Thread: Iraq/Dinar News until 5/23/07 Midnight CST

How will Iraq share the oil?
May 18 2007

In the US, the demand that Iraq pass an oil law is a 'benchmark' that is becoming a flashpoint.

Washington - The reason Iraq needs to pass a new oil law, President Bush has said, is to "share oil revenues among all of Iraq's citizens" – Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds – and to help unify the country.

It's a goal broadly supported in the US Congress and by the Iraq Study Group, whose 2006 report said such an oil law was needed, too, to "create a fiscal and legal framework for investment" in the industry.

But now the oil law's status as a US "benchmark" for progress in Iraq is emerging as a flash point in both Baghdad and Washington.

So far, the frustration on Capitol Hill is mainly over the Iraqi government's perceived foot-dragging in finishing the oil law, which US advisers had a hand in crafting. But resistance is also surfacing to the substance of the oil bill, especially whether its main effect will be to ensure international companies a lucrative role in Iraq's rich oil fields. With House and Senate conferees about to put their heads together on a new war-funding bill that includes benchmarks for progress in Iraq, the proposed oil legislation is beginning to come under closer scrutiny.

"While we can't confirm it, there are enough reports out there that appear to indicate that undue, unfair preference and the influence of our oil companies are part of the Iraqi hydrocarbon law, and if that is true, that is not correct," says Rep. Joe Sestak (D) of Pennsylvania, a former admiral and defense adviser to the Clinton administration. "The aim of benchmarks is to help the process along, but we need benchmarks that are appropriate for the Iraqis and the Americans – not just our economy but our ideals."

US firms as the major beneficiary?

Fueling new resistance to the oil benchmark are reports that the draft law in fact says little about sharing oil revenues among Iraqi groups and a lot about setting up a framework for investment that may be disadvantageous to Iraqis over the long term. On the flip side: Iraq's oil industry badly needs new investment, and oil companies are reluctant to go into Iraq without a legal framework that ensures that the contracts they sign will be respected by future Iraqi governments.

Last week, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D) of Ohio, who is a presidential candidate, led off opposition to the draft law in a letter to Democratic colleagues. On Thursday, a coalition of oil industry watchdog groups and peace activists called on Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Reid to drop the Iraqi oil law as a benchmark for progress in Iraq.

"If Democrats are perceived to be advocating withdrawal [of US troops] only after access to Iraqi oil has been assured, this will do little to reassure critics," says Steve Kretzmann, executive director of Oil Change International, a watchdog group that drafted the letter.

In an open letter to Democrats in the US Congress last week, Hasan Jum'a Awwad, head of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, echoed that view. He urged that lawmakers "not link withdrawal [of US troops] with the oil law, especially since the USA claimed that it came to Iraq as a liberator and not in order to control Iraq's resources."

For most US lawmakers, the delay in passing the oil law shows that Iraq's new leaders aren't making tough political choices about their country's future, such as how to fairly distribute Iraq's oil wealth among all Iraqi groups.

"The Iraqi government remains in a dangerous stalemate: No oil law," Senate majority leader Harry Reid said during a debate on war policy on Wednesday.

Why Iraqis don't want to rush

But in Baghdad, some Iraqi lawmakers say the oil issue is too vast and complex to rush. It should be the last issue – not one of the first – to be resolved, they say.

Moreover, Iraqi critics of the current draft law say it does not address the issues that US lawmakers think it does.

"The actual draft law has nothing to do with sharing the oil revenue," says former Iraqi oil minister Issam Al Chalabi, in a phone interview from Amman, Jordan. The law aims to set a framework for investment by outside oil companies, including favorable production-sharing agreements that are typically used to reward companies for taking on risk, he says.

"We know the oil is there. Geological studies have been made for decades on these oil fields, so why would we let them [international firms] have a share of the oil?" he adds. "Iraqis will say this is solid proof that Americans have staged the war ... because of this law."

On Feb. 26, Iraq's Cabinet approved the draft oil law, which was to be sent to parliament by March 15 – along with four annexes that provide the fine print, draft oil contracts, and a draft oil revenue-sharing law. The Bush administration wanted Iraq's parliament to approve the entire oil package by the end of May. But as of this week, not even the draft oil law has been submitted to parliament.

"The US talks about the sovereignty of Iraq, but why are they getting involved in this oil law?" asks Mohammed al-Dynee, member of parliament representing the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue, a Sunni group. He is in Washington to try to persuade Congress to drop calls for the oil law. "Even if this law can pass, which I doubt, it will remain ink on paper and will not be implemented on the ground."

An unofficial English translation of the draft law was first released on the website of the Kurdish Regional Government and has since been carried on oil industry watchdog sites such as Oil Change.

At least one 'red flag'

In New York, oil industry analyst Fadel Gheit of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. has reviewed both the official Arabic version of the draft law and the unofficial English translation and says they are ambiguous and seem to be written in haste.

"The law did not strike me as something that was explicitly designed to favor American companies, although I'm not ruling that out," he says.

But the stipulation that a new Federal Oil and Gas Council must include foreign participation did "raise a red flag," he says. Under the draft law, the council would carry out Iraqi oil policies and set criteria for foreign companies working in the industry.

"Why shouldn't Iraq use Iraqi nationals to decide how the contracts will be awarded? They have oil engineers. Use the best brains in the country and, hopefully. they will do what is in the best interest of the country," he says. "Otherwise, there's an impression that American companies are telling Iraqis what to do."

Foreign investment needed in Iraq

With the world's second-largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia, Iraq is the top prize in the international oil business. Iraq needs new foreign investment to help modernize its oil industry, which has been closed to new technology for the past 25 years, says Mr. Gheit.

But even with a new draft oil law, international oil companies won't be eager to send engineers into a nation in turmoil. "It's very difficult for oil companies to recruit people willing to work in the Iraqi oil fields. It's mayhem," he says.

"If the idea of the law is to expedite getting international oil [firms] to ... set up shop and invest money, they're mistaken," Gheit adds. "I doubt very much that any oil company will be willing to send geologists, engineers to be shot at, kidnapped, or beheaded."

In the 1990s, Saddam Hussein shifted Iraq's oil industry from production-sharing agreements, which gave foreign investors a substantial share in revenues, to service agreements, which limit such investors' profits.

"It's very important, as we said in the [Iraq Study Group] report, that the US not be seen as trying to seek control of that oil," says Lee Hamilton, a cochairman of the Iraq Study Group. "But that will be very difficult to achieve because of the mind-set in much of the region today that we went in because of the oil.... Most of the critics will not be persuaded by any rhetoric of the US but by a law that is drafted and implemented fairly."

How will Iraq share the oil? | csmonitor.com

What are Iraq’s Benchmarks?
May 15 2007

Introduction
Thus far Iraqi leaders have rejected calls from Washington for a timetable to achieve certain benchmarks as a precondition for U.S. military and financial support. President Bush, too, had shied away from attaching strings—or political benchmarks in Baghdad—to the U.S. funding of his surge plan to secure central Iraq. But earlier this month, the president admitted “it makes sense to have benchmarks as a part of our discussion on how to go forward.” These benchmarks include national reconciliation in Iraq, a reversal of a de-Baathification plan, and the passage of an oil law that equitably distributes revenues among the country’s warring factions. A progress report is expected by September from General David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, at which point lawmakers in Washington will reassess whether to curb additional emergency war funding or push for phased troop withdrawals.

What exactly is meant by ‘benchmarks’?
Sometimes referred to as “milestones,” benchmarks refer to specific objectives—or rather quantifiable measures of progress toward a future goal—for the Iraqi government to meet with regards to national reconciliation, security, economic performance, and governance. The goal of these benchmarks is to pressure Iraq’s leaders to make political progress and start taking over responsibility for security from American troops. “The purpose is to infuse a sense of urgency into the political process in Baghdad,” says Andrew Exum of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. This has been found lacking, he adds, as evidenced by Iraqi lawmakers’ recent push for a two-month summer vacation.

How does one define progress?
“I want to see life starting to come back,” Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT) tells the New York Times. “I want to see people in markets.” But others lawmakers are pressing for more specific metrics to gauge whether or not the surge is working. “The key question is: What have we won?” asks Exum. “Have we set the Iraqi government on a path toward stabilization or reconciliation? Or have we just won the right to stay in the country for another six months?” Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, dismisses specific metrics and points instead to one specific question: “[D]o the people in Baghdad feel more secure today?” he asked reporters last month. “If not, then all the other metrics may be of interest but aren’t as compelling as that one is to me.” One problem, argues W. Patrick Lang, former head of the Middle East section of the Defense Intelligence Agency, is that Iraqi and American lawmakers hold different interpretations of what progress means. “[Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki] thinks he is doing the right thing by consolidating Shiite Arab power in Iraq,” he says.

What are the specific benchmarks laid out?
Experts say benchmarks range in specificity and achievability. They include reaching an agreement on the status of Kirkuk, meeting certain economic criteria like a targeted annual growth of 10 percent (last year growth was just 4 percent), and reducing subsidies on energy and food, which cost Iraq’s economy roughly $11 billion per year, according to the Iraq Study Group. But the most-discussed benchmarks, as outlined in President Bush’s January 2007 speech, include:

Holding provincial elections. Because Sunnis mostly boycotted December 2005 provincial elections, local governments are primarily dominated by Shiites in the south and center and Kurds in the north. The Bush administration is pushing the Shiite-led government to hold fresh elections at the local level to reverse this imbalance, allow a Sunni buy-in, and pave the way toward greater reconciliation. But CFR Adjunct Senior Fellow Vali R. Nasr warns that provincial elections alone will not solve Iraq’s political woes. “The idea that elections will produce leaders you want to work with applies if you are working in a peaceful environment,” he says. “Unless the insurgents are running for office and come to the polls, it doesn’t matter.”

Passage of oil revenue-sharing law. An oil law drafted in February, as this Backgrounder outlines, has left Iraq’s leaders bitterly divided. It has drawn criticisms from Iraq’s Sunnis, who prefer a stronger role for the central government, and from Kurds, who prefer a stronger role for the regional authorities. The majority Shiites have sought to mollify the Sunnis by keeping control of Iraq’s oil sector in Baghdad, not the provinces. Most of Iraq’s oil rests in the Kurdish north or Shiite south, not in the Sunni heartland. The role of outside investors, as well as the classification of old versus new oil fields, also remains unsettled.The oil issue has sparked some disagreement in the U.S. Congress. Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) says the benchmark as stated in the bill before Congress calls primarily for the privatization of Iraq’s oil, not the equal redistribution of revenues. But others say the oil law, despite its flaws, is necessary for Iraqis to develop their untapped oil reserves and reap the profits.

Reversal of de-Baathification laws. White House officials have pressed the Maliki government to reverse laws that bar tens of thousands of low-to-mid-ranking ex-Baath Party officers from government posts. This move is part of a larger effort to make constitutional concessions to minority groups like Sunni Arabs but faces intense opposition from more conservative and religious Shiite members of Iraq’s parliament.

Amending Iraq’s constitution. The Sunnis favor an amendment to stanch the formal breakup of Iraq into regional states divided along sectarian lines. They fear the Shiites will seek a federal state in the south modeled along the lines of Iraqi Kurdistan, which would cut into the Sunnis’ share of political power and revenue. But the amendment process is purposefully difficult, says Nathan Brown, an Islamic legal scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. To change the document, the Iraqi parliament must first form a committee, which then proposes a package of amendments. Next, the parliament votes on the amendments as a package, not individually, and this requires a simple majority. If passed, the bloc of amendments must then win approval from the public in a nationwide referendum, requiring two-thirds approval from at least three of Iraq’s eighteen provinces. “[The system’s] structured so that the constitution will not develop significant changes,” Brown says.

Spending of reconstruction funds. One benchmark is the fair distribution across the country’s provinces and various ethnic groups of $10 billion in Iraqi reconstruction funds, as allocated in the Iraqi government’s budget. The monies are aimed at building infrastructure, improving services, and creating jobs for all Iraqis, but parliament cannot agree on how to equitably disperse the funds. “It's hard for the central government to get out of Baghdad and out of the Green Zone and move things ahead,” says Frederick D. Barton, codirector of the Center for Strategic and International Studies' post-conflict reconstruction project. He says the easiest way to distribute aid quickly across ethnic lines is to tie it to education or home-improvement funds but that hasn't been done in Iraq.

What happens if Baghdad fails to meet these benchmarks?
The consequences of failure remain unclear. Some Democratic lawmakers have pushed for a freezing of aid funds to Iraq, while others have sought a more rapid withdrawal, or redeployment, of troops. White House officials say performance benchmarks should not be linked to troop deployments and reconstruction aid disbursements—that is, the consequences of Iraqi inaction should not include imposing limits on the ability of U.S. military leaders or the president to carry out the war. But as Exum points out, “Having benchmarks is worthless unless you have consequences.” The trouble, says Lang, is that Iraqis do not believe there will be serious consequences if they fail to achieve these benchmarks. “Iraqis are every bit as smart as we are,” he says. “Realistically they can figure out that the chances we would pull the plug and leave is just about zero.” Similar U.S.-imposed benchmarks set for the South Vietnamese government during the Vietnam War achieved little, he adds.

What are Iraq’s Benchmarks? - Council on Foreign Relations

Constitutional amendments

الغيرInformation Office of Eminence Sheikh Saghir

.His Eminence Sheikh Jalal Al-Din Saghir, in an interview with Free TV will be broadcast tomorrow in the modern Mesopotamia : The vast majority of the draft constitutional amendments had been completed and that the spirit of the Commission on constitutional amendments is a positive and responsible and airspace largely fraternal.

وقد .It was his eminence that certain statements in the media release contains threats emanating from either views do not know what is going on within the Commission and the current nature of the synergies because it will be empty of content, or to put it simply packing media, and only Vmmethele Accord Front practice discussion include professionalism has answered mutual professionalism, He said that the origin of these statements do not serve the national harmony.

.He said in an interview with Professor annexed Saadi Alberzenji and Professor Abdul Karim al-Samarra'i Vice coalition and consensus : the issue of federalism that is not needed in the discussions at all, and that the discussions focused on the powers won considering that the controversy is the federal had resolved between the political forces long to materialize.

الصغيرInformation Office of Eminence Sheikh Saghir

http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl.../nhr0518b.html

In the government of national unity





يمر.Passes in the formation of the first elected government in Iraq's modern history, has received strong support and parliamentary blocs participating in the political process, which was unanimously supported the government's program announced by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and received the approval of the House and the confidence of the members of the government.
.The government adopted the initiative of reconciliation and national dialogue option quote devote culture of dialogue and tolerance, peaceful coexistence and abandon the policy of marginalization, exclusion and discrimination, which would contribute to strengthening national unity and the establishment of the state of institutions and the imposition of the rule of law and respect for human rights. In this framework, held several conferences of national reconciliation, which participated in civil society, intellectuals, tribal, religious scholars and political forces, officers, and the government submitted a bill accountability and justice to the House of Representatives be a substitute for uprooting the Baath, the government was keen to respect the independence of the judiciary and providing the appropriate conditions to ensure a fair trial and a fair dictator and his aides who deprived hundreds of thousands of martyrs of Iraq and their families and relatives of the most basic rights.

ن .No broken the security challenges facing the country, the government continue the process of reconstruction and rehabilitation, where the largest budget in the history of modern Iraq, also submitted a draft investment law passed by the House, and Bill oil and gas, Shots national housing program, along with dozens of decisions taken by the government to improve economic conditions and raising the standard of living of citizens.

و تصدت .Our armed forces and to all of the outlaws in Baghdad and other governorates without regard to denominational backgrounds, national and party affiliations, and in spite of the sacrifices made by people in the face of terrorism, which targeted citizens from various sects and destroying the infrastructure and services sector, the government and Dependency Allah Almighty and confidence of the people, determined to eradicate the scourge of terrorism and the dismantling of criminal organizations.

.The government of national unity, the process of building the armed forces on national bases and professional where its loyalty to the homeland and not for the first or a national or party, our armed forces have been able to take over the security file in a number of provinces from the multinational forces, Today it stands ready to assume full responsibility in the remaining governorates.

ر .The great challenges facing the country, did not prevent the government of National Unity to develop Iraq's external relations, Mr. Prime Minister tours included several Arab countries and neighboring states and a number of regional countries of the world succeeded in the development of Iraq's relations in various fields, The conference of the International and the neighboring countries in Sharm el-Sheikh international demonstration of significant regional support for Iraq politically, economically and security were among the fruits of the International Covenant extinguish a large part of Iraq's debt and the willingness of many States to participate in the process of building and construction.

:Brief reviews of this most important achievements of the government of national unity in the first year :

http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl.../nhr0518a.html

Originally Posted by darock0116

Promoting the value of the Iraqi dinar one hand, and to achieve a higher value of the real income of the Iraqi citizen on the other hand
D. Peace come : There is no economic programs and clear-cut

(Voice of Iraq) - 17-05-2007

دD. Peace come : There is no economic programs straightforward But there are economic signals and reactions
Chechnya : Mohammad Sharif Abu letterhead
...Dr. peace come on the economic expert in the industry, economic programs, Haorenaha theme in the (industry economic programs) and tried with knowing committed features picture of the economic program, which is moving forward on the basis of the new landscape of economic reality ... .She said starting us : we suffer major flaw reflected in the essential point is the absence of economic programs of the parties involved in the life of Iraq.
* Q: What implications of this?
- Consequence, the loss of economic policies, which go reins life in the Iraqi least the economic side, and if Mawalimuna indications that the policies in concepts, are intended to (methods and procedures) followed by hand in the file, imagine the danger to remain aloof from such policies .......

.......On the other hand, we need to cash programs are absorbing quantities of excess liquidity in the market and promote advanced banking habits, so as to ensure the transition to the ranks of using cash evolving (instruments, credit cards .. etc.) which is tantamount to society higher degrees of sophistication cash at the same time withdraw cash surplus before in circulation, which makes it influential in bringing about a balance between demand and supply on the currency, promoting the value of the Iraqi dinar one hand, and to achieve a higher value of the real income of the Iraqi citizen on the other hand ..
Where is the reality?
- ..- From the outset, the issue lacks the focus to look to standardize and clarify the economic picture of the Iraqi scene, since the problem of determining the relevant objectives, policies and ways of achievement of the Iraqi economy, in the sense .. Still Bramgnatwicker to the economic program and clear, where there is no specification of the goal, Is it required to determine rate of economic growth? How is that? Is the required fee tight monetary policy? ..Will define strict tax policy? ....All these, which received wide example, was not specific when the government recognizes their tasks, because they (the government) did not have a vision of the economic program and clear .. .And therefore when you deal with the economic variables, for example conditions of the World Bank and the circumstances of the Paris Club, you will your software-based economic visions these parties and not to see economic decisionmakers.

Translated version of http://www.sotaliraq.com/

Hello everyone. From this article, we can see that our position that the CBI has been/is decreasing the base money supply is in line.. I will not restate all of the good reasons why this was necessary due to inflation and the need to "dry" up the money supply, but one can reason that this is exactly what would be needed prior to any significant appreciation of the dinar. We also need to add the additional piece that the Iraqis are increasing their savings rates in the banks due to the gradual appreciation of the dinar and the increase in interest rates payable to accounts, which are probably in the double digits. So, the iraqis have the best of all worlds, high interest rates on their accounts and appreciation of the dinar, therefore, changing the economy into one that had a lot of distrust for the banks and a cash based economy, into one where dinar (cash) would be deposited into the banks and provide some of the cash the local banks have been selling to the CBI at the auctions. In effect, "parking" the money instead of allowing it to circulate around the economy. (IMHO). Any fundamental that supports a decrease in supply is excellent news, the change in the economy would also incourage a change in demand. Enticing the iraqis to save/horde/acquire dinar, therefrore increasing demand. All good for us. As stated before, IMHO debt and inflation were the killers of this investment, and that political concerns would eventually be worked out. But, until the inflation rate and the debt issues were resolved, little would happen. It seems that in bopth of these areas we have seen excellent progress. Debt started out around 140 B and I recently saw a relort that foreign debt is now around 20 to 25 Billion. the last reliable reports of inflation for March were reported to be 30 plus percent with one around 23%. Since inflation was 77% last August, this reduction is another piece of excellent news and we have yet to see the rates for April. We have also seen many reliable reports that on the streets of Iraq, dinar is not available. Very different from when I was there in '04 when you could buy this stuff on the side of the road. So the question is, "what will they do now"? IMHO, the same thing they have been. Slowly removing dinar from the economy untill they achieve their target level and gradually reduce the exchange rate until they to another target level, and then the currency will appreciate. IMHO the HCL is important. While they may have the means to significanly appreciate the currency now, the HCL provides Insurrance that inclome levels will be adequate in the upcoming years to continue to support the economy. So It all good for us and IMHO this horse race is on the last lap. Thank You.

العراقSouth Africa will cancel 80% of Iraq's debt أرto a friend
18 / 05 / 2007
130 م.Johannesburg (AFP) - South Africa announced that it would cancel 80% of Iraq's debt to about $ 130 million.

.The statement by the government that about 80% of the total debt of $ 160 million lent to Iraq through the Export Credit Guarantee Agency will be eliminated. ".The statement added that the proportion of the remaining twenty% "will be rescheduled in accordance with the bilateral agreement between the agency and export credit guarantees and Iraq."

".The source added : "This decision falls within the framework of the Paris Club debt relief to the Iraqi government."

.The Paris Club, which was established in 1956, is an informal body of donors includes most industrialized nations.

.And working in Iraq at least two South African PSCs. ر.At the beginning of May States pledged to participate in the international conference on Iraq in Egypt to reduce Iraq's debt at about $ 30 billion.

.On the sidelines of the conference, which included in particular the G8 countries and the neighboring states of Iraq, the Minister of Finance statement Jabr Iraqi counterpart that its inherited from the regime of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's debts worth 140 billion dollars.
marsadiraq.com

The Sviralammeriki in Iraq Ryan Krokran Iraqi government capable of achieving national reconciliation in Iraq.
".Crocker said in a press statement that "the government has made significant progress on many of the major controversial issues of oil and uprooting the Baath and amending Aldstorali spite of the violence sweeping the country."
العنفي.Expressing satisfaction with Iraq does not slide again Nhoaemal sectarian violence which reached record levels during the past year.

".For his part, the British House Trechatm for Research on International Relations in Tekarrerlh Sadrams Thursday "in Iraq is not a civil war, one Aouhrke rebellion, but several civil wars and rebellions between Iraq's different communities."
".He's submitted a researcher at the Center Gareth Stansfield, which concluded that "fighting sectarian and ethnic power struggles factors threatening the existence of the State in its present form, including Indhirbanhiaralbld breakdown into several separate entities."
".As Acharalottaghrer "to the activities of Al Qaeda is increasing in spite Tazizalancharalaskari American in Baghdad."
".Stressing that "Iraq's neighboring countries more able to Altathirali situation on the ground in Britain or the United States."
".The report said that "both Iran and Saudi Arabia and Turkey reasons for the continuing instability in Iraq and all of them used different means of Tathirali situation."

كما".As the deputy Iraqi List Mahdi Hafiz said : "Iran and the United States might agree to establish a system of governance in Iraq Mamanah sectarian division of Iraq into sectarian and if the Iraqis wanted peace and unity of their country and the implementation of the national project, it must abandon the idea of a sectarian basis."
".He added Hafiz said in a press statement today, Friday, "All the dilemmas suffered by Iraq to do more good for it was Ayoufarahla problems Fhusigh based on the principle of sharing between different sects and denominations and those imported by the Americans and welcomed by forces within the Iraqi opposition before the fall of the former regime and considered the basis for the formation of the situation in the new Iraq, but this formula has proved with developments in the country as conducive to the situation worse. "
".The keeper "to re Alaammarualemenah foreign intervention policy in the economy that could put the view on this road pushing for example, the Gulf States in the internal conflict in Iraq and to contribute to calming the situation there, but noted that there is a desire to have this wedding Alamrali waste of time."
".Pointing out that "Iran is the strongest in Iraq Alhadrhi all armed groups and terrorist and resistance of different sects have a relationship with Iran but serious Alamranh if guarantor regional Audolli must be credited to the possibility of an American-Iranian agreement at the expense of something important and Azizali Iraqis and Hogiab any national project for the emergence and implementation of the project and this danger of sectarian reinforced Dorerbei now speaks volumes about each got a range of denominations and improper disposal of this has serious consequences for the internal situation in Iraq. "
.He pointed out, "which seeks to salvage the situation in Iraq must be saved on the basis of a draft comprehensive national and not sectarian game Alangerarali either regional and international guarantees it is not easy to begin, and if the two Americans and Iranians to stabilize sectarian rule in Iraq, this would lead to division.
التعليقـات الواردة على هـذا الخبر/المقالComments received on the news / article

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يونيوNewspaper : DE. That. Or start pumping oil from Iraq in June

.The Financial Times newspaper said on Wednesday that the company de Norwegian oil production. That. Or will become the first foreign company in more than three decades begins pumping of crude oil from Iraq in the world market next month.

