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

IRAQ: Baghdad hospitals in crisis as they lack security and drugs, say specialists
28 Jan 2007 16:16:17 GMT
Source: IRIN
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Background
Iraq in turmoil
More BAGHDAD, 28 January (IRIN) - Hospitals and Primary Health Care Centres (PHCC) in Baghdad are facing a major crisis as a result of lack security and a shortage of medicine, equipment and specialised staff, say health specialists.

"A major problem affecting [Iraq's] health sector is definitely the country's desperate security situation," said Nada Doumani, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

"Armed men storm the operating theatres forcing doctors to treat their own patients, as a priority. Some patients insist on keeping their arms and masks, while being treated. This creates a traumatising situation for the doctors," she said.

Doumani added that as a result of insecurity, "More than half of the 34,000 registered doctors have recently left Iraq and hundreds have been killed. Medical staff are often considered soft targets by kidnappers."

Ministry of Health officials have also said that the number of doctors asking for prolonged unpaid leave was dramatically increasing.

"We are getting desperate with the number of doctors and pharmacists fleeing Iraq for security reasons or because the infrastructure is not offering them the necessary equipment and they lack security. We have urged them to assist in rebuilding our country but their response has not been positive. Instead, more professionals leave Iraq every day," said a spokesperson at the Ministry of Health who spoke on condition of anonymity.

In addition to insecurity the health sector has also been hit by a shortage of basic and more sophisticated medical items.

"The hospitals have not been maintained since the 1990s and very little investment has been put into the health sector," said Doumani.

Baghdad has 13 main hospitals in different areas of the city – all with emergency departments. It also has about 45 big PHCCs. Of the hospitals, only one, the Medical Centre City, is better equipped.

Ministry of Health officials have told IRIN that only one machine for Magnetic Resonance [used in detecting structural abnormalities of the body] is working in the whole of Baghdad and other three machines available in the city are in urgent need of repair.

"Our hospital is the main centre for emergency in Baghdad and most of our equipment is not functioning. These include devices for tomography and ultrasonography [ultrasound-based diagnostic imaging] which are essential for victims of accidents and explosions who are the most common patients these days," said Dr Ibraheem Maroof at Yarmouk Hospital.

Marouf added by saying that "At present we don't have needles to give injections or painkillers for patients who have sustained injuries caused in explosions or patients with chronic heart attacks."

The consequences for patients are dire.

"My wife died three months ago because of shortage of medicine at the hospitals and because I couldn't afford to buy her the required medicines from private pharmacies. We are a poor family and my salary is sometimes not enough to buy even food for my children. Today my daughter is at the hospital in need of urgent help and medicines," said Abu Zaineb, 42, a rubbish collector in Baghdad.

"I just pray that she doesn't become the next victim of our country's deteriorated health situation. People are dying everyday from violence but now from a bad health system too," Abu Zaineb added.

Some of the hospitals' infrastructure, especially sewage and water system, have also deteriorated and all hospitals in the city are in dire need of potable water.

"Our sewage system is not working properly and sometimes the bad odour seeps through into the patients' room. In the coming summer the situation will get much worse if the central government does not take action," said Dr Fauzi Ali, a cardiologist at Kadhmiyah Hospital.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/news...04fa670ab0.htm

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Sources: Operation Baghdad starts on February 5.
The preparations for Baghdad's security operations and the reactions of politicians, people and militant groups are still taking the most prominent headlines of local news in Iraq.

The head of one of the two city councils in Sadr city told AFP that he's ready to cooperate with the Iraqi forces in implementing the security plan. In the statement that appeared on al-Mada Kareem Hassan said "The presence of popular armed committees [Sadr militias] will end automatically when Iraqi forces enter the city because the need for the committees will cease to exist"

