that the MPs called for summoning Iraqi Defence Minister Muhammad Abd-al-Qadir al-Ubaydi to respond to "accusations" levelled against his ministry over its "failure to perform its duties."

Al-Sharqiyah airs a recorded telephone interview with Abd-al-Karim al-Samarra'i, deputy chairman of the Security Committee at the Iraqi Council of Representatives, who says the Defence Ministry will also be questioned on the outcome of its investigations into the kidnapping of the Education Ministry's employees and the Red Crescent employees.

At 1947 gmt, Al-Sharqiyah's correspondent Ali Muhsin, in Arbil, interviews Kurdish Parliament Speaker Adnan al-Mufti following a meeting the latter held with other Kurdish officials. Al-Mufti says that the meeting addressed several issues, including the security situation, "the serious escalation," the US strategy in Iraq, and the latest statements by Turkish officials on the Kurdistan Region and the issue of Kirkuk.

Al-Mufti says that the Iraqi Kurdistan Government rejects Turkish "threats" and deems them "unwarranted," noting that there should be no such "interference" and stressing that the "justifications" advanced for "this interference" are "groundless."

Source: Al-Sharqiyah TV, Dubai

Iraqi oil exports still below pre-war level January 22, 2007 - Iraq currently exports 1.9 million barrels of crude oil a day, still short of export average before the U.S.-led invasion of the country.
“As for oil exports we now ship to the outside world 1.9 million barrels daily,” Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani
He said Iraq’s oil industry was a victim of saboteurs and smugglers whom he blamed for the acute fuel shortages in the country and the low export levels.
In the months leading to the U.S. invasion, Iraqi exports stood at above 2.2 million barrels daily and output was expected to surpass 3 million barrels.
Shahristani said his ministry lost 289 employees to violence in 2006 only.
He said despite tough measures, smuggling was still a problem to grabble with.
Iraq, though sitting on massive oil reserves, currently relies on fuel imports to meet domestic needs.
But the minister said the imports were erratic as foreign contractors were failing to honor deals.
The upsurge in violence and daily attacks on fuel tankers have forced foreign contractors to leave and made difficult it for them to honor their contracts.
Kuwait and Turkey, the minister said, have suspended shipping fuel products to the country. There is some fuel coming from Iran but the quantities are insufficient, he said.
Azzaman
Created by admin
Last modified 2007-01-23 05:08 AM

Ok here's some of the article highlights i got off the iraq presidency newspaper site




Two-Maliki : The current year will witness a great development in the field of economy and political stability

2-Blair shuns parliamentary debate on Iraq.

5-Cabinet calls on neighboring countries to stop interfering in the Iraqi issue.


3-Kurdistan Parliament convened a special meeting

11. Conference
The first page
1-emphasizing the importance of adherence to the armed forces to national identity. Maliki : The current year will witness a development in the economy and political stability.


5-bloc chest welcome back to the government and Parliament. Government invites citizens to bet on Iraq and not on the neighboring countries.


10-the House of Representatives voted to join Iraq Ramallah marched to the Convention.

6-government of Kurdistan : not share it. BAGHDAD : Oil finished law. And objections to the Parliament.
(ok who can make sense of these words)

16. The statement
The first page
1-Prime Minister during his ceremonial military : The current year will witness a great development in the field of economy, political stability and the provision of services.


3-Maliki announced the launching of the plan of the approach (the imposition of the law) that would be applied in Baghdad.


4-Zebari called the neighboring countries to play a positive role in the security of Iraq.

6-deputies voted to postpone consideration of the law of rental property.

9-Minister of Finance : the new budget provided enough funds to the salaries of public servants and pensioners and to contain the problem of unemployment, counting explosive plan to build Iraq and raising the standard of living of citizens(THE NEW BUDGET PROVIDED>>>wonder if this was voted on????)

Bush Challenges Foes of Iraq Troop Plan By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent
18 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - A politically weakened President Bush implored a skeptical Congress Tuesday night to embrace his unpopular plan to send more U.S. troops to Iraq, saying it represents the best hope in a war America must not lose. "Give it a chance to work," he said.

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Facing a political showdown with Democrats and Republicans alike, Bush was unyielding on Iraq in his annual State of the Union address. He also sought to revive his troubled presidency with proposals to expand health insurance coverage and to slash gasoline consumption by 20 percent in a decade.

