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

Originally Posted by Offshore-Wealth.com

Interesting,

You would think just the opposite would make more sense. Given there are so many traders and crooks in current government, you would think the military would want arab speaking guards for this kind of duty. Makes no sense to me why you would assign non Arabic speaking guards, then again, nothing makes common sense over there. lol

Good luck and health to all, Mike

hmmm, it actually makes sense to me, lol.....they may not want arabic speaking personnel because this way they won't understand anything that is considered top secret leaking out......

5318 May : 16:53
Credit large industrial enterprises reduced benefits

Luna / May 18 / BAGHDAD / said Finance Minister Baqer Jabr Al-Zubaydi that his ministry had agreed to advance the benefits of large industrial enterprises reduced up to 10%.
Zubaidi stressed in a press statement that the Ministry of Finance and through the financial and commercial banks to give advances benefits reduced by 10%, pointing to the start of the first Balojbah credit, which amounted to six million dollars and the second feed 20 million. He said that the ambition to reach in the end to give 200 million dollars from banks to operate lab sewing men's clothing and tire plant in Najaf said the search for a part of the problem of unemployment and to support the national economy. / / Ended / p u / u p / financial.

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Originally Posted by shotgunsusie

conflicting reports within the same article. i believe it depends on which faction you are interviewing about when these things will be completed.

I pulled up an article from back in April that backs your conflicting report theory....

Iraqi cabinet approves oil draft law
30.04.07

(MENAFN) The Iraqi Prime Minister said that the Iraqi Cabinet accepted a draft law which states how Iraq's oil profits will be shared, it will also outline terms of how foreign oil agencies will be able to operate in the country, Iraq Development Program reported.

Under the terms of the new draft law, the Iraqi National Oil Company (INOC) will be independently functional and joined with oil companies around the country.

Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister stated that the oil sector's profits will be put in a central account and distributed according to population and that the draft law will be put into action by the end of this month.

MENAFN - Middle East North Africa . Financial Network News: Iraqi cabinet approves oil draft law

Iraqi Trade Chambers Federation demands the release of its blocked funds
Includes 611 thousand Iraqi traders
18 May 2007 (Iraq Directory)
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Iraqi Trade Chambers Federation achieved advanced steps on the road to activate the role of the private sector in the reconstruction of Iraq within the framework of its attempt to make Iraqi traders take their role in the economic variables required in the country. Chairman of the Federation, Jaafar Rasool Al-Hamadani, said: The Federation managed in a short period to settle its internal affairs after electing the board of the unions directories scattered in 18 provinces, including Kurdistan, which in its turn elected President of the Chambers Federation and his two deputies.

He demanded the government to release the Federation’s funds which were seized by the State to protect them from the abuse of the remnants of the old government’s organizations.

He said: The reasons behind the seizure are over after the Federation’s board of directors had met and elected the President and his two deputies in the city of Arbil in Kurdistan, where elections were held in July last year, and they were followed by complementary elections in 27 / 12 / 2006; he expressed his hope that the ministerial committee would release the funds so the Federation could achieve its objectives and implement its obligations.

He added that the funds will promote the performance of unions and assist in implementing various programs to enhance the performance of Iraqi traders and expand cooperation relations with the world’s countries to benefit from international experiences through exchanging delegations and the establishment of training courses to prepare traders to keep up with the development after being detached from the world for many years.

Al-Hamadani pointed out that the members of the Federation and its branches throughout the country amount to 611 thousand trader of various magistrates, and this indicates the importance of the Federation as a critical link in dealings, cooperation and coordination among the State’s departments and ensure the rights of traders in business dealings.

He said that the adopted laws and legislations does not suit the responsibility of the Federation and its branches in the new transformations in the country and that they need to be renew to expand the performance of the private sector, pointing out that the most important features of the market economy, which represents the economic program of the new Iraq, is how effective the private sector and its role in the leadership of economic transformations.

Jaafar Al-Hamadani addressed a very important issue which is the intellectual property law, and said: "If this law is ratified and succeeded, it would achieve all the economic and social changes”.

He stressed the need for Iraq to join the World Trade Organization and said: joining the Organization means to re-gain Iraq’s international role and entering the world market, since Iraq enjoys many advantages like possessing treasures and natural resources and being one of the rich nations in the world, pointing at the importance of openness to the world and to achieve the return of Iraq into the international arena.

