Thread: Archive Latest News - Think Tank - 16/08/07 - 03/11/07

A Vital Oil Law for Iraqis

Joshua Partlow's Sept. 5 article on the Iraqi oil law ["Missteps and Mistrust Mark the Push for Legislation"] mistakenly took issue with the U.S. effort to mediate among Iraqi leaders to achieve an agreement on a law to regulate the country's hydrocarbon sector.

First, the agreement within the Iraqi cabinet on the basic law in February was a major achievement. It is a requirement of the constitution.
Moreover, all Iraqi factions said that an agreement on oil and gas revenue was an essential political condition for stabilizing the country. Only if all Iraqi communities knew that they would fairly benefit from these resources would they commit themselves to Iraq's new political order. The issue was fundamental to achieving a national compact.

Second, contrary to implications in the article, Kurdish leaders, including Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, endorsed the key provisions of the law governing control of resources and distribution of revenue.

Third, the law balanced federal and regional interests. It established a federal council -- with representation of the regions -- as the policymaking body for energy. It provided that revenue would go into a single national account and that regions and provinces would directly receive a share of revenue based on population.

Fourth, the article did not critically examine misplaced accusations that the oil law was designed to enable Americans to take control of these resources. Iraqi leaders themselves sought to enable international investment in this sector because they understood the inefficiency of Iraq's past statist and overcentralized policies.

The inability of the Iraqi parliament to complete this and related legislation on model oil contracts and other issues is an indication of how much is at stake and of the difficulty and importance of this legislation.
Achieving stability and prosperity will ultimately require Iraqi leaders to return to this draft law and the fundamentally sound bargain it contains.

washingtonpost.com

Sadrist bloc denies talks with U.S., British forces

Spokesman for Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr denied on Thursday reports being circulated about direct contact between the Sadrist bloc and U.S. and British forces, noting mediation efforts being made by some Iraqi parties to stop the hunting down of Sadrists and for the release of their captives.

"There are no direct negotiations between the Sadrist bloc and foreign troops," Salah al-Ubeidi told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) by phone, underlining that the bloc was not authorized to meet with "occupation forces."

U.S. newspaper the Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday secret negotiations believed to have been started in early 2006 between the Sadrists and U.S. officials.

The paper asserted that the talks started to bear fruit only recently.
Al-Ubeidi said that some Iraqi parties are exerting effort to pressure the U.S. side to stop arresting Sadrist elements and for its captives to be released.

"The bloc has the right to authorize certain groups to negotiate with U.S. officials," the spokesman added, highlighting that the Shiite bloc is trying to pressure the Iraqi authorities, which in turn will pressure U.S. forces to release the captives.

The Sadrist bloc, part of the Shiite UIC list, occupies 30 out of a total 275 seats in the Iraqi parliament.

Sadrist bloc denies talks with U.S., British forces | Iraq Updates

CPI files 90 lawsuits over transgressions, stealing government revenue

The office of the Commission on Public Integrity (CPI) in Najaf filed 90 lawsuits over transgressions, misappropriation and forgery against the province's departments of municipalities, water, electricity and interior, a CPI source said on Thursday.

The 90 lawsuits are the outcome of a month of work by the office, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

Commenting on the nature of the transgressions monitored by the office, the source indicated that most of them were related to stealing government revenue, embezzlement and forgery in the concerned departments.

The office also undertakes responsibility for monitoring administrative and financial corruption in all state-run institutions and adopts a neutral position on all issues, including transgressions within the CPI itself, the source explained.

A two-month work plan was set up to ensure transparency during field visits to local state-run institutions.

The CPI office in Najaf was opened on August 15 and is affiliated to the commission's main headquarters in al-Furat al-Awsat area, Hilla city.
Najaf, the most sacred Shiite city, lies 180 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

CPI files 90 lawsuits over transgressions, stealing government revenue | Iraq Updates

Dr. Barham Ahmed Salih Chairs a Meeting of Committee of the UN-backed International Compact for Iraq

The meeting attended by several high officials including ministers of planning, finance ,industry , consultant of national security, secretary of Iraqi council of ministers ,Mr. Ashraf Khadi, the special representative of UN general secretary in Iraq ,and several other officials.

During the meeting what has been carried out in the international compact and seeking mechanisms of accelerating the carrying out of the compact were discussed.

http://pukmedia.com/english/index.ph...021&Ite mid=1

Oil Minister's Statement will Impede Approving Oil Draft Law

A senior Kurdish official on Thursday criticized statements recently made by the Iraqi oil on the relation between the federal government and Kurdistan region government, saying "it will impede the on-going negotiations on approving the oil draft law."

"The recent statements by Shehristani will neither help the political process nor the on-going negotiations on the oil and gas and wealth sharing draft laws," Falah Mustafa, Foreign Relations Official in Kurdistan region government, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) over the phone.

Mustafa made comments to VOI on a statement made early this week by the Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shehristani in which he said that his ministry would not recognize the oil contracts concluded by the Kurdistan government with foreign companies.

On Sunday, Shehristani told the government-funded al-Sabaah daily that the oil ministry had no commitment towards the oil investment contracts signed by officials from Kurdistan region government.

Mustafa accused Shehrstani of being "negative all the way," saying that he should recognize that the moves taken by Kurdistan government on oil investment contracts "come in full conformity with the powers given to it by the Iraqi constitution."

Shehristani made his statement in reference to the oil contracts concluded by Kurdistan government with Hunt Oil Group for oil investment in Duhuk Kurdistan province last week.

The Iraqi Oil Minister's statement sparked a wave of criticism in Iraq's Kurdistan region leading the official spokesman for Kurdistan government to call for al-"Shehrstani's resignation."

Over the last seven months, marathonic negotiations have been underway among Iraqi political blocs on a draft law on oil.

Among the main differences was the relation between the federal government and the local governments in the region(s) as to the conclusion of oil investment contracts.

PUKmedia :: English - Oil Minister's Statement will Impede Approving Oil Draft Law

US admits little political progress in Iraq

By Andrew Ward in Washington
Published: September 14 2007 19:19

A White House report on Friday conceded that little fresh progress had been made towards key political goals in Iraq over the summer, a day after President George W. Bush delivered an optimistic assessment of US prospects in the country.

The report found that satisfactory progress was being made towards nine of the 18 benchmarks set by Congress to measure success in Iraq – only one more than in the last report in July.

Congress set the benchmarks this year to increase scrutiny of the Bush administration’s war strategy and press the Iraqi government to do more to help stabilise the country.

But the White House has sought to shift attention away from the benchmarks as it became clear that progress towards meeting them was slow.

In a televised address on Thursday evening, Mr Bush acknowledged his disappointment about the pace of political gains but pointed to signs that “bottom-up” reconciliation was starting to happen at grassroots level.

He said recent security gains would allow the US to start reducing troop levels this month but warned that the US would be committed to Iraq well beyond his presidency, which ends in 2009.

Democrats have accused the White House of “moving the goalposts” by seeking to diminish the importance of the benchmarks and instead cherry-pick isolated examples of local success. The White House said that, while progress was slow, the improvement showed that Iraq’s political process was heading in the right direction. “What is important is the overall trajectory which, under our present strategy, has begun to stabilise and turn upward, compared to the deteriorating trajectory seen over the course of 2006,” the report said.

The main area of improvement from the July report was greater progress towards allowing former members of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath party to hold government positions.

Progress towards other benchmarks has been slowed by deadlock in the factionialised Iraqi parliament. But the White House said the objectives of some stalled legislation were being met even before being passed into law.

For example oil revenues were being distributed equitably to the provinces, in ****e of the failure to pass a national oil law.

“These are precisely the effects the benchmarks were intended to produce, even if the formal benchmarks themselves have not been met,” said Tony Snow, White House press secretary. “In the coming months, our strategy will increasingly focus on helping the Iraqis knit together this new bottom-up progress with the top-down political process.”

A senior administration official said the benchmarks failed to measure successes such as increased stability in Anbar province, once among the most violent parts of Iraq, as an example.

“Virtually every municipality in Anbar has a mayor and functioning municipal government,” said the official. “That’s real progress that matters to people in their daily lives, and that shouldn’t be discounted.”

FT.com / World - US admits little political progress in Iraq

Grand Theft Iraq

2007-09-14

“We live under a system by which the many are exploited by the few - and war is the ultimate sanction of that exploitation.” Harold Laski, 1945.

At the end of August, in Dubai and the beginning of September, in London, conferences were held in order to privatise and carve up contracts for every essential service and infrastructure in Iraq. There was not a mega-corporate pig anywhere on earth, seemingly, who did not have its trotters in the trough. As Iraqis flee in an exodus of biblical proportions and die in a genocidal one, US/UK government backed corporate priority is a smash and grab raid of every asset and facility in the “land between two rivers”.

Meetings were organised by the Iraq Development Programme, under the auspices of the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce (“Arab” clearly secondary, as since Arabic is written from right to left, Britain comes first and the Arabic version, last) ninety five percent of “tendered” (“assumed” seems more apt) contracts are US giants. The UK was thrown minimal bones, with Egypt, Netherlands and Spain getting one each, according the IDP website ( http://www.iraqdevelopmentprogramme.org ) The “best-in-breed” technology is to the brought to Iraq, as it is milked dry.

Trough facilitators include: the misnamed United States Aid and International Development (USAID) U.S. Embassy Iraq, Department of Defence Army Corps of Engineers, (U.S.) Defence Procurement and Acquisition Police, U.S. Government Iraq Infrastructure and Reconstruction Programme (NB: http://www.bechtel.com/iraq ) the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, U.S. Government Iraq Reconstruction Projects - and on and on. To mix metaphors, potential cash cows don't come bigger than this.

The carpet baggers had a little bit of help from their quisling friends in their illegitimate and illegal carve up. Dr Adel Abdul Mehdi, Iraq's “Vice President”, said: “Iraq's new investment law will facilitate investment for both Iraqi and non-Iraqi businesses by providing a secure investment environment.” Referring to Iraq's resources, he said the conference presented opportunities across a wide range of industries: oil, gas, agriculture, infrastructure.

Indeed. Up for grabs are: ho****al and security equipment, medicines, road and rail machinery, oil production tools, finance and telecommunication systems. Rebuilding of roads, rail, ho****als, government buildings, schools, water purification plants and electricity, information technology, telecommunications, all to move from state owned to the “free market economy”.

If Iraqis are down to near no electricity now, due to the liberators' inability to provide what Saddam Hussein's government did within just months after the 1991 decimation, they won't be able to afford it in the future anyway. “Yes we have plans for fully privatising”, Iraq's electricity “Minister” Karem Waheed Hassan, told UPI.

Ali Al Dabbagh, for the Electricity Company, was concerned only for assurances “for the investor”, Iraq's population did not come into the equation. Contracts will be granted; $Billions will be spent; contractors paid their massive profits - and the lights will go out all over Iraq (except the Green Zone, and the Vatican City sized U.S. embassy, if the resistance haven't blown them up.)

In the country which brought the world writing, the first written records, Algebra, Astronomy, the wheel, the first time piece, Irrigation, the first pharmaceutical college, the “Epic of Gilgamesh”, and it is thought, the first university, the Universities of Florida and Oklahoma are being drafted in as education “curricular consultants” to take advantage of the “key opportunities in ICT and education”. It would be interesting to know what the Universities of Florida and Oklahoma can offer to a country which, as with Palestine, prior to the invasion, had the most PhD's per capita, in the world. Whose educational system was so exemplary, that UNESCO devised a unique award for Iraq, commenting that it was the only country, in their experience, where a child could be born in abject poverty, of illiterate parents and complete his education to become an architect, engineer, surgeon, or whatever he or she aspired to. Education was free from kindergarten through university and post graduate studies abroad.

