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

I wouldn't say the Dinar section has died.

We all have lives outside the "Box" and the Dinar Madness was so entertaining it kept me glued to the screen in hopes of discovering that the incredible happened- "The Dinar Revalued"!

Well, the hype has finally dwindled down, and naturally the attention it brought has dwindled down with it.

I still check in daily and the news of late has been encouraging. Not enough to spark up the old Hype Machine again, but enough to keep me positive and enough to keep me educated.

I second that "thanks" to Seaview and Lunar and anyone else keeping this thread alive and current.

One day we'll all look back on this and laugh.

Iraq FM fears 'tension' over Iran nuclear program

Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari on Sunday urged Iran not to fan flames of confrontation with the West over its nuclear program, saying the conflict was leading to rising global tensions.

"From where we are, there is a rising tension between the (United Nations) Security Council and Iran over the nuclear fire," he told CNN.

"We, as Iraqis, are worried about this rising tension. And we are doing our best to decrease that because that will impact our security situation more positively," he added.

He said tensions have been heightened by recent Iranian pronouncements on its nuclear program, and urged Tehran to soften its tone.

"Our advice has been to the Iranians, as recently as a few days ago, that really you need to (take) these statements very seriously and deal credibly and transparently with the international community," he said.

Zebari also urged Iran "to learn from the mistakes of Saddam Hussein in the past ... in dealing with the weapons of mass destruction," he said.

The United States and its European allies believe that Iran is hiding plans to build atomic weapons. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful energy purposes and has refused to halt sensitive uranium enrichment work.

He added that Iraq, which has seen relations improve with Tehran, finds itself caught in the cross-fire in the spat between the West and Iran.

"On the one hand, Iran has a very clear policy in supporting the government politically and supporting the political process and majority rule government. This government is friendly to them," Zebari said.

"On the other hand, really we see evidence that there has been intervention by Iran and by others as well ... to bloody Americans or make lives more difficult there," he said.

"This is the wrong policy," he said, adding that such acts would only increase "the prospects of a confrontation" and "can only provoke the Americans more and more."

Zebari added that he hoped the situation would improve following an upcoming international meeting in Turkey.

"We are planning a major meeting in Istanbul in early November for Iraq's neighbors, plus the P5 (five permanent members of the the UN Security Council) and the G8 (leading global international powers)," he said.

"We will ... confront all of our neighbors with evidence, with facts that this is what Iraq requires from you: to stop meddling, to support the government in good faith," Zebari said.

Iraq FM fears 'tension' over Iran nuclear program - Yahoo! News

Iraq's chance to reconfigure itself may touch raw nerves elsewhere

Not surprisingly, many official and other parties around the Arab world have reacted with anger to the United States Congress' recent proposal to recreate Iraq in a loose federal arrangement with a relatively weak central government. The Iraqi people themselves seem to be against the idea, even though they have not made significant or compelling progress on a power-sharing formula that would bring political peace to the troubled country that remains under de facto foreign military rule. The solution to Iraq's problems will ultimately emanate from Iraq's people, once foreign armies and interested neighbors give Iraqis enough space and time to define themselves.

It is important, however, to separate two very different issues that are often hopelessly confused: the illegal, destructive and unacceptable foreign invasion of Iraq that has brought the country to this damaged condition, and the capacity of the Iraqi people themselves to define themselves anew in a national configuration that is sustainable and satisfying because it is anchored in the free will of the people themselves. The atrocious imperial arrogance of the Anglo-American attack on Iraq should not detract from the hopeful possibility that an Iraq free of foreign domination might become a unique phenomenon in the modern Arab world: a country whose people defined themselves, free of foreign interference and domestic authoritarianism.

The dilemma that the Americans face in Iraq is different from the opportunity that Iraqis face in Iraq - yet both should set off little red warning bells about the condition of many other Arab countries. The United States wants to get out of Iraq as soon as it can without setting off a chain reaction of civil war and regional turmoil, especially amid the vital oil and gas fields of the Gulf. The Iraqis also appear anxious to see the Americans leave their country - de****e many of them being grateful for the removal of the former Baathist regime led by Saddam Hussein - yet they want the process to happen in the context of a credible power-sharing agreement that responds to the interests and identities of all Iraqis.

Therein is the common theme that resonates to a large extent throughout the Arab world and other parts of the Middle East: the importance of allowing entire citizenries to define themselves as common nationals of a single sovereign state, including articulating the rights of citizens and the limits to state power. This - the "consent of the governed," as it was called in the pivotal 18th century - is the crucial missing element in the pervasive yet elusive quest for stability and sensible statehood throughout the perennially troubled Middle East.

No wonder that so many other Arabs have rushed to affirm the unity and sovereignty of Iraq, for some of them are unsure of their own stability and durability, both as ruling elites and as delineated states. Iraq is both a historical anachronism in its continued vulnerability to Western neo-imperial armies, and a harbinger of a possible new era defined by a promise that remains unfulfilled: self-determinant Arabs.

The Daily Star - Editorial - Iraq's chance to reconfigure itself may touch raw nerves elsewhere

AP Interview: Iraq's foreign minister says meeting of neighbors will see action, not pledges

Iraq's foreign minister said a high-level meeting next month between the country's neighbors and key international supporters will be the most important yet because it could turn promises of help into action.

The high-level meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, will be a follow-up to a May meeting in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, where Iraq's neighbors promised to stop foreign militants from joining Iraq's insurgency - a pledge the United States says has not been met.

Hoshyar Zebari said he expects Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the foreign ministers of Iran, Russia, France, Italy, Egypt and Saudi Arabia to be among the participants at the two-day meeting in Istanbul, which is likely to take place Nov. 2-3.

This time, Zebari said, the Iraqi government has crystalized its ideas and made recommendations in three key areas - security, refugees and energy - and will have a list of achievable measures.

''I think we'll be in a stronger position to tell our neighbors that these are what Iraq needs, and we expect you, in front of this international gathering, to live up to your commitments and your pledges,'' Zebari said in an interview Saturday night with The Associated Press.

The two-day gathering at Sharm el-Sheik was the warmest yet between Iraq and Arab countries, but suspicions remains between the two sides. Zebari expects the Istanbul meeting to be more productive.

''I think this is the most important meeting ever by Iraq's neighbors, the major international powers,'' Zebari said. ''This meeting is different from all the 10 meetings that we had since 2003, which were just meeting for the sake of meeting and coming out with a statement of intent, of solidarity.''

Iraq expects next month's meeting ''to deliver, so no more empty words, no more empty promises. We have proposals. ... A statement of intent is no longer accepted. We need action,'' he said.

Zebari said the Iraqi government wants a commitment from its neighbors ''to prevent the flow of foreign fighters'' and to improve the screening of people who enter their countries.

Iraq also wants neighboring countries to cooperate with its authorities to share intelligence and information on the activities of terrorist networks, he said.

The country needs a mechanism to report violations, incursions or infiltrations, and effective measures to stop financing and fundraising for terrorist groups in mosques and elsewhere, he said.

According to U.N. statistics, about 1.5 million Iraqis have fled to Syria and 750,000 to Jordan. There are also 150,000 Iraqi refugees in Egypt, 50,000 in Iran and 20,000 in Turkey.

Zebari said Iraq will give Syria $15 million and Jordan $10 million to help their health and education ministries cope with the influx of refugees, and it will also supply crude oil to both countries and rebuild infrastructure.

Santa Barbara News-Press

Waiting game over Iraq's oil reserves

In Iraq, oil companies face a dilemma. They can wait for the central government in Baghdad to agree a new oil law that will give them a legal framework in which they can operate, and for the security situation to become manageable.

Or they can press ahead and sign agreements with the Kurdistan regional government, the authority in the autonomous north of Iraq, at the risk of souring relations with Baghdad and shutting themselves out of deals in the rest of the country.

It is a decision that has so far divided the smaller operators from the majors. In Iraqi Kurdistan, the companies that are active include DNO - which has produced the first oil from a new source in Iraq since the invasion of 2003 - Addax, Dana Gas, Sterling Energy and Western Oil Sands, which is spinning off its activities in the region as part of its takeover by Marathon.

Most recently, they have been joined by Hunt Oil, a privately held US independent, which this month signed a deal to explore in Kurdistan. The majors, on the other hand, have been conspicuous by their absence, aware that Iraq's central government does not recognise the legality of agreements signed with the KRG.

Approval

Hussain Al Shahristani, Iraq's oil minister, said last week about Hunt Oil's deal: "All these contracts have to be approved by the federal authority before they are legal . . . This was not presented for approval; it has no standing.'' Only three per cent of Iraq's vast reserves of oil and gas are in Kurdistan, and while the minnows of the oil world might be able to make a good business out of three per cent of Iraq's reserves, the big fish want access to the remaining 97 per cent. That is why the majors that are interested in Iraq, including Total and Chevron - which plan to collaborate in the country - and Royal Dutch Shell, are all working with the government in Baghdad.