About the qualification of Iraq’s joining the Organization and the ability of the private sector to lead the economic transformation, he said: Iraq possesses mental, intellectual and scientific expertise well-known in the world, but the private sector needs the government’s support at this stage for the advancement of performance and achieving transformations.

Al-Hamadani also pointed out that the Federation sponsored and organized a number of exhibitions of reconstructing Iraq held in Iran and Turkey, and there is an intention to hold ones in the Gulf States. The Federation participated in the exhibition at Ein Tabb in Turkey as well as in the exhibition at Diyar Bakir, and exhibition of medical and pharmaceutical industries in the State of Kuwait. He pointed out to the importance of such exhibitions in informing the Iraqi merchant and businessman on the the evolution of the world in different areas and the transfer of global experiences in this field.

Among the most notable achievements of the Federation is approaching the ministries of Finance and Trade to activate the role of traders and contribute in bringing items of the ration card and they did defy the difficulties and brought the items despite the complicated security circumstances.

Al-Hamadani stressed that the Federation is still pursuing the issue of the traders affected by the terrorist operations in the commercial markets of Baghdad and other governorates, and demanded compensation, in addition to approaching the Ministry of Finance on granting traders facilitated loans to expand their business and has achieved remarkable steps in this regard.

He pointed out at the conclusion of the meeting to the promising future awaiting Iraq after the Investment Law was approved, which he described as the key to start the economic development in the country, and it will contribute to attracting foreign capital and modern technology, which contributes to the reconstruction of Iraq, pointing out that the advantages included in the law guarantee the rights of Iraqis in the partnership with international companies as well as contribute in the fight against unemployment through creating job opportunities.

Iraqi Trade Chambers Federation demands the release of its blocked funds | Iraq Updates
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set for Iran, US ambassadors to meet in Iraq
Nasir Jaffry
AFP
May 17, 2007


'DATE SET': Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, announced May 17 that Iran and the US are to meet at ambassador level in Iraq May 28 to discuss Iraq's security situation.
(REUTERS)
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ISLAMABAD -- Iran and the United States are to meet at ambassador level in Iraq May 28 to discuss its security situation, Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Thursday in Islamabad.

The talks are believed to be the first official bilateral ambassadorial encounter between the arch-foes since they froze relations in the wake of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

Announcing the date for the first time, Mottaki - whose country is at the center of international concerns about its nuclear program - insisted that the talks would only deal with the unrest in Iraq.

"Nothing but Iraq is on the agenda for Iran and US talks," he told reporters during a conference of Islamic foreign ministers here. "The talks will strictly be focused on the security situation in Iraq," he added, saying that the meeting would be held in the presence of Iraqi officials.

Iran was sending an "expert diplomat" at ambassador level to the talks while the US had appointed one of their ambassadors as chief negotiator, Mottaki said.

Iranian officials announced several days ago that the meeting would take place within the next few weeks, most likely in Baghdad.

Relations between Tehran and Washington have been bedeviled by the situation in Iraq, where the United States accuses Iran of aiding militant Shiite groups and attacking US forces.

Mottaki batted the issue back at the United States, saying that its policies had failed in the country that it invaded in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein.

"We are facing two problems in Iraq, one relates to instability caused by terrorist activities and the other by continuation of occupation of Iraq," he said.

Mottaki said that Iran scrapped negotiations with the United States over Iraq in March last year "due to the US propaganda-based approach."

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Wednesday punctured any expectation that the latest meeting would produce a breakthrough, saying that its policy of not negotiating with the United States was unchanged.

Khamenei said that Iran would merely use the talks with US diplomats to remind Washington of its "occupiers' duty" in the conflict-torn country.

The United States insisted Monday that the talks did not presage a retreat from its policy to isolate the Islamic republic, with White House spokesman Tony Snow saying that the contacts will be "about Iraq and only Iraq."

Khamenei's downbeat assessment came after criticism from conservatives of the decision to hold the discussions, which the editor of the hardline daily Kayhan likened to "dancing with wolves and shaking hands with the devil."

Some moderates had expressed hope that the contacts could result in a warming of ties, and a small group of deputies in the Iranian parliament has even been canvassing support to set up an Iran-US friendship group.

Two weeks ago hopes were dashed that Iran and the United States would hold substantive talks at a conference on Iraq's security in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh.

At that meeting, Mottaki barely exchanged pleasantries with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice while a lower-level encounter between high-ranking diplomats lasted just minutes.

Iraq urges Iran firms to bid for oil refinery work; Baghdad, Tehran to activate oil pipeline deal
BAGHDAD (RTRS): Iraq has invited Iranian firms to bid for contracts to build at least four oil refineries across the country, Iraq’s oil ministry said on Wednesday in a sign of growing ties with the United States’ regional foe. “Today, the Iranian firms have been invited to bid in building refineries which the ministry has already announced it was planning to build,” spokesman Asim Jihad told Reuters. Iran and Iraq, which fought a bitter war in the 1980s, have been strengthening ties since the US-led invasion in 2003, arousing concern among Iraq’s once dominant Sunni minority and other Arab states, as well as in the United States. Washington, which considers Iran part of an “axis of evil”, accuses Tehran of meddling in Iraq. But the two countries, which broke ties in 1979 after Iran’s Islamic Revolution, have said they will hold talks within weeks in Baghdad to discuss helping Iraqi people. Iraq wants to build at least four refineries to help it solve chronic fuel shortages. The ministry said last year that it wants to build Nahrain, just south of Baghdad, with a capacity of 140,000 barrels per day. A second refinery at Kuya in the north, is projected at 70,000 bpd. Iraq also plans to build a refinery in Nassiriya, south of Iraq, for export purposes with a capacity of 300,000 bpd and another in southern Amara.


Damaged
Iraq has eight oil refineries, none of which were damaged during the invasion. Oil officials say that the plants are operating at only 50 percent-75 percent of capacity, forcing Baghdad to import most of its fuel. Jihad said that Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani agreed with the Iranian ambassador on Wednesday to activate an agreement to build a pipeline to carry about 200,000 bpd of Iraqi crude to Iran’s southern refineries. “They have agreed that the technical committees should begin within days mutual visits to discuss costs and the time they need to build the pipeline,” Jihad said.


Attract

“The Iranians will buy the crude based on market price.” Iraq needs to attract investment from international oil companies to develop its oilfields and increase production. Oil multinationals are waiting until a new hydrocarbon law, which sets the rules of investment in Iraq to be passed by the parliament before pumping cash into Iraq. International oil firms are eyeing its giant and largely underdeveloped oilfields. Oil is the country’s main source of the hard currency needed to rebuild its economy, and the energy sector is struggling to recover from years of mismanagement and sanctions.

UK opens dialogue with Iraq factions
By Basil Adas, Correspondent



Baghdad: Iraqi president Jalal Al Talabani revealed that the British have held secret talks with Iraqi resistance factions.

The move aroused questions concerning the security dossier, notably whether the previous US negotiations with the Iraqi resistance have broken down, and if the British are rivalling Americans in contacting resistance groups and thus to lead the future Iraqi security talks.

Mohammad Abed Hussain, an Iraqi political researcher at Nahrain University, told Gulf News: "The Britons were initially against dissolving the Iraqi army and the Baath party, unlike Americans who supported the approach espoused by Shiite religious leader Abdul Aziz Al Hakim and Shiite secular leader Ahmad Al Chalabi."


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He added: "The Iraqi resistance is aware of the British position and possibly will be ready for more serious and effective talks with the Britons."

Iraqis hate occupation forces and the hatred directed against the US army is more than towards the British army because the latter was not involved in security operations or/and significant backlash against gunmen south of Iraq despite the large presence of the Mehdi army south of Iraq which was no less dangerous than the Sunni gunmen.

The Britons tend to conduct extensive dialogue with the Iraqis unlike the Americans who have so far preferred a military solution to any political issue or security challenge in Sunni and Shiite cities in Iraq.

Adil Al Quraishi, an Iraqi political analyst, told Gulf News: "It has become known that Americans are too radical, so it is in the best interests of the Iraqi resistance if the British have decided to negotiate with them.

"One of the main Iraqi resistance demands is rescheduling withdrawal of foreign forces, in addition to the abolition of the former American official Paul Bremer's laws concerning the Baath party and the military ministries."