“Panel sessions at the conferences covered the legal environment for conducting business in Iraq, financing private sector business, trade and commerce and private sector banking.” You bet. American lawyers seemingly are on hand at every ministry to draft laws legitimising one of the biggest ram raids in history.

Electricity, of course, is also needed to pump oil. Some of those representing the oil industry - which, after nationalisation in 1971, saw the Iraqi government pour money into all that is now being privatised, thereby creating a near “first world country”, according to the U.N. - were: Chevron, B.P., Conoco Phillips, Marathon Oil, Total, Exxon, Lukoil, Statoil, General Electric, Dana Gas, Raytheon, Crescent Petrolium and Hawker Beechcroft.

Ahmed Janabi (Al Jazeera, 4th May 2006) reminds us of Douglas Feith, then US Under-Secretary of Defence, who said on February 11, 2003: “Only someone ignorant of the easy-to-ascertain realities could think that the United States would profit from such a war, even if we were willing to steal Iraq's oil which we emphatically are not going to do.” He was either economical with the truth, or very forgetful of President George H.W. Bush's statement after 1991, Janabi reminds, who said he would not let one country control twenty percent of the world's oil resources. Further, at a conference in London on 20th June 2003, just a month after the fall of Baghdad, writes Janabi, Israel's Binyamin Netanyahu told a group of investors that Iraqi oil would be flowing through Israel's Jaffa pipeline “sooner or later”.

“Iraq has the capacity to become the biggest revenue generating country in the Middle East”, states I.D.P., with one delegate shown on BBC Newsnight, nearly salivating, as he talked of opportunities unheard of anywhere on the globe. “A follow up summit is expected to take place in 2008, by which time the hydro-carbon law will have been approved.” The “Iraqi people are going to become part of the international community”, said another I.D.P. delegate.

Indeed, stripped of all and sold down Mesopotamia's two great rivers. Coincidentally, the U.S. is to build another vast base in Wasit Province, to protect Iraq from “insurgents” coming in from Iran. As the gimlet eyed analyst Sarah Meyer points out http://www.indexresearch.blogspot.com); coincidentally, another vast oilfield, it seems, has just been discovered there.

In an article worth revisiting, (U.S.) Major General Smedley Butler, in Common Sense Magazine, in November 1935 wrote:

“There isn't a trick in the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to. It has its 'finger men' (to point out enemies) its 'muscle men' (to destroy enemies) its 'brain guys' (to plan war preparations) and a 'Big Boss' (supernationalistic capitalism.)

“It may seem odd, for me, a military man, to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to do so. I spent thirty three years and four months in active service in one of our country's most agile forces - the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major General. During that period I spent most of my time being a high class muscle man for Big Business and Wall Street and for the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer; a gangster for capitalism.

“I suspected I was just a part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it.... My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of the higher ups. This is typical with everyone in military service.

“Thus, I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I made Haiti and Cuba a decent place for National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-12. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China, in 1927, I helped see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.

“During those years, I had, as the boys in the backroom would say, a swell racket. I was rewarded with honors, medals and promotion. Looking back on it, I feel I might have been able to give Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three city districts. I operated on three continents.”

Mesopotamia is a racket so gargantuan, that it surely would have stunned even General Butler. Not, however, it seems, General Colin Powell, who told U.S, Commander in Chief, President George W. Bush, in the summer of 2002, that in the event of an invasion of Iraq: “You are going to be the proud owner of twenty five million people ... You'll own it all.”

Read Article

Continued Occupation of Iraq is 'a Crime of International Proportions' and a Smokescreen for the Real Objective: Privatization of Iraq's Oil, Says Kucinich

President Bush's announcement that U.S. forces will remain in Iraq beyond his term in office for the "stability and security" of that nation "is a smokescreen to cover the immorality and criminality of the real reason he took us to war and the reason he refuses to end it: oil."

"It is impossible to deny that fact any longer," charged Ohio Congressman and Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, campaigning in Hawaii today. "This Administration has been relentless in trying to force the Iraqi government to enact a so-called hydrocarbon law that will, in fact, enable multi-national oil and energy corporations to gain control of 200 billion to 300 billion barrels of Iraq's oil with a market value today of around $20 trillion," Kucinich said. "And to facilitate and protect that scheme, he is willing to continue the occupation, keep our brave men and women in the line of fire, and risk an escalation of violence and regional instability."