Democrats — and even some Republicans — scoffed at his Iraq policy.

"We need a new direction," said freshman Sen. Jim Webb, picked by the Democrats to deliver their response to Bush. "The majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought; nor does the majority of our military," said Webb, a Vietnam veteran opposed to Bush's invasion of Iraq.

Republican Sen. Norm Coleman (news, bio, voting record) of Minnesota, also took issue with Bush. "I can't tell you what the path to success is, but it's not what the president has put on the table," he said.

It was a night of political theater as Bush went before the first Democratic-controlled Congress in a dozen years with his lowest approval ratings in polls.

Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) of California, the first woman to lead the House, sat over Bush's shoulder, next to Vice President Dick Cheney. Reaching out to the Democrats, Bush opened with a tribute to Pelosi and paused to shake her hand. He also asked for prayers for Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson (news, bio, voting record), hospitalized for more than a month after suffering a brain hemorrhage, and Republican Georgia Rep. Charlie Norwood, suffering from cancer.

The speech audience included up to a dozen House and Senate members who have announced they are running for president or are considered possible contenders.

Bush divided his speech between domestic and foreign issues but the war was topic No. 1.

Pelosi set the tone for Democrats. She sat silently and did not applaud as Bush warned of high stakes in Iraq and said American forces must not step back before Baghdad is secure.

With Congress poised to deliver a stinging rebuke on his troop increase, he made a personal plea to lawmakers.

"I have spoken with many of you in person. I respect you and the arguments you made," Bush said. "We went into this largely united, in our assumptions and in our convictions. And whatever you voted for, you did not vote for failure."

"Our country is pursuing a new strategy in Iraq and I ask you to give it a chance to work," Bush said. "And I ask you to support our troops in the field and those on their way."

He said the Iraq war had changed dramatically with the outbreak of sectarian warfare and reprisals.

"This is not the fight we entered in Iraq, but it is the fight we are in," the president said. "Every one of us wishes that this war were over and won. Yet it would not be like us to leave our promises unkept, our friends abandoned and our own security at risk.

"Ladies and gentlemen: On this day, at this hour, it is still within our power to shape the outcome of this battle," the president said. "So let us find our resolve and turn events toward victory."

Key Republicans have joined Democrats in drafting resolutions of opposition to the plans he announced two weeks ago to send an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq. Bush said his approach had the best chance to succeed, but clearly many lawmakers — and overwhelming majority of Americans — disagreed.

"Many in this chamber understand that America must not fail in Iraq because you understand that the consequences of failure would be grievous and far reaching," the president said. "If American forces step back before Baghdad is secure, the Iraqi government would be overrun by extremists on all sides."

In such a case, he forecast "an epic battle," Shiite extremists backed by Iran against Sunni extremists aided by al-Qaida and supporters of Saddam Hussein's government, leading to violence that could spread across the Middle East. "For America, this is a nightmare scenario," Bush said.

On domestic matters, he pressed Congress to help find ways to overhaul entitlements such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid before they impose huge problems for future generations.

"Somehow we have not found it in ourselves to act," he said. "So let us work together and do it now."

On immigration, too, the president made a plea to lawmakers that he has made before. Members of his own party were the main obstacle to success in that area — a fact Bush acknowledged even as he pressed for a better result now than Capitol Hill is run by Democrats more amenable to his ideas.

"Convictions run deep in this Capitol when it comes to immigration," he said. "Let us have a serious, civil and conclusive debate."

Bush said his energy proposals would cut American imports by the equivalent of 75 percent of the oil coming from the Middle East. His prescription, as always, relied primarily on market incentives and technological advances — not government mandates.

"America is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that will enable us to live our lives less dependent on oil," he said. "These technologies will help us become better stewards of the environment — and they will help us to confront the serious challenge of global climate change."

Bush called for changing the tax code to encourage more people not covered by medical insurance to buy a plan, and to discourage others from keeping the most costly health care plans.

Under Bush's proposal, employer-financed health care benefits would be considered taxable income after a deduction of $15,000 for families and $7,500 for individuals. Those buying their own plan would get the same deductions on their taxes.

The White House said 80 percent of workers with health insurance through their jobs would see a tax cut as a result of the change. But about 20 percent would see a tax increase — those workers whose health insurance cost more than the standard deduction.