The Irish model

But any agreement between the British army and Iraqi resistance would not continue unless it is approved by the Americans since the British coordinates with Americans on dialogue with the resistance.

Naji Al Janabi, former Iraqi journalist, told Gulf News: "What is important is that the British have successful experience in secret talks with the Irish army.

"They had succeeded in concluding an agreement of weapon extradition and normalisation of the security situation. I believe that the Irish model is evident through contacts with the Iraqi resistance."

Some Shiite parties back talks between Iran and US
By Basil Adas, Correspondent



Baghdad: Experts expect talks soon between Americans and Iranians on improving security and stability in Iraq.

These talks are backed by Shiite parties in the Iraqi government especially the ruling coalition led by Abdul Aziz Al Hakim, a prominent political and religious figure in Iraq, who called for establishing such meetings between the two estranged countries.

Hassan Al Taee, leader in a nationalist party in Baghdad, told Gulf News: "Al Hakim aims at creating objective conditions for establishing a Shiite self-autonomy region in the middle and south of Iraq.

"Al Hakim knows his aspiration clashes with the continuation of US-Iranian conflict because Americans would not allow establishing an Iraqi sectarian territory with tolerable ties with Iran, in the light of power struggle in the region."


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Al Taee added: "At the other end, Shiite leader Moqtada Al Sadr's supporters are not satisfied with any US-Iranian talks because it means hindering Iranians' support to Shiite armed militias in Iraq."

Esmail Al Jaf, a researcher in the political affairs told Gulf News : "Clearly there is a cleavage amid Shiites concerning US-Iranian dialogue. I think some Shiite parties want to be in reckoning with their rivals by supporting such talks.

"Recently, we witnessed few attacks conducted by the Mehdi Army against offices of the Supreme Council led by Al Hakim in the Sadr neighbourhood and in Diwaniya."

Baath party fears

Topics like the Mehdi Army and the Iranian support will occupy top positions at these security talks. Americans accuse Iran of backing and harbouring hundreds of Mehdi members in camps belonging to Iranian Revolutionary Guard on the Iraqi-Iranian border.

Iran denies the allegations. The American army has repeatedly displayed captured Iranian weapons and arrested cells linked to the Mehdi army who use such weapons, specifically highly explosive devices used to attack armoured American rangers in Baghdad and other Iraqi areas.

Sunni Arabs hold deep suspicions about the US-Iranian talks. They fear that it will harm their political rights.

On the other hand, Baathists are extremely concerned because it weakens their attempts in portraying Iran's vigorous influence and threat in Iraq thereby forcing Americans to accept Baath role in the political life and decision-making process within the Iraqi national reconciliation framework.

Eyad Mousa, member of the dissolved Baath Party, told Gulf News: "Al Hakim sought desperately for US-Iranian dialogue to block Baathists return because Baath is the only Iraqi peer against Iranian influence in the region."

IRAQI POLICE CHIEF REMOVED AFTER REFUSING ORDER FROM BAGHDAD
The Interior Ministry has dismissed Kirkuk police chief Major General Sherko Shakir and replaced him with Major General Jamal Tahir, Peyamner reported on May 17. Shakir refused a May 2 ministry order to demote Kurdish officers in Kirkuk earlier this month. At the time, Shakir said the order was politically motivated. He said the demotion would affect 266 officers. Shakir has since said he will abide by the order, though he believes the officers are competent, according to press reports. According to the "Kurdish Globe" website, the order to demote the officers came from Deputy Interior Minister General Ayden Khalid Qadir, a Turkoman. KR

Turning The Corner In Iraq
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Posted GMT 5-18-2007 14:45:18
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The progress in the past three short months in Iraq is unmistakable. Since General Petraeus has taken command of MNF-I forces in mid February, the convergence of developments has fundamentally changed the outlook in Iraq. While "The Surge" has dominated discussion -- be it on operational tempo within Baghdad or withdrawal timetables within the DC Beltway -- progress on several vital fronts is beginning to reshape realities on the ground.

As the contentious internal American political debate continues, our leaders and the American public would do well to acknowledge the significantly changing situation.

