Thread: Iraq/Dinar News. 09/05 to 01/14/07

OK I just can't help myself - "Cheney likes to Duck Hunt, maybe he could help his partner out?"

Elections could leave Bush lame duck
Advisers bracing for possible shift in balance of power

Updated: 5:33 a.m. ET Oct 18, 2006

On desks around the West Wing sit digital clocks counting down the days and hours left in the Bush presidency, reminders to the White House staff to use the time left as effectively as possible. As of 8 a.m. today, those clocks will read 825 days, four hours. But if the elections go the way pollsters and pundits predict, they might as well read 20 days.

At least that would be the end of George W. Bush's presidency as he has known it. If Democrats win one or both houses of Congress on Nov. 7, the result will transform the remainder of Bush's time in office and dramatically shift the balance of power in Washington. Ending a dozen years basically passed in exile, congressional Democrats would have a chance to help steer the nation again -- following a campaign spent mostly assailing Bush's vision rather than detailing their own.

The rest of the story : Click here


RR sorry to hear about Mrs. not having a voice and you getting a phone bill. Thanks for everything!!!!

TheBrain - your good a good detective!!! Awesome research!!

Everybody else - Let hope an RV By Monday!!!!

Nemo - will try and not post any comments to help keep the tread short for ya.

Cheer
Chris

Originally Posted by benzboy

maybe some can answer this for me the CBI or central bank of Iraq, how can they have their site down for 2 days and why exactly. I do not understand this , forgive my niavety, but this no news is making me nuts
benzboy

That is the Million dollar question Benzboy, we would all like the answer to that!

Originally Posted by shotgunsusie

i dont know if ive mentioned this a million times already or if ive just said it outloud in chat a million times already, but a smart man on iif a couple years ago said to watch the cbi auctions, they would tell you all about the dinar. and, he said when the auctions stopped for a few days you could expect the revalue. hence why ive always watched those auctions religiously and gotten excited with each one that wasnt posted. but THIS. man this kicks in the butt any kind of 'matter of fact' mis-posting of the rate!!! this isnt just one day here or there, ITS 3 DAYS NOW!

this is no fluke or accident or blunder.

Does this person still frequent the forums Sus??? If so, are they known by us as a matter of interest?

Here's a reference to the anarchy option that I mentioned earlier. How does it affect a possible reval? Well, much of what we have discussed already still stands true: the big oil boys will move in with the hydrocarbon law no matter what. But it means that despite the efforts of the 'leaders' in Iraq, the violence in Baghdad could go on unabated for quite some time. The groupthink is that "as goes Baghdad, so goes Iraq," so the media will continue its slanted 'reporting' and body count without much reporting of the improvements that will be happening starting in the border regions and working their way in. It will be a race of economic forces seeping in from the edges, likely making significant changes in Baghdad last, vs the politicians within and outside of the country knee-jerk reacting and judging based on largely Baghdad-oriented information.

Iraq militias splintering into radicalized cells
New groups appear more ruthless in use of violence

Updated: 1:25 a.m. PT Oct 19, 2006
BAGHDAD - The young Shiite men, some wearing black masks, glided from house to house in search of Sunni Muslim men. They arrived at the two-story dwelling of Mohammed Hussein clutching a bomb, neighbors said. As his mother stood at the front gate, they detonated it. Shrapnel and glass flew, sending her to the hospital. A wall fell on a neighbor, sending him to his grave.

Hussein, who is Sunni, arrived home an hour later and immediately blamed a man called Aziz Dinar. Residents in this western Baghdad neighborhood of Hurriyah -- in Arabic, it means freedom -- said Dinar heads the local office of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and elements of his militia, the Mahdi Army.

"We know he is behind all the incidents taking place in Hurriyah," Hussein, 29, a civil servant, said with confidence. "He is the one who destroyed our house."

But in an interview, a leader in Sadr's movement in western Baghdad denied knowing Dinar. "This Aziz Dinar does not represent us in Hurriyah. There are other representatives," said Abdul Hadi al-Mohammadawi. "I have never heard of him."

In the void forged by the sectarian tensions gripping Baghdad, militias are further splintering into smaller, more radicalized cells, signifying a new and potentially more volatile phase in the struggle for the capital.

Iraqis and U.S. officials blame militias for mass kidnappings and slayings, for setting up unauthorized checkpoints and for causing much of the recent carnage.

Senior U.S. military and intelligence officials say they have identified at least 23 militias -- some are Sunni, but most are Shiite. Some are paramilitary offshoots of the Mahdi Army or have broken away entirely from Sadr's command structure. Others seem inspired by Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah guerrilla movement.

"In some ways it make it easier for me because I have digestible doses I can deal with that might not be reinforcing one another," a senior U.S. military official said at a recent briefing with reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity. "But at the same time, it creates problems for me because it is harder to find them when they are splintered, to identify who they are."

Rogue death squads
The new breed of militias embody the changed texture of violence in the fourth year of war -- from attacks against Baathists and loyalists of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, to attacks on average Iraqis purely because of their sect or their wealth. They appear more localized and more ruthless than their predecessors. They deploy death squads and explode bombs to destroy houses. They have carved neighborhoods into fiefdoms, governing through fear and intimidation.

The fragmentation poses new obstacles to U.S. and Iraqi forces trying to quell the sectarian strife that U.S. commanders fear could plunge the nation into civil war. Militias have already replaced the Sunni Arab insurgency as the biggest challenge to U.S. efforts to bring stability to Iraq. Senior U.S. military officials privately acknowledge they do not have the manpower to conduct urban sweeps in every neighborhood or prevent areas they have cleared from again becoming havens of lawlessness and killing.

Nowadays, in some parts of Baghdad, it is not uncommon to hear residents blame small militias, criminal gangs, rogue death squads or assassins for their woes -- instead of Iraq's two major militias, the Mahdi Army and the Badr Brigades, an arm of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a powerful Shiite religious party.

In the mostly Shiite neighborhood of al-Amil, the Haider Hamida gang rules. It has about 50 Shiite members, mostly young, jobless men from poor sections of the neighborhood, residents said. They orbit around shops, street corners and checkpoints. Many have ties to the Mahdi Army or are still members, said residents.

The gang is named after the pseudonym of its chief executioner, a short, skinny man in his early 20s with black hair and a thin moustache. Some residents said he was a member of a police commando unit. Both U.S. and Iraqi officials have expressed concern over the infiltration of Iraqi police units by militias and death squads. Hamida is said to have killed at least 100 people in recent months.

"We started hearing about his gang after Samarra. They became active after this incident," said Majid Abu Sara, 43, a Sunni resident of al-Amil, who asked that his full name not be used because he feared for his safety. He was referring to the February bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra, about 65 miles north of Baghdad, that triggered cycles of sect-based revenge killings. Most of the other splinter groups also emerged after the attack.

The Haider Hamida gang arrived at Abu Sara's parents' doorstep three months ago, he recalled. They placed an improvised bomb at the front door, near their car. Within seconds, the house and the car were engulfed in flames. Abu Sara's 90-year-old father, his 70-year-old mother and 10 other relatives fled out the back.

"They displaced them just because they are Sunni," said Abu Sara, describing the motive for the attack. "My parents have not gone back."

At a recent briefing with reporters, another senior U.S. military official carried a list of the 23 militias. He began to rattle off names -- "Iraqiya Hezbollah, Khadimiya Brigades" -- but an aide stopped him, noting that he was revealing vital intelligence.

In August, U.S. and Iraqi troops conducted house-to-house sweeps in the western neighborhood of Ghazaliya, part of its Operation Together Forward to bring security to the capital. At the time, U.S. officials asserted that there was progress in pushing out militias and insurgents, and bringing down violence.

But by September, after the sweeps, "we saw deaths squads at least come in," a senior coalition intelligence official said at a recent briefing with reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity. The death squads had links to groups inside Iraqi government ministries, he said.

‘Too accommodating’
One reason for the militia splintering is that differences have emerged within Sadr's movement over his decision to join Iraq's political process. The senior coalition intelligence official said he knew of at least "six major players" who have left Sadr's movement because they no longer find him radical enough and see him as "too accommodating to the coalition."

Yet many of the new groups, described as rogue elements, continue to link themselves with the Mahdi Army.

"They will execute operations and obtain funding under the guise of Jaish al-Mahdi," said the senior coalition intelligence official, using the Arabic name for the Mahdi Army. "But they are effectively beyond his control," he said, referring to Sadr.

These groups represent a threat to Sadr's image and political aspirations at a time when he controls four government ministries and 30 seats in the Iraqi parliament.

"There are definitely lots of terrorists who have used the Sadr office to achieve their goals to ruin the reputation of this army which has struggled for the service of the people," said Mohammadawi. "The Sadr office is trying very hard to capture any terrorist elements which could harm the security of society and Iraq in general."

When gunmen in police cars and police uniforms raided the offices of an Iraqi satellite television channel, killing at least eight people, suspicion immediately fell on the Mahdi Army. Hours after the slayings, Sadr released a strongly worded statement warning that he would release the names and excommunicate any Mahdi Army militiamen who were conducting attacks against Iraqis.

The senior coalition intelligence official said he believed that Sadr was honestly trying to take control over his forces.

In neighborhoods such as al-Amil, the attacks have become bolder. Haider Hamida walks the streets without wearing a mask, said residents. Two months ago, he and some members of his gang stopped a car at a checkpoint and targeted a man who sold milk in the neighborhood, recalled Ahmed Abu Abdallah, another resident.

"Haider pulled him out of the car and they started hitting him with pistols on his head," said Abu Abdallah. "They put him in their truck and drove off." Later that day, the man's relatives found his body dumped less than a mile from the checkpoint.

U.S. officials are concerned that the Shiite splinter groups could reach out to the Shiite rulers in neighboring Iran for support. They share the same ideology and Iran is eager to provide funding, said the senior coalition intelligence official.

‘I do whatever I like’
"As time goes on, you're going to continue to see elements break off the organization and become sort of these semi-independent or independent players, but none of them remain independent for long," said the official. "They all find a sponsor."

In Hurriyah, Aziz Dinar acts as if he has strong backers. Residents said he has become wealthy through kidnapping for ransom and looting local stores. Poor youths from the neighborhood continue to sign up for his militia.

"He killed a couple of his own neighbors from his own street," said Hussein. "The whole area was surrounded by his men. They carried rocket-propelled grenades. The Iraqi army was in the neighborhood, but they did nothing.

"That day, he told people, 'I do whatever I like.' "

Adster and someone else posted this already but it looks like some people missed it.


http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=2346

A decline in demand for dollar purchase during the Central Bank auction
19/10/2006

The official spokesman of the Iraqi government to Dr. Skinner

(Voice of Iraq) - 10-19-2006
The Republic of Iraq
مجلس الوزراء- دائرة الإتصالات الحكوميةCouncil of Ministers-the governmental communications
اMedia Relations
ب/ Press ReleaseA press statement / Press Release
ا 19-10-2006Thursday, 10-19-2006
:The official spokesman of the Iraqi government, Dr. Skinner on the following :

:The Council of Ministers held its third session this habitual approved today, Thursday, 19 / 10 / 2006, and adopted the following resolutions :

1.1. .Approval of the extension of the term of service of the staff of the dissolved entities for a period of one year from the date of 18 / 10 / 2006 for the purpose of completing the task and the reasons for its formation.

2.2. .Approval of the increase in attorney's fees set forth in the (first-a) of the Bar Act (No. 173) of 1965 as amended, including not exceeding 150, 000 dinars.


3.3. .The approval of the draft law amending the rents of housing units belonging to government departments and the public sector to ensure that (construction area) instead of (area), referred to in the table.

4.4. ا .Approval of the allocation of the amount of (two billion dinars) to the Iraqi National Olympic Committee to cover the costs of participation of the national team in the Asian Games, and training camps, in order to upgrade the sport and the support and encouragement of our team, which will be the name of the national and the people of Iraq. The Committee is to submit in advance the details of the paragraphs in question amount to be covered for the purpose of adoption.

5.5. Approval by the Department of Transportation to sign a contract or contracts with security protection to ensure the protection of the international road to Syria and Jordan, whereby companies providing security services for a flat borne by the Ministry of Finance.

6.6. اRatification of the proposal and the formation of the Ministry of Finance financial experts under the law to replace the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMS), and is considered an amendment to the law is on the law of financial management.

7.7. Approvals for the building of ten hospitals in Iraq 400-bed hospital capacity and the method of rapid construction within budget-2007 allocations to the Ministry of Health.

I have the IAMS happening on : 30/31 Oct IAMB Meeting and ICBG to launch - There early. THOUGHTS ANYONE???

Originally Posted by day dreamer

It would be nice to see it happen for our opening bell, wouldn't hurt my feelings any, especially with the high yesterday man wouldn't that look good for bush or before the closing bell

oh yeah i think theres some big news comin for the Grand Oil Party no doubt.

Originally Posted by jsfletcher

Adster and someone else posted this already but it looks like some people missed it.


http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=2346

A decline in demand for dollar purchase during the Central Bank auction
19/10/2006

They were referring to the auctions of last Sunday and Monday. Nothing new since then.

Originally Posted by shotgunsusie

i dont know if ive mentioned this a million times already or if ive just said it outloud in chat a million times already, but a smart man on iif a couple years ago said to watch the cbi auctions, they would tell you all about the dinar. and, he said when the auctions stopped for a few days you could expect the revalue. hence why ive always watched those auctions religiously and gotten excited with each one that wasnt posted. but THIS. man this kicks in the butt any kind of 'matter of fact' mis-posting of the rate!!! this isnt just one day here or there, ITS 3 DAYS NOW!

this is no fluke or accident or blunder.

I also remember this Susie, in fact was just talking about it again yesterday.

Anyone noticed the Yahoo Charts USDIDQ?

Movement all days this week, suddenly a flat line this morning!

Oh my god, maybe the old exchange rate is dying today.

Yahoo! Finance Charts