"With this reform, more than 100 million men, women and children who are now covered by employer-provided insurance will benefit from lower tax bills," Bush said. "At the same time, this reform will level the playing field for those who do not get health insurance through their job."

The administration sought to make Bush's energy initiatives — in particular a 20 percent cut in gasoline usage by 2017 — an eye-catching centerpiece of his address, the one major element not revealed until hours before the speech. "It is in our vital interest to diversify America's energy supply, and the way forward is through technology," Bush said.

The cut would be achieved primarily through a sharp escalation in the amount of ethanol and other alternative fuels that the government mandates must be blended into the fuel supply. The rest would come from raising fuel economy standards for passenger cars, a plan that Bush has proposed in the past but failed to win from Congress.

Acknowledging that some would say such a drastic increase in alternative fuels is unrealistic, the White House argued that the new mandate — which would need approval from Congress — would spur investments in the industry and give technological research a boost.

While setting cutback goals, the president spurned appeals from environmentalists and some major corporations to impose mandatory ceilings on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in hopes of slowing climate change

A first step in Iraq
Posted 1/23/2007 7:56 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Subscribe to stories like this



Today, Congress takes an important step in what we believe is our constitutional responsibility to actively engage and debate the war in Iraq. We agree with the president that our previous strategy in Iraq was failing. Equally, we are convinced that to succeed in Iraq, America's objective and strategy must enjoy the support of the American people and a bipartisan support in Congress.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will vote on a resolution we introduced with our colleagues Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. The resolution says what we and many of our colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, believe: America should not deepen its military involvement in Iraq by sending more U.S. troops into the middle of a civil war. More troops in Baghdad will increase the likelihood of more American casualties and will not end the sectarian Iraqi massacres that are occurring every day.

Just as important, our resolution proposes an alternative. The primary objective of America's strategy should be to help Iraqis achieve a political settlement in Iraq, secure support for that settlement from Iraq's neighbors and refocus the mission of our remaining troops on achievable objectives. That is the only way to stop Shiites and Sunnis from killing each other and allow our troops to leave Iraq without leaving chaos behind.

Here are the main elements of our plan:

•Redeploy U.S. forces out of Iraq's cities with a more limited mission focused on defending Iraq's territorial integrity, counterterrorism, border control, and accelerated training of Iraqi forces;

•Transfer responsibility for internal security and halting sectarian violence to Iraqi forces under an appropriately expedited timeline;

•Continue to support Iraq's political process while making it clear that Iraqi leaders must make the political compromises necessary to help Iraq move forward;

•Engage Iraq's neighbors and the international community to build a regional framework to help support and sustain a political solution and national reconciliation.

Two weeks ago, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice presented the president's plan to the Foreign Relations Committee. The reaction from Democrats and Republicans alike ranged from profound skepticism to outright opposition.

A strong majority of the American people opposes sending more American troops into Iraq. So does a broad cross section of this country's leaders, military and civilian, as we have heard this month in hearings in Congress. In December, the Baker-Hamilton Commission issued a valuable report, suggesting a comprehensive strategy "to enable the United States to begin to move its combat forces out of Iraq responsibly" based on "new and enhanced diplomatic and political efforts in Iraq and the region."

Our fundamental objective is to build a bipartisan majority in Congress to support a U.S. policy on Iraq that stands the best chance of succeeding and bringing our men and women in uniform home.

We welcome debate of our resolution and proposed alternatives. The resolution by Sen. John Warner, R-Va., contributes to this debate. As we have made clear publicly and privately, we are prepared to adjust our resolution to help broaden bipartisan support. Ultimately, this debate will give every senator a chance to say where he or she stands.

We believe that the single most effective way for Congress to engage the president in developing a way forward in Iraq is to demonstrate the depth and breadth of bipartisan concern regarding his policy. The power of our resolution rests in its bipartisan foundation.

Iraq is not a partisan issue. It is a challenge that we must meet as Americans. No one in Congress and no one in America wants to see America defeated. We believe our nation is stronger when Congress fulfills its constitutional duty as a co-equal branch of government.

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., is a member of the committee.