While they wait for contracts to be offered, the majors are building relationships, training engineers and carrying out technical studies for free, in preparation for the day when they might be able to operate. The question is how long their patience will last. The level of violence is still unacceptably high, and the oil law is stuck in parliament. If anything, the prospect of agreement appears to be receding as tensions between the parties grow.

If the political situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate, there may come a time when the majors decide it is better to have three per cent of a large amount than 97 per cent of nothing.

Gulfnews: Waiting game over Iraq's oil reserves

Iran says it ready to help US stabilize Iraq

Iran will help the United States stabilize neighbouring Iraq if Washington sets out a timetable for a withdrawal of its troops, Iran 's chief nuclear negotiator said in an interview published on Monday.

"If they (the Americans) have a clear definition of a timetable we'll help them materialise it," Ali Larijani told Britain's Financial Times newspaper. Larijani, the secretary of Iran 's Supreme National Security Council, added that Washington's failures in Iraq should deter the US from any further foreign interventions and warned the United States to stay clear of Iran. He said any attack on Iran would be like Washington "sticking its hand into a beehive". (Reuters)

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7...455082,00.html

GOP Senators Offer New Timeline for Iraq

A small group of Republicans facing election fights next year have rallied around war legislation they think could unite the GOP: Call for an end to U.S. combat in Iraq, but wait until President Bush is almost out of office.

WASHINGTON - A small group of Republicans facing election fights next year have rallied around war legislation they think could unite the GOP: a call for an end to U.S. combat in Iraq, but not until President Bush is out of office.

The legislation was deemed essentially a nonstarter by Democrats Friday and underscored the difficulty Congress has in striking a bipartisan compromise on war policy. What attracts Democrats has repelled Republiicans and vice versa, making it impossible so far to find a middle ground.

"To try to put this until after the election, rather than a reasonable period of completion, I believe would be to unneccessarily introduce a political element to what is a bipartisan effort,'' said Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, Democratic chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

GOP Senators Offer New Timeline for Iraq

Switzerland Parliament are Trying to Promote Joint Relations between Kurdistan Region and Switzerland

Swiss MP and head of Swiss –Kurdish Friendship Association, Carols Moroga , announced that they are trying to promote joint relations between Kurdistan region and Switzerland on September 19th in the Switzerland parliament .

Regarding that, head of committee of culture and foreign relations in Kurdistan region parliament, Arez Abdullah, told PUKmedia that the pro-Kurdish Swiss MP, Carols Moroga told them that they are negotiating with Switzerland government in order to cooperate with KRG in purging Kurdistan region from chemical weapons and war leftovers.

The association also intends to hold a conference on the federalism of Iraq in future, he added.

A delegation from Switzerland parliament headed by MP Carols Moroga visited Kurdistan region in last April ,and closely saw conditions of families of chemical attacks and Anfal victims in Hallabja, Garmiyan, and Balysan, since then they are working for the legitimate Kurdish issue.

PUKmedia :: English - Switzerland Parliament are Trying to Promote Joint Relations between Kurdistan Region and Switzerlan

The Iranian Artillery Resumes Bombardment of Kurdistan Region Border Areas

The Iranian artillery once again resumed its bombardment of Kurdistan region Border areas in some areas of Pishder district.

The bombardment is targeting Aliye Resh, Zewke, and Sadr Mountain of Zharawe sub-district.

The shelling till now caused no casualties, hoever causing great worry to the local citizens, Azad Wsu, director of Zharawe sub—district told PUKmedia on Sunday evening.

PUKmedia :: English - The Iranian Artillery Resumes Bombardment of Kurdistan Region Border Areas

Provinces Use Rebuilding Money in Iraq

This mostly easygoing provincial capital, where the Euphrates River winds around as if it is in no hurry to go farther south, holds the latest sign that political power in Iraq is leaving its historical home in Baghdad for outlying regions. That sign is a local government that knows how to spend money.

Because of security threats and a seemingly immovable bureaucracy, the federal ministries in Baghdad largely failed to spend billions of dollars of Iraqi oil revenues set aside last year to rebuild things like roads, schools, ho****als and power plants.

Although some ministries have improved slightly, what has really caught the eye of Iraqi politicians is the way some local governments have begun bypassing the morass in Baghdad by using hundreds of millions of dollars of the reconstruction money they receive from the government to finance regional projects.

The approach has found such favor among some political leaders that Iraq’s deputy prime minister, Barham Salih, arrived here with an all-star cast of senior government officials on Sunday to announce that Babil Province, whose capital is Hilla, would be rewarded with $70 million in new money and financing for a major loan program for small businesses and individuals.

Participants at a meeting where that announcement was made said they had already seen modest effects of Babil’s talent for spending money in the form of new schools, road repairs, small electricity projects and the improving commercial vigor of Hilla, where smoke can be seen rising from brick factories and the streets do not have the deserted feel of many districts in Baghdad, 50 miles north.

For a province whose entire 2007 capital budget is $112 million, $70 million is a stunning addition. In fact, the rate of spending has some authorities concerned that the push for provincial spending could drive a wave of corruption. They fear it could also unleash new centrifugal forces in a country already on the verge of breaking into semiautonomous regions.

But in Mr. Salih’s view, the degree of independence exercised by provinces like Babil in local rebuilding is consistent with Iraq’s Constitution, which envisions a federal system with substantial powers granted to regions.

Those moves were an indicator of the increasing uselessness of the old Iraqi apparatus of centralized government, Mr. Salih said.

“This central bureaucracy is broken,” he said. “The national ministries have proven incapable of spending their budgets.”

To illustrate his frustration, he related the case of a school in Babil that he said had been built with provincial money. But once it was built, the national education ministry proved so dysfunctional that it could not furnish it.

As if to punctuate those statements, Iraq’s finance minister, Bayan Jabr, who also made the trip, then announced that the portion of the capital budget that goes directly to the 18 provinces would increase by half, to nearly $4 billion next year.

The capital budget for the entire country, including the provinces, was $6 billion in 2006 and $10 billion in 2007. But some national ministries spent as little as 15 percent of their share last year, citing problems such as a shortage of employees trained to write contracts, the flight of scientific and engineering expertise from the country and the danger from militias and the insurgency.

There is also the sheer complexity of the Iraqi government bureaucracy, where gaining simple permission to speak with an official can take weeks and there appears to be little practical leverage over employees who collect salaries but do nothing. Some of those problems may be a holdover from a corrupt Baathist apparatus that drew everything out for months or even years so that each bureaucrat could take a cut.

In any case, it was by getting around some of those impediments that Babil was able to progress, said the provincial governor, Saleem S. al-Mesimawe.

“We jumped over the routine, the bureaucracy,” Mr. Mesimawe said, “and we depend on new blood — a new team.”

Other provinces that have been picking up the pace of spending, Mr. Salih said, are Diwaniya and Wasit in the south and Kirkuk in the north, along with Anbar in the west, where Sunni sheiks continue to work with American forces to fight groups linked to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a homegrown militant group that American intelligence has concluded is led by foreigners. Surprisingly enough, Baghdad, which has its own municipal government and is also formally a province, is “generally among the good performers,” Mr. Salih said.

Along with praise for the pace of spending in the provinces come concerns that local governments could repeat the mistakes of the centrally controlled reconstruction program that began after the invasion and has never had a widespread impact on improving services in Iraq.

Abdulbasit Turki Saeed, president of the nation’s Board of Supreme Audit, said he was particularly concerned that the government was pushing the spending as a way to show progress for some purpose other than security. He said authorities in a province he declined to identify had at one point detained, for two days, an auditor whose findings were not appreciated locally.

“I think that spending these amounts of money in an unreasonable way will lead to corruption,” Mr. Saeed said.

He also cautioned that it would take time to determine how fully the allocations — essentially money set aside for specific contracts — would be reflected in successful construction work.

And Sabah al-Khafaji, technical director of the State Company for Automotive Industry, based in western Babil, said allocating projects within the province had become intensely political, based on the need for members of the provincial council to deliver for their constituents.

“They are successful inside Hilla, and they are successful where there are more council members: more members, more projects,” said Mr. Khafaji, who attended the presentation, in a town-hall-style setting.

But advocates of the approach say it is precisely that direct connection with citizens that sets the provincial effort apart from the centralized program. “Politics is breaking out in this country!” the ebullient Mr. Salih said in English, in response to a question after the session.

Nearly all of the national budget is dependent on oil revenues. The provincial capital budgets, like the ones that go to the national ministries, are specified in the national budget. But the provinces spend the direct allocations largely as they see fit, rather than being forced to accept projects approved by the ministries in Baghdad.

Officials at the meeting said Babil had used its capital budget faster than any other province, having allocated about 25 percent to specific contracts by the end of July, and 34 percent through September. Mr. Mesimawe, the governor, said his province had done so by creating a detailed strategic plan and a set of committees to see it through.

Still, for all the success the province has had on paper, residents who have heard a constant stream of promises since the invasion are not convinced that their living conditions will change substantially.

“The problem is that most of the council members are just talkers,” said Sahar al-Barak, a local engineer. “We haven’t seen any real development.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/01/wo...&ex=1348891200