We talked earlier about insurgents and terrorists fleeing Baghdad to Diyala, and today there's another report about a similar migration, from al-Sabah:
Eyewitnesses in some volatile areas said that large numbers of militants have fled to Syria to avoid being trapped in the incoming security operations.
According to those witnesses, residents and shopkeepers are no longer concerned about militants whose existence in public used to bring on clashes that put the lives of civilians in danger.
A shopkeeper in al-Karkh [western Baghdad] said that many of them [militants] packed their stuff and headed to Syria to wait and see what the operations are going to be like.While experts consider this a failure in protecting the plan's secrecy which might lead to the loss of the surprise factor, they also say it indicates the seriousness and resolve in this plan that is already scaring away the militants. PM Maliki pointed out that seeing them run away is a good thing but he returned and said the security forces would chase them down everywhere after Baghdad is clear.
As we said in the last update, Maliki won unanimous support for his plan in the parliament and despite some opposition from the radical factions the major blocs are expressing their support and approval of the plan:
Spokesman of the Accord front Saleem Abdullah said after the session that the principles of the security plan have the approval of the front and "constitutes a quality leap toward serving Iraq's people".
Hussein al-Sha'lan of the Iraqi bloc stressed on the importance of cooperation among political powers to ensure the success of the plan which he called "realistic and well-thought".
Abdul Khaliq Zangana of the Kurdish alliance said the plan would deal a heavy blow to Iraq's enemies and put an end to the crimes of outlaws and their backers.

On the other hand citizens we talked to after the prime minister made his speech before the parliament say that there's no place for mistakes or weakness this time but they also seemed confident that Maliki has prepared the right tools for success.Meanwhile Azzaman says it learned from "informed sources in Baghdad" that major operations will start on the 5th of February. The anonymous sources, according to Azzaman, said that operations against leaders of militant groups and vital targets will be performed to as part of the preparations for major operations that will start on the first week of February.

Immediately after president Bush authorized the US military to capture and kill Iran's agents who are involved in the violence in Iraq, the Iranian Khalq opposition group released a list with the names of 31,000 Iraqis the group said are paid agents for Tehran operating in Iraq, story in the same report linked above.
Jawad Dberan the spokesman of the national council of Iranian resistance, the political wing of Khalq duing a press conference in Germany, accused Tehran of sending weapons and millions of dollars in cash to Iraq every month.
According to Azzaman which quoted from Jawad's statement, that list includes only elements who were directly recruited by the Quds force in Iran. The list is said to provide the Arabic and Farsi names of recruits, their monthly payment in Iranian money along with the code name they use during operations.

Finally, fierce clashes erupted early this morning between US and Iraqi forces with a large group of militants northeast of Najaf. News reports are giving contradicting accounts on the identity of those militants; on the one hand we have the Washington Post and Reuters say they are Sunni insurgents.
On the other hand the Iraqi website Sot al-Iraq says they are a radical Shia group who call themselves "Jama'at Ahmed al-Hassan" or the followers of Ahmed al-Hassan and that their leader, Ahmed al-Hassan claims to be the messenger of Imam Mehdi. An Iraqi journalist from Najaf told a similar story on the phone to al-Jazeera and said the group is a radical Islamist one that was formed after the fall of Saddam's regime.

A Najaf police spokesman, colonel Ali Jrew told al-Hurra TV that the name of the group is "Soldiers of Heavn" and that their leader's name is Abu Gumar al-Yamani and explained "This terrorist group was planning to kill a number of senior clerics and they claim Imam Mehdi is going to appear soon…our action was based on intelligence we gathered recently and we had arrest warrants". The BBC is still not sure of the group's identity.

I'm personally more inclined to believe the story of the two Iraqi sources. After all it's hard to believe that Sunni insurgents could establish a base that hosts several hundreds of armed men this close to Najaf.

Translated version of http://www.azzaman.com/index.asp?fname=2007%5C01%5C01-26%5C999.htm&storytitle=
______________

High inflation and economic vision to curb unchecked
بغداد- ينا
Baghdad - Linas

والمستهلك فرصا جيا
An economic expert confirmed that inflation is endemic of the problems that beset much of the economic issues which now requires moves to control it before it is too late. He said Dr. Kareem Abdul-Razzaq of the Center of Studies and Economic Research in a statement Sunday : "The causes of inflation in Iraq have nothing to do with the nature of economic resources such as oil and other natural resources or stop export operations Awastenavha, but linked Bamurkthirh contributed to the escalation, the first of the security situation deteriorating in addition to the absence of effective operational plans to control it." He added : "The feet of the former regime to issue local currency disregard for the planning, programming correct heavily burdened Iraq, which contributed to the manipulation of the World Bank on the current Iraqi government to raise fuel prices for the downfall." He pointed out : "There are steps to curb inflation which direction to determine growth rates in the currency bloc and coordination with the Ministry of Finance to open the auction for remittances treasury, and an auction of the dollar, and interest rates, as well as the practical and scientific procedures followed in the advanced countries of the world." He added : "The lifting of the exchange value of the dinar against the dollar is an important factor in the development of the Iraqi economy, including allowing each consumer and investor opportunities to make their own decisions and therefore helps to improve prices and the elimination of the phenomenon of serious inflation gradually