[QUOTE=day dreamer;160838]Ok here's some of the article highlights i got off the iraq presidency newspaper site




3-Kurdistan Parliament convened a special meeting

6-government of Kurdistan : not share it. BAGHDAD : Oil finished law. And objections to the Parliament.
(ok who can make sense of these words)

Hi DD, I think this may have been the meeting my "Imaginary Boots on Ground" meeting my friends were doing security for. ( As per Bill knows nothing) They have still not gotten back to me on what the meeting was about they took care of a few days ago, but this doe's ad up somewhat to what I was told. I guess we will have to just wait and see.

Gloribee

[QUOTE=Gloribee;160845]

Originally Posted by day dreamer

Ok here's some of the article highlights i got off the iraq presidency newspaper site

3-Kurdistan Parliament convened a special meeting

6-government of Kurdistan : not share it. BAGHDAD : Oil finished law. And objections to the Parliament.
(ok who can make sense of these words)

Hi DD, I think this may have been the meeting my "Imaginary Boots on Ground" meeting my friends were doing security for. ( As per Bill knows nothing) They have still not gotten back to me on what the meeting was about they took care of a few days ago, but this doe's ad up somewhat to what I was told. I guess we will have to just wait and see.

Gloribee

sense of the words would be to me, 'oil' finished the law and the points of the law that are being disputed would be the objections to the parliament concerning the law.

Originally Posted by rvalreadydang

Shahrastani : oil sales will be distributed to all Iraqis

(صوت العراق) - 24-01-2007(Voice of Iraq) - 24-01-2007
ارسل هذا الموضوع لصديقThis issue was sent to a friend

في الأقاليم والمحافظاتIn the regions and governorates




File / agencies : said Hussein Shahrastani oil minister that the final draft of a bill to oil emphasize that the resources derived from oil sales will go to fund one centralized and distributed to all Iraqis in the provinces, prefectures and the proportion of the population and will restore law activity of the National Oil Company, which will be responsible for the development of the fields to increase production and exports and will be the oil industry, however, core competencies Iraqi keen to offer its expertise to the people.

.He added that the law would be offered contracts to big global oil companies after it had been verified and accepted Rassantha competition for the development of some fields to achieve the highest return to Iraq and the competition will be offered for all will look to the nationality of the company.
”.He explained, "must be qualified IT companies to develop our fields, as soon as possible and have the financial capacity to invest and verify Iraq's highest economic benefit and we do not have standards for the States involved in the war or are present in Iraq."
وأكد أن.He stressed that the Iraqi fields will be produced from the share of national oil company because the new law proved foundations and the development of policies and plans to develop the oil-balanced in all regions of Iraq and all political parties agree, everyone believes that this law a big achievement and national project.
وبين .He said the extensive discussion of the settled law on the composition of the federal oil and gas under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister or on behalf of the membership of the Ministers of oil, finance and planning, and others who will exercise the powers of contracts is the authority that decides the policies and plans of oil and models established contracts and the nature of the fields that will be offered to compete and to consider the contract and approval.

عراقيةThe Iraqi


This may be an updated version of the last article i saw like this, lol i can't tell anymore the way the stories keep changing, it is tommorrow's date though.
Translated version of http://www.sotaliraq.com/

umm, wouldnt a final draft be the one that is voted on???

ok, nm, i read on and see that it is going to cabinet then parliament. not long to get that dinar revalued before they open for business....

Originally Posted by rvalreadydang

hmmmmmmm, what happened to the vote on the budget?

PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!!!

The revitalization of the Iraqi trade with the countries of the world,

Source : The Iraqi Media Network southern region.
23 / 01 / 2007

The Ministry of Commerce has prepared a program to stimulate economic and trade relations with the countries of the world, and to benefit from its potential. An official source in the ministry in a press statement : 'The Department of Foreign Economic Relations of the Ministry prepared a program would improve Iraq's economic relations and trade with the countries of the world on the basis of mutual benefit, in addition to its relations with the countries that halted its relations with Iraq after 1990'. He added : 'The steps are part of the ministry's policy for the current year to coordinate the efforts of Iraqi ministries and bodies concerned with international organizations and international companies to standardize work in the service of the development of bilateral trade and the national economy
'. On the other hand, the ministry assigned some international companies competent to examine the goods to examine the foodstuffs in the loading ports in the country of origin in conjunction with the Iraqi technical ones to ensure the supply of high quality materials. The Almusdrali : 'that the import in the ministry would refrain from the purchase of goods equipped prove bad'. He added : "the follow-up commercial control agents and carriers to ensure that the replacement of material processed '.