Kucinich, the only Democratic candidate who voted against the original Iraq war authorization in 2002 and every supplemental funding appropriation since, continued, "This is a crime of international proportions, and it's happening right under the noses of a Congress that won't listen, other candidates for President who don't understand, and the media who are asleep at their desks."

When the President and the Congress and other political leaders discuss Iraq's progress in meeting 18 specific benchmarks, "Let's be honest about it: the only benchmark that really matters to this Administration is the privatization of Iraq's oil under the guise of a proposed law portrayed as revenue sharing. And they are using the might of the U.S. military as leverage to ensure that that benchmark is met."

Earlier this year, Kucinich delivered an unprecedented one-hour speech on the floor of the U.S. House detailing the implications of the proposed hydrocarbon law and chronicling the sometimes-secret discussions and negotiations that led to its drafting.

In that speech, and in meetings with House Democratic leaders and colleagues, Kucinich provided documentation, some dating back to 1999, showing that international oil interests and representatives of the Administration, notably Vice President Dick Cheney, have been strategizing for years about how to open up Iraq's oil industry to exploitation by the world's major oil corporations. He also provided evidence that, for years, top oil company executives have been quietly, sometimes secretly, advising the U.S. government and the evolving government of Iraq on ways to end Iraq's state-controlled oil industry and to facilitate "foreign investment." Those powerful executives, Kucinich said, have been coveting Iraq's oil reserves - the second or third largest in the world - since the country nationalized its oil industry in 1975.

"That's why the President won't bring our troops home. It's exactly what I've been saying for five years: It's always been about the oil," Kucinich said in his comments today.

He continued, "Congress must refuse to consider any additional funding for an immoral and illegal war that is being used to cover up this kind of corruption and criminality. Bring our troops home now, establish an international peace-keeping and security force, and stop trying to hijack an entire nation's wealth."

He added, "Everyone who voted for this war and everyone who voted to continue funding this war should be held accountable for the consequences of those votes. If they didn't know what they were doing, they should admit it. If they don't see what's going on, there is something terribly wrong with their vision and their judgment."

Business and Financial News - New York Times=

Al-Rafidain Bank capital increased to 25 billion dinars

The Cabinet decided at its thirty seventh regular session to approve the capital increase of Al-Rafidain Bank from ten billion ID to twenty five billion ID from the reserve account without incurring treasury charges, based on the provisions of Article (10 / First paragraph) of the General Companies Act No. 22 for the year 1997 as amended by Law No. 9 for 2002.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=4527

Bahrain hosts Iraqi forum in November

Ghassan Hussein, Iraqi ambassador to Manama, said that Bahrain will host the first Iraqi-Gulf Forum and Exhibition on Iraqi Reconstruction this November. He stressed that consolidating relations with Bahrain is a priority of the Iraqi embassy there, expressing thanks to King Hamad Bin Issa Al Khalifa for kind gestures towards the treatment of Iraqi children and training of various Iraqi cadres.

He added that Iraq's oil and economic policies led to improvements de****e deteriorating security, confirming that Bahraini investors have already invested, especially in the region of Iraqi Kurdistan which enjoys the highest level of security.

The Iraqi ambassador said that choosing Bahrain to hold a forum and exhibition is of great significance for the deepening relationship between the two countries, and that the Bahrain event is the first stage toward the success of other Gulf States forums. He expected that 2000 Iraqi businessmen and officials will attend the forum as there are many positive responses to this Conference, which is supported by the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Bahraini-American Chamber of Commerce.

The Iraqi Forum was supposed to be organized last March but the States were not ready then, so it was postponed to November. Many nations have announced participation, notwithstanding that the Iraqi community in Bahrain does not exceed 1400 persons according to an earlier press statement by the Iraqi ambassador to Manama.

http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=4528