Link Translated version of جريدة المواطن العراقية
__1-29-07 Article, Lifting the exchange rate
________________

January 25, 2007
Encouraging signs in Iraq
Greg Richards

Nibras Kazimi has a column in today's (Thursday January 25, 2007) New York Sun titled "Turnaround in Baghdad." His thesis is that we are making real progress in Iraq:

The wider Sunni insurgency - the groups beyond Al Qaeda - is being slowly, and surely, defeated.
Kazimi is a skeptic about the reputation of Geneeral Petraeus, seeing severe flaws in the execution of his two previous assignments in Iraq, but nevertheless thinks that he may reap the benefit of progress that is already evident. He thinks the turning point came in the fall:

Last October, my sources began telling me about rumblings among the insurgent strategists suggesting that their murderous endeavor was about to run out of steam.
Read the whole thing.

Is there any other evidence to support Kazimi's scenario? We here at AT have been pointing to the remarkable surge in the value of the Iraqi dinar that started at about the same time and has continued right through today. Since the September/October period, as can be seen in the chart, the Iraqi dinar has gained about 14% in value, a very large move for a currency.

Following an initial slide in value, the dinar had been essentially flat since its introduction by the Coalition Provisional Authority in October 2003. So the move since September represents a real change in its status. Why has it advanced in value? One reason is doubtless the increase in the interest rate - the Policy Rate - by the Central Bank of Iraq from 12% in September to 20% recently.

But this cannot be the whole reason, nor even the principal reason. Why? Because if there were real fear that the regime would fall, this would be nowhere near sufficient inducement to buy the dinar, which will be worthless if the regime does fall. What the increase in the value of the dinar very likely represents is a "voting with their feet" of the participants in the economy and an increase in the need for dinars for transactions within Iraq.

This increase in value coincides with Kazimi's hypothesis of a turning point in the military situation in October. Of course, there can be no guarantees on any of these points. But we, as citizens, want to strive to assemble our own mosaic on Iraq and not be panicked about the future when we may, after considerable sacrifice and effort, be finally cresting the peak of the hill there.

Donors, UN map plan to rebuild Iraq
Email Print Normal font Large font January 29, 2007

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AdvertisementForeign donors and the United Nations are close to agreeing on steps Iraq must take to secure funds for rebuilding the country, US Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt said at the weekend.

Iraq had expected billions of dollars in foreign funds after a US-led invasion toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003. But relentless bombings and kidnappings have kept foreign companies away.

Mr Kimmitt said the 13-member group working with Iraq and the UN was laying out a road map for funding reconstruction.

"Once a list of Iraqi commitments are concluded, it will then turn to what the international community can do to bridge the gap between Iraq's ability to pay for its needs and the needs of its people," Mr Kimmitt said at the World Economic Forum. "I would imagine that would conclude in the months ahead. And then we are still working on Iraq's side of the model, which depends on its passing the hydrocarbons act," he said.

Iraq, which sits on the world's third-largest oil reserves, is working on legislation that would lay out how its oil wealth is distributed.

Iraq and the UN launched the International Compact for Iraq in September to seek aid from governments and multilateral organisations, while also encouraging private sector investment in its strategic oil industry.

Mr Kimmitt said Mr Bush's decision to send more troops to Iraq had not affected discussions among foreign donors.

He said that US President George Bush's budget, due for release next month, should give an early indication of how much it would contribute to the reconstruction of Iraq.
Donors, UN map plan to rebuild Iraq - Business - Business - theage.com.au

For Immediate Release
Office of the Vice President
January 28, 2007

Interview of the Vice President by Richard Wolffe, Newsweek Magazine
The Vice President's West Wing Office



Q Let's start with Iraq, if I may. There's a lot of skepticism on the Hill, even inside the administration about the Iraqi Prime Minister's abilities, desire to take down the militias. Some people have said the militias have put him into power, so why would he take them down or want to take them down. So what gives you the confidence to think that he can actually be up to the job?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I think we've got a lot of people who want to judge the success of the Maliki administration after some nine months in office. I think it's a little premature. I think he has been direct and forthright in responding to our concerns. I think there is some evidence that he's already beginning to act in terms of, for example, Iraqi forces rounding up as many as 600 members of the Jaish al Mahdi in the last couple of weeks. His commitment to us is to go after those who are responsible for the violence, whoever they may be -- whether they're Baathist or former regime elements or militia, Shia militia or criminal elements. And I think at this stage, we don't have any reason to doubt him.

Q You don't think it's a token gesture?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I think it's -- people are trying to make a judgment on whether or not this plan is going to work I think far too early. And I think in fairness to the Iraqis, they need to be given an opportunity to follow through on their commitments.

Q The President and I think you also have spoken about the possibility of regional war in case of American withdrawal, a chaos in Iraq, and I think the President referred to it as an epic battle between extremists. What's the basis for thinking that it would be a broader war? What lies behind that kind of analysis in your mind?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I think it's a concern that the current level of sectarian violence -- Shia on Sunni and Sunni on Shia violence would increase, and perhaps break out in other parts of the country. It's pretty well concentrated right now in the Baghdad area.

There are a lot of other concerns, as well, with what would happen if we were to withdraw from Iraq and do what many in the Democratic Party want us to do. It clearly would have, I think, consequences on a regional basis in terms of the efforts that we've mounted not only in Iraq, but also in Afghanistan and Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. This is a conflict that we're involved in on a wide variety of fronts in that part of the world. And hundreds of thousands of people literally have signed on in that battle to take on the al Qaeda or the al Qaeda types, in part because the United States is there, because we're committed, because we provide the leadership, and because we're working closely with people like President Musharraf in Pakistan, and Karzai in Afghanistan and so forth.

And a decision by the United States to withdraw from Iraq I think would have a direct negative impact on the efforts of all of those other folks who would say wait a minute, if the United States isn't willing to complete the task in Iraq that they may have to reconsider whether or not they're willing to put their lives on the line serving in the security forces in Afghanistan, for example, or taking important political positions in Afghanistan, or the work that the Saudis have done against the al Qaeda inside the kingdom.

All of a sudden, the United States which is the bulwark of security in that part of world would I think no longer -- could no longer be counted on by our friends and allies that have put so much into this struggle.

Q But would that encourage them to take a role in an Iraqi civil war? There's this idea that regional powers would step in.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: No, I think -- I think when you look at Iraq, you have to look at Iraq in the broader context. And you cannot evaluate the consequences of the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq only in terms of Iraq. You've got to look at it in terms of what it means in other parts of the globe, really.

Remember what the strategy is here for al Qaeda. Their strategy is that they can break our will. They can't beat us in a stand-up fight. They never have -- but they believe firmly because they talk about it all the time -- that they can, in fact, break the will of the American people and change our policies if they just kill enough Americans, or kill enough innocent civilians.

And they cite Beirut in 1983, and Mogadishu in 1993 as evidence of that, and then they see the debate here in the United States over whether or not we've got the right policy in Iraq, whether or not we ought to stay committed there as evidence reinforcing their view that, in fact, the United States can be forced to withdraw if they simply stay the course that they're on, that is to say the al Qaeda and the terrorist extremists stay the course that they're on.

So Iraq to some extent is a test of that basic fundamental proposition. Is their strategic view that we won't complete the job correct? Or is our strategic view correct, that we can, in fact, organize people in that part of the world, as well as use our forces in order to achieve a significant victory and defeat those elements that, among other things launched an attack on the United States on 9/11 and killed 3,000 Americans.

Q You've made the case that a collapsed Iraq would become a terrorist haven. The President has also said that. Al Qaeda is essentially --

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Look at what happened to Afghanistan.

Q But al Qaeda is essentially a new organization in Iraq, a Sunni organization and it has this element of foreign fighters. Isn't there a reason to think that if there was full-blown civil war, the Shia would essentially beat them and neutralize that as being a hostile force as they take control of the country?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: What's the basis for that?