In Baghdad, for example, the over-hyped Muqtada al-Sadr has long made tracks for the more hospitable climes of Iran. The Baker Commission's Iraq Study Group Report estimated the Mahdi Army (Jaish al-Mahdi or JAM) to consist of 40-60 thousand armed fighters. In the absence of its leadership, Sadr's 'army' has splintered into the various bands of Shia street thugs they always were. Sure, there are exceptions, such as the particular hard core 'extremist' extra-judicial killing (EJK) cells hunting Sunnis to stoke Iran's much-desired Iraqi civil war. But an estimated 3,000 Iranian-backed extremists in EJK cells still roaming the streets must be seen as an undeniable improvement over the tens of thousands recently under the Mahdi Army banner.

Iraqi Shi'a Party Rebuffs Iranian Direction

Additional bad news for Iran is the seismic shift of Iraq's largest political party away from Iran. The Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) began to fundamentally distance itself from Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khameini, taking on a more nationalistic stance. It has removed 'Revolution' from its name -- as well as historical deference to Qom - and is now looking to Iraq's Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani for religious guidance.

This announcement came just ten days after Iran's Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, visited Sistani in Najaf, Iraq. After the meeting, Larijani said to Iranian media, according to Asia Times, that "Sistani informed him that the US government has been holding meetings with Iraqi terrorist groups." The Asia Times went on to say that the meeting between the two was of great significance, "reminding the world of Iran's close ties to the Shi'ite power hierarchy in Iraq."

In fact, what exists is a deep rivalry between the revolutionary Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini and the traditionalist Grand Ayatollah Sistani, both claiming authority over the Shi'a faith. While the Khomeinist revolutionary Khameini clearly believes in Shi'a theocracy, the Iraqi Ayatollah Sistani believes that the faith can exist within a democracy without theological conflict. And while the Iranians work to spin the growing Sunni tribal rejection of al-Qaeda as Americans "negotiating with terrorists," Sistani himself has always had open channels of communication with American forces and the Iraqi government.

Iran Evidence Turned SCIRI, Sistani Popular In Iran

It was through those open channels that the United States clearly shared evidence of Iranian material support for specific Sunni groups engaged in targeting Shi'a Iraqis in attacks. And it was clearly compelling enough to cause Iraq' largest Shi'a political party to seek guidance from the traditionalist (and pro-democracy) al-Sistani instead of the revolutionary Iranian leaders.

While it is not known publicly what specific Iran intelligence was shared with the SCIRI leadership, the compelling details surely included such things as the information gained through December and January Baghdad and Irbil raids on Iranain Quds Force operatives. One official confirmed, "We found plans for attacks, phone numbers affiliated with Sunni bad guys, a lot of things that filled in the blanks on what these guys are up to." Such detailed information proving Iranian cooperation with Sunni groups killing Iraqi Shi'a civilians likely proved compelling enough to the SCIRI leadership that Iran's support is far less than advertised.

Indicative that what was announced is the tip of an iceberg of change, the announcement of the change in the new Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (formerly SCIRI) came with a claim that more profound changes are yet to come.

Sistani's appeal does not end at the Iraqi border, as Iranians increasingly observe his leadership with interest and fondness. Some are "intrigued by the more freewheeling experiment in Shi'ite empowerment taking place across the border in Iraq," which is fundamentally different in approach than the Iranian theocratic brand of dictated observance and obedience. The Boston Globe's Anne Barnard reports that within Tehran's own central bazaar, "an increasing number of merchants are sending their religious donations, a 20 percent tithe expected from all who can spare it, to Iraq's most senior Shi'ite cleric."

While it is difficult to understate the significance of the monumental shift within Iraq, it should also be recognized that the decision to transform the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq into simply the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council was not arrived at with unanimity. Nor was it arrived at without heated debate. As well, many of the SCIRI party's elected government officials have ties and allegiances to Iran that are unlikely to simply evaporate overnight. But a profoundly significant Shi'a nationalist transformation process has begun, and this is a very positive development -- one good for Iraq and beneficial to American interests in the region.