.The newspaper said it is scheduled to announce that it will begin production of a small quantity of oil from Kurdistan in northern Iraq. The Financial Times reported Hlij hands of the Executive Chairman of De. ."That. Or saying, "We are ready to pump. We did not believe us, we definitely start of oil production from Kurdistan after only two years of exploration activities begin
Translated version of http://www.wifaq.com/

Originally Posted by Wm.Knowles

Hello everyone. From this article, we can see that our position that the CBI has been/is decreasing the base money supply is in line.. I will not restate all of the good reasons why this was necessary due to inflation and the need to "dry" up the money supply, but one can reason that this is exactly what would be needed prior to any significant appreciation of the dinar. We also need to add the additional piece that the Iraqis are increasing their savings rates in the banks due to the gradual appreciation of the dinar and the increase in interest rates payable to accounts, which are probably in the double digits. So, the iraqis have the best of all worlds, high interest rates on their accounts and appreciation of the dinar, therefore, changing the economy into one that had a lot of distrust for the banks and a cash based economy, into one where dinar (cash) would be deposited into the banks and provide some of the cash the local banks have been selling to the CBI at the auctions. In effect, "parking" the money instead of allowing it to circulate around the economy. (IMHO). Any fundamental that supports a decrease in supply is excellent news, the change in the economy would also incourage a change in demand. Enticing the iraqis to save/horde/acquire dinar, therefrore increasing demand. All good for us. As stated before, IMHO debt and inflation were the killers of this investment, and that political concerns would eventually be worked out. But, until the inflation rate and the debt issues were resolved, little would happen. It seems that in bopth of these areas we have seen excellent progress. Debt started out around 140 B and I recently saw a relort that foreign debt is now around 20 to 25 Billion. the last reliable reports of inflation for March were reported to be 30 plus percent with one around 23%. Since inflation was 77% last August, this reduction is another piece of excellent news and we have yet to see the rates for April. We have also seen many reliable reports that on the streets of Iraq, dinar is not available. Very different from when I was there in '04 when you could buy this stuff on the side of the road. So the question is, "what will they do now"? IMHO, the same thing they have been. Slowly removing dinar from the economy untill they achieve their target level and gradually reduce the exchange rate until they to another target level, and then the currency will appreciate. IMHO the HCL is important. While they may have the means to significanly appreciate the currency now, the HCL provides Insurrance that inclome levels will be adequate in the upcoming years to continue to support the economy. So It all good for us and IMHO this horse race is on the last lap. Thank You.

No, THANK YOU!

Iraqi Oil Workers Address US Congress

[received via email May 12, 2007. Translation from Arabic original by Dr. Kamil Mahdi, University of Exeter]

Just as the New York Times reports on billions in missing Iraqi Oil (see below), Hasan Jum’a Awwad, Head of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, has urged Congress “not to link withdrawal with the oil law”:

Open Letter to: “The Members of the US Congress who Oppose the War on Iraq [and] Members of the European Parliaments who Oppose the War

“Peace be upon you and greetings to you all,”

“We wish to clarify certain matters relating to events in Iraq for our friends among the members of the US Congress. It is common knowledge that the occupation spared neither the old nor the young, and that Iraq is passing through the most difficult of times because all and sundry are hounding it and covet a share of its riches. We see no good reason for linking the passing of the feeble Iraqi oil law to the withdrawal of the occupation troops from Iraq.”

“Everyone knows that the oil law does not serve the Iraqi people, and that it serves Bush, his supporters and the foreign companies at the expense of the Iraqi people who have been wronged and deprived of their right to their oil despite enduring all difficulties.”

“We ask our friends not to link withdrawal with the oil law, especially since the USA claimed that it came to Iraq as a liberator and not in order to control Iraq’s resources.”

“The general public in Iraq is totally convinced that Bush wants to rush the promulgation of the oil law so as to be leaving Iraq with a victory of sorts, because his project is failing every day and the occupation is collapsing in all parts of Iraq.”

“We wish to see you take a true stance for the children of Iraq, and we always say that history will remember those who advance peace over war.”

With my regards,

Hassan Jum’a Awwad”
Head of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions

Iraqi Oil Workers Address US Congress at Oil Change



24 Organizations Ask Pelosi and Reid to Leave Iraq Its Oil
May 17, 2007 at 22:06:40

24 Organizations Ask Pelosi and Reid to Leave Iraq Its Oil