Q There are more Shia.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, let's look at Afghanistan. In 1996, there were no al Qaeda in Afghanistan. That's when bin Laden moved in and found refuge there. A handful of Arabs, foreign fighters, if you will, subsequently opened up training camps, trained somewhere -- estimates range from 10,000 to 20,000 terrorists in the late '90s, developed a safe haven and a base of operations from which they blew up American embassies in East Africa, attacked the USS Cole, launched the planning and training for 9/11. That all took place in Afghanistan under circumstances that are similar to what you've just hypothesized about for Iraq.

Q Okay. Can we talk about Iran? You've traveled the region, you have extensive contact especially in the Gulf, the Saudis, what are you hearing about their concerns about Iran's rise, its role in the region now?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I think there's widespread concern throughout the region about Iran, and in particular, Iran under Ahmadinejad. I think a lot of people in the area -- I don't want to attribute this to any one particular government -- but a lot of people in the area feel directly threatened. They're concerned about Iran using surrogates such as the Syrians and Hezbollah, for example, in an effort to topple the government of Lebanon. They're concerned about Iran working through Hamas to prevent any progress of the peace process vis-a-vis Israel. They are concerned about sort of a struggle for leadership of the Islamic world between Shia and Iran and Sunnis elsewhere. They're concerned about Iran's drive to acquire nuclear weapons. And of course, there's a long history of Iran trying to asset itself as the dominant power in the region. It has been a theme that you can find running back several decades.

And one of the unique things I find now as I talk to representatives of governments from the region is they're all pretty much in agreement on that proposition -- greater agreement if you will among the folks in the region than I can recall on most other propositions in recent years.

Q Is there a concern from those allies that America is too tied down, too overwhelmed with the situation in Iraq to deal or have the capacity to deal with Iran?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I haven't seen that. I think most of the nations in that part of the world believe their security is supported, if you will, by the United States. They want us to have a major presence there. When we -- as the President did, for example, recently -- deploy another aircraft carrier task force to the Gulf, that sends a very strong signal to everybody in the region that the United States is here to stay, that we clearly have significant capabilities, and that we are working with friends and allies as well as the international organizations to deal with the Iranian threat.

Q That deployment I suppose raised another round of speculation inside Washington that military action was being worked on, that something was around the corner, can you see a scenario where air strikes on Iran would be justified?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I'm not going to speculate about --

Q It's my job.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: -- security action. You've got to ask, but the fact is we are doing what we can to try to resolve issues such as the nuclear question diplomatically through the United Nations, but we've also made it clear that we haven't taken any options off the table.

Q Can we switch to some politics right now? Politics of Iraq, especially. There has been little open support for the President's plan for extra troops in Iraq from the Republican Party. John Warner has obviously come out fairly strongly against it. Do you worry that the party has lost the stomach for the fight?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I think -- my sense of it is that the election results last November obviously represented a blow to our friends on the Hill, Republicans on the Hill -- to go from majority to minority status. I think a lot of members were concerned or felt that their political fortunes were adversely affected by our ongoing operations in Iraq.

My sense of it is that what's happened here now over the last few weeks is that the President has shored up his position with the speech he made a couple of weeks ago, specifically on Iraq. And I think the speech, frankly Tuesday night, the State of the Union address was one of his best. I think there's been a very positive reaction of people who saw the speech. And I think to some extent that's helped shore us up inside the party on the Hill.

Now, we haven't had a lot of votes yet. The one vote that we've seen was the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday where -- with the exception of Chuck Hagel -- the Republicans were united in opposing what Biden and Levin and so forth were suggesting. So I think at this stage, that most members on our side of the aisle recognize that what's ultimately going to count here isn't sort of all the hoorah that surrounds these proposals so much as it's what happens on the ground in Iraq. And we're not going to know that for a while yet.

We've got a very good man in Dave Petraeus going out to take command and I think a credible program. And the ultimate test will be how well it works.

Q Senator Hagel said some pretty harsh things about the administration yesterday. He said, there was no strategy. He said --

THE VICE PRESIDENT: It's not the first time.

Q Well, he said it was a -- the "ping-pong game with human beings." Do you have a reaction to that kind of comment?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I thought that Joe Lieberman's comments two days ago before -- it was when the Armed Services Committee had General Petraeus up for his confirmation hearings were very important. And Joe basically said that the plan deserved an opportunity to succeed that -- I think this was Joe, if it wasn't Joe, one of the other members did -- that we're sending General Petraeus out with probably a unanimous or near unanimous vote, and that it didn't make sense for Congress to simultaneously then pass a resolution disapproving of the strategy in Iraq.

There are consequences of what Congress does under these circumstances. And I thought Joe was effective in pointing out some of those consequences, both from the standpoint of our people who are putting their lives on the line and for the nation, as well as consequences from the standpoint of our adversaries.

Q So you don't think Senator Hagel -- and now you dodged completely responding to his comments -- but they're not helpful to the cause and to the mission?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Let's say I believe firmly in Ronald Reagan's 11th commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican. But it's very hard sometimes to adhere to that where Chuck Hagel is involved.

Q May I ask about public opinion here because a series of -- a succession of polls have shown this low level of support for the war, for the President's new plan, looking back, you made some comments before the war talking about being greeted as liberators. You weren't the only one. And of course, the early part of the invasion did go better than people expected. But do you think that people weren't sufficiently prepared, public opinion wasn't sufficiently prepared for the length of this conflict, for the difficulties involved? And do you have any regrets about your own role in preparing public opinion for that?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, we -- the comments I made were based on the best information we had. I think there's no question but what the struggle has gone on longer than we anticipated, especially in Baghdad, that the events such as the bombing of the Golden Dome in Samarra a year ago was a deliberate al Qaeda strategy that Zarqawi pursued, and it worked. He finally provoked the Shia to retaliate against the Sunni. Things like that, that have I think constituted setbacks.

It does not, though, lead me to conclude that what we're doing in terms of our overall effort, taking down Saddam Hussein's regime standing up a new democracy in Iraq isn't a worthy objective. I think it is. I think we have made significant progress. There's still a lot more to do -- no question about it.

But I guess, the other sense I have that the conflict we're involved in -- not just Iraq but on the broader basis against al Qaeda, against the threat that's represented by the extreme elements of Islam on a global basis now is going to go on for a long time. And it's not something that's going to end decisively, and there's not going to be a day when we can say, there, now we have a treaty, problem solved. It's a problem that I think will occupy our successors maybe for two or three or four administrations to come.

It is an existential conflict. It is, in fact, about the future of civilization on large parts of the globe, in terms of what's represented by al Qaeda and their associates. And it's very important that we recognize it's a long-term conflict, and we have to be engaged. There might have been a time when we could retreat behind our oceans and feel safe and secure and not worry about what was happening in other parts of the globe. But that day passed on 9/11.

And now, when we face the very real prospect that attacks can be mounted against the United States from various parts of the globe, including Europe -- remember, the last threat was out of the U.K. with airliners to be blown up over the Atlantic -- and where the possibility exists that the terrorists could next time have far deadlier weapons than anything they have used to date, this is a very serious problem. And the United States cannot afford not to prevail.

Q The question about the run-up to war, the weapons of mass destruction, do you feel that, in making -- do you feel that your credibility was hurt by that, and that, in a sense, no matter what the warnings are about this broader conflict, that, in some ways, getting beyond the run-up to the war and the eternal debate about the run-up to war, means it's harder to make the case about the broader threats now?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I have my own personal view. Obviously there was flawed intelligence prior to the war. We've seen reports from the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Robb-Silberman commission and so forth -- but that we should not let the fact of past problems in that area lead us to ignore the threat we face today and in the future. It would be a huge mistake.

And the -- in terms of whether or not it adversely affected public opinion, I think it clearly did, but that does not lead me to conclude that we didn't do the right thing when we went into Iraq and took down Saddam Hussein's regime, et cetera.

Q The media has this -- if not the media, public opinion has this caricature of you, the Darth Vader in the bat cave, and various things. You must be very familiar with that. Do you think you get a fair crack from the media?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Oh, I don't worry about it a lot. I'm at that stage in my life where I'm not running for any office. I'm here to do a job for the President of the United States. It's important that I tell people what I think -- and I do. And from the standpoint of the decisions the President makes and the way we try to conduct business, we don't worry a lot about the polls, what they say about us --

Q Or the newspapers?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: -- or the newspapers. If you've been around -- by the time I leave here, it will have been over 40 years since I arrived in Washington, and I've been praised when I didn't deserve it, and probably criticized when I didn't deserve it. And there aren't enough hours in the day for me to spend a lot of time worrying about my image.

Q Let me ask you about events going on at the courthouse down -- not far from here. We think it's fairly unprecedented that a sitting Vice President would testify --

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I'm not going to talk about the trial, obviously.

Q About your decision to testify, about the precedent?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Sorry, I'm not going to discuss it.

Q Had to ask. I just want to end -- because we're running short of time -- President Ford, his recent funeral, did it put you in a reflective mood about that period? Do you draw any parallels to now? What was the sort of overwhelming feeling as you thought about then and now, going through all the private and public moments surrounding the funeral?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I did think about, obviously, the President a lot as we went through that, really, week-long period of national mourning. I was, like I think a lot of us who were close to him and worked for him and are part of this administration, delighted to see the outpouring of tributes to his leadership, to what he represented to the country under very difficult circumstances, and praise for the tough, tough decisions he made -- in particular, for example, the pardon.

And I reflected back on where we'd been 30 years ago when, after he made those decisions and, obviously, suffered for it in the public opinion polls and the press, and how history judged him 30 years later very, very favorably because of what he'd done and because he had displayed those qualities of leadership and decisiveness, steadfastness, if you will, in the face of political opposition that became a hallmark of his administration.

Q Is there a parallel to now?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: There may well be.

Q One other question. Bob Woodward reported that President Ford thought you had justified the war wrongly, and that he agreed with Colin Powell that you developed a fever, I think was the word, about Saddam Hussein, about terrorism. Did you feel that was accurate? Did it surprise you?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I've never heard that from anybody but Bob Woodward.

Q And other comments that -- criticism from Scowcroft about not knowing you anymore -- people have got quite personal, people you worked with before. You wouldn't be human if it didn't have some reaction.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I'm Vice President and they're not. (Laughter.)

Q Thank you very much.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you.

END
Interview of the Vice President by Richard Wolffe, Newsweek Magazine

Iraq: $13 billion allocated for six Iraq projects


A statement released by the strategic reconstruction committee at the Ministry of Planning and Cooperative Development said that six projects have been approved from among 16 presented by Iraqi ministries, adding that $13 billion has been allocated to these projects including $6.5 billion in support of the International Compact for Iraq.

Other projects included programs to support displaced families, to support civil society organizations and to improve local authorities’ performance.
Source: Portal Iraq

LawkSalih.Com - $13 billion allocated for six Iraq projects

As for the role of the budget in raising the value of the dinar against the dollar, Azzubeidi said that a decision was made to raise the value of the dinar against the dollar in the budget, and the rate was determined purely by 1260 dinar, hoping to return to its normal state like the Gulf currency, as befits a country rich in oil and other wealth, and hoping to decrease the rate of the dollar to 1000 dinar during the three or four years.

1. A decision was made to raise the value of the dinar against the dollar in the budget

2. Hoping to return to its normal state like the Gulf currency

3. As befits a country rich in oil and other wealth

From these three points, we can see that the dinar will rise considerably in value when the budget is approved fairly soon now.

The currency will resemble closely something at least on an average of all the Gulf currencies or higher depending on the meaning of 'its' normal value'.

This would only be fitting for a country so rich in oil and other commodities.

Other information, such as 'the rate was determined purely by 1260 dinar' or 'hoping to decrease the rate of the dollar to 1000 dinar during the three or four years' have no relevance or connection (background clutter that cannot be correlated logically to the main points).

This news item is current and should be a source of great encouragement!

Originally Posted by archangel

Iraq: $13 billion allocated for six Iraq projects


A statement released by the strategic reconstruction committee at the Ministry of Planning and Cooperative Development said that six projects have been approved from among 16 presented by Iraqi ministries, adding that $13 billion has been allocated to these projects including $6.5 billion in support of the International Compact for Iraq.

Other projects included programs to support displaced families, to support civil society organizations and to improve local authorities’ performance.
Source: Portal Iraq

LawkSalih.Com - $13 billion allocated for six Iraq projects

OK....how can these projects be approved without a budget? And has anyone seen an article stating that the ICI has put forth cash such as this? ICI implemented....hmmm. I thought that donor countries were only getting involved after laws such as HCL was passed.

Isn't this
Getting
"Exciting Again".