Al Qaeda's Forced Migration From Anbar to Diyala

On the Sunni front, the steadily increasing membership and activities of the Anbar Salvation Council under Sheikh Abdul Sattar has given rise to a new and formidable enemy for al-Qaeda in Iraq. Sattar's Anbar Salvation Council movement, which was joined by many Anbar tribal sheikhs in rejection of al-Qaeda's murderous ways and oppression and intimidation of local populations, served as the catalyst that drove al-Qaeda terrorists from their relatively comfortable perches in Anbar province. The sheer will and exponentially increased intelligence capabilities that the local tribal leaders bring to their partnership with US and Iraqi government forces against the terrorists in their midst has caused al-Qaeda to lose the initiative in Anbar, most notably in their former Ramadi stronghold southwest of Baghdad.

As the situation in Anbar began to turn increasingly sour for al-Qaeda, their defacto base of terrorist operations migrated to Diyala province on the opposite side of Baghdad. As was the case in Anbar province, al-Qaeda terrorists, led by Abu Ayyub al-Masri, used brutal intimidation and violence to entrench themselves within the new province's Sunni population, targeting reluctant or resistant tribal leaders there and terrorizing the population into submission.

But the Sunni nationalist movement is growing, most recently challenging al-Qaeda in their new stronghold in Diyala province, which stretches from northeast Baghdad to the Iranian border. As in Anbar, Diyala tribal sheikhs opposed to al-Qaeda's murderous means and theological ends have openly announced the formation of the Diyala Salvation Council, reportedly consisting of over 280 local tribal leaders. This opposition has existed well before the announcement, but fear of al-Qaeda retribution kept its participants underground. The threat of retribution is still a clear and present danger of those publicly taking the stand. But the Coalition presence in Diyala is growing ahead of predictably imminent major US and Iraqi military operations that will sweep through the province once ample cordoning forces can be put into place, expected by the end of June.

The public formation of the Diyala Salvation Council comes after the operation against al-Qaeda in which it was initially believerd that al-Qaeda In Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri had been killed by tribal forces loyal to Shiekh Abdul Sattar's movement. While a man named al-Masri ("the Egyptian") had indeed been killed, it was not the terrorist leader who also hails from Egyptian origin. But the confrontation sought out by the tribal forces should be seen in retrospect as a sign of growing confidence and operational capability in Diyala province. The open announcement of the official public formation of the Diyala Salvation Council is a natural progression of that confidence and a clear indicator of the will to eradicate al-Qaeda terrorists from Iraqi soil.

To be sure, its creation is no coincidence, nor is its similar name, and is evidence of the growth and popularity of Sheikh Adul Sattar's Iraq Awakening (Sahwat Al Anbar) nationalist movement that itself emerged from the Anbar Salvation Front (later renamed Anbar Salvation Council). The Diyala organization comes under the Iraq Awakening umbrella as the national appeal of both the Iraq Awakening movement and Sheikh Sattar begins to take concrete form.

Turning The Corner In Iraq

At the end of the day, it must be acknowledged -- particularly by American political leaders -- that the situation is improving going forward, particularly because Iraqis themselves are taking ownership of the survival and security of their own country, neighborhood by neighborhood, city by city and troubled province by troubled province. While the Sunni tribal leaders increasingly reject al-Qaeda and transform into the terrorists' newest and most damaging new enemy, the Shi'a leadership also has begun to internally acknowledge the shallowness and duplicity of Iran's stated support for them.

There is much work to be done, both by Iraqis and by Coalition forces, and much fighting lay ahead, particularly in the coming bloody house-to-house street fighting against increasingly desperate al-Qaeda terrorists who have lost Anbar and see the cordon beginning to encircle their new Diyala powerbase. Americans should be prepared for the necessary fight ahead.

But there is a corner being turned in Iraq by Sunni and Shi'a alike, and Americans currently engaged in the incessant debate on the Iraq War would do well to look up long enough to notice. To fail to do so would be to once again trade military victory for political defeat. We've been down this road before. When discussing withdrawal at this stage -- just as the corner is being turned -- would leave yet another population to the un-tender mercies of unabated terror and tyranny.

This is the generational test of our nation's character. What we do or do not do will define us in the eyes of enemy and ally alike. Most importantly, our actions will lie at the feet of our own collective conscience.

We stand as a nation at the bank teller window, accessing our National Character account. The question remains: Will our balance reflect a deposit or a withdrawal?

By Steve Schippert
FrontPageMagazine.com

Steve Schipper is co-founder of the Center for Threat Awareness and managing editor for ThreatsWatch.org.

© 2007, Assyrian International News Agency