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

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats, who won majorities in the U.S. Congress in last week's elections, said on Sunday they will push for a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq to begin in four to six months.

"The first order of business is to change the direction of Iraq policy," said Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat who is expected to be chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee in the new Congress.

Levin, on ABC's "This Week," said he hoped some Republicans would emerge to join Democrats and press the administration of President George W. Bush to tell the Iraqi government that U.S. presence was "not open-ended."

Bush has insisted that U.S. troops would not leave Iraq until the Iraqis were able to take over security for their country.

"We need to begin a phased redeployment of forces from Iraq in four to six months," Levin said.

Speaking on the same program, Sen. Joseph Biden, a Delaware Democrat who is expected to head the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he supported Levin's proposal for a withdrawal.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articl...News-newsOne-2

Originally Posted by rodney ewalt

Because, when reading the latest news with your friends it is only natural to comment on one point or another and share your opinions. We're trying to have a little fun with our expectations. I see nothing wrong with that and the poster referred to in the above mentioned post was absolutely naysaying. He was attempting to poke fun at the fact that there has been no R/V yet and insinuating that we are all fools for continuing to look forward to what we all hope is the inevitable revalue. What a jerk! to say the least.

Well this is changing for awhile. Even thow you are my pal, this will go for all. From now own everyone will need to take it out of the News thread. Heck, start another thread if needed for the attention. Just not here. The ONLY opinion will be to the article. Please use the Thanks button for a thanks post.

This is just the first part of a very long article....in spite of this kind of thing, the Iraqi's are making forward progress...amazing...

"Little Iraq" has a big problem
By Richard A. Oppel Jr

The New York Times

BAQOUBA, Iraq — It did not take long for Col. Brian D. Jones to have doubts about the new Iraqi commander.

The commander, Brig. Gen. Shakir Hulail Hussein al-Kaabi, was chosen three months ago by the Shiite-led government in Baghdad to lead the Iraqi army's 5th Division in Diyala province. Within weeks, Shakir came to Jones with a roster of people he wanted to arrest.

On the list were the names of nearly every Sunni Arab sheik and political leader that U.S. officers had identified as crucial allies in their quest to persuade Sunnis to embrace the political process and turn against the powerful Sunni insurgent groups here.

"Where's the evidence?" Jones demanded of Shakir. "Where's the proof? What makes us suspect these guys? None of that stuff exists."

To that, Jones recalled, the Iraqi commander replied simply, "I got this from Baghdad."

The incident was one of many that alarmed Jones, who just completed a year-long tour as commander of U.S. forces in Diyala. In the end, he said, he concluded that the Iraqi general's real ambition was to destroy the Sunni political movement here — possibly on orders from Baghdad.

"I believe this is a larger plan to make Diyala a Shia province, rather than a Sunni province," he said.

Diyala is known as "Little Iraq," because of its volatile mix of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. With its lush groves of date palms and abundant oil reserves, it is emerging as a crucial strategic territory in the sectarian struggle now gripping the country.

Long a stronghold of the insurgency — Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, was killed in a house only miles from here — Diyala is now teeming with Shiite militiamen who have rushed in from Baghdad in recent months to protect the Shiite population from attacks.

As pressures for a phased U.S. withdrawal build, the experiences of American commanders over the past year in Diyala provide a window on the possible consequences of ceding authority to the Iraqi army.

The Seattle Times: Nation & World: "Little Iraq" has a big problem

Najaf governor : the establishment of a new company for extraction of oil and other refinery in the province

Najaf / Amer Alokaishi

Najaf contracted with the Ra's al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates on establishing a company for oil extraction in the province.
A source in Najaf : that agreement has been reached during the visit of the governor of Najaf, As'ad Abu tirelessly to the United Arab Emirates to be Najaf share of the profits, while 51% do not bear any loss in the event of a loss.
The governor of Najaf (Saturday evening meeting) with the Inspector General in the Ministry of Oil in the Office of maintaining the presence of Riyadh Bahr Al-Uloom, member of the Najaf governorate, and the Chairman of the fuel and Abdul Jabbar Eissawi Najaf branch manager for the distribution of petroleum products.
For his part, the governor of Najaf on several projects to be implemented in the province, including the agreement with the Director of the Central Bank to open a branch of the Central Bank in Najaf governorate said that the project aims to revitalize the industrial and commercial movements in the province. As well as a new airport-Najaf Airport tourist hoped opened shortly be away from the residential areas in addition to the establishment of modern massacre is the largest of its kind at the All governorates of Iraq as well as the direct creation of a large grain mill and modern.
The governor of Najaf, his statement by saying : to maintain dialogue and Oil Ministry to establish a new oil refinery near the oil refinery Najaf, which was inaugurated six weeks ago.

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Iraq PM calls for 'comprehensive' cabinet reshuffle by Paul Schemm
2 minutes ago



Iraqi Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has called in a closed session of parliament for a major reshuffle of the cabinet as the country staggered through another week of intense violence.

"The prime minister has called for a comprehensive cabinet reshuffle appropriate for the current situation in the country," said a statement from Maliki's office, issued after the parliamentary session.

The premier explained to the lawmakers the current situation and the "security challenges and efforts made by the government to go ahead with the national reconciliation process," the statement said Sunday.

Reports of cabinet reshuffles are not uncommon in Iraq and the prime minister has indicated in the past that a few ministers might be changed. But Sunday was the first time he has spoken of a "comprehensive" change.

Maliki's comments follow months of brutal violence, with more than 125 people killed in the past week alone including 35 police recruits in a suicide bombing on Sunday.

At the same time, the country's fragile political process appears to be unravelling, with Sunni lawmakers on Wednesday threatening to leave the political process saying their needs are not being addressed.

Warning that they may take up arms again, the Sunni Arab parliamentary bloc said their main complaint was the government's reluctance to disarm Shiite militias implicated in a number of sectarian attacks -- a constant gripe of the US military as well.

On Saturday, Maliki urged all political groups to help usher in "peace and not to arouse passions", and attacked the Sunni parliamentarians.

"I strongly condemn statements about taking up weapons or abandoning the political process," Maliki said.

"Our request to those who are doing this is to fulfill their responsibilities, and we demand that they take a clear look at the situation as the pain they suffer is the same as what all Iraqis suffer," he said.

In May, Maliki formed a unity government comprising Iraq's differing political parties and groups that was meant to consider the needs of each of Iraq's disparate communities.

The government, however, is dominated by Maliki and his Shiite coalition.

Sunnis charge the Maliki government with increasingly favouring the interests of Shiites and turning a blind eye to Shiite militia activity which they say is responsible for killing Sunnis.

They single out Shiite militia the Mahdi Army, which owes allegience to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, which they say is behind much of the killings of Sunnis in the brutal sectarian war.

Sadr is a crucial political ally of Maliki with 30 MPs offering support to the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance that leads the unity government.

Maliki is expected to come under increased political pressure from the new US administration to find a political solution to end the bloodshed.

On Sunday, Democratic US Senator Carl Levin, presumed to become the chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee in January, called for a solution that could help withdraw US forces soon.

"We've got to put pressure on them to do what only the Iraqi leaders can do, that is to work out a political solution," Levin said.

He was backed by Senator Joe Biden, set to return to his role as chairman of the Foreign Relations committee.

Print Story: Iraq PM calls for 'comprehensive' cabinet reshuffle on Yahoo! News

I wonder how the Kurds feel about always being left out of the discussion. Its always about the Sunis and Shiites . . .but the Kurds are mysteriously absent from the article.

On a different subject, I have been watching the currency auctions for some time like all of us . . .and today was the first time I have noticed a dramatic change that it seems has been overlooked. The volume of USD being bought and sold dropped dramatically. This is one sign I have been waiting for. . .and my theory . . .the USD is insignificant to them. The IQD no longer needs USD support pending the magic reval. Its backed by oil and will be of higher value than 1:1 USD. So why buy and sell USD when everyone will be banging down the door to buy IQD. Just my .02 USD

I imagine that lawmakers, with so much daily bloodshed may be desenitized to this sort of thing...but count this as another heavy straw on the camel's back....seems that the camel is loaded down pretty heavy right now...

This doesn't have a thing to do with the REVAL, except to point to the bigger picture...THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO NEED THE REVAL MOST (in my opinion...) When we get down about not waking up millionaires, perhaps we can think about the people who are TRULY suffering in this mess...and be greatful for our circumstances, whatever they may be--surely we are better off than the people mentioned in this article....

Woes worse for Iraq's widows
Pitied, scorned and still prey, many know violence firsthand

Solomon Moore and Zainab Hussein, Los Angeles Times
BAGHDAD, IRAQ - Chivalry compelled Wafa Abd's husband to cross the cordon line.
Qusai Hussein Saidie was driving home from work and discovered U.S. troops had blocked off his neighborhood during a search for gunmen. But he was worried about Wafa, then seven months pregnant.

"He told them, 'My wife is afraid,' " she says, recalling what neighbors told her later. "He came into the neighborhood because he feared for my life and honor."

In the home Abd shared with her husband's family, she heard shooting but did not suspect anything until the Americans came to her house with Saidie's identification papers.

She started keening, startling one soldier so much that he raised his rifle to her face, she says. Then the troops tried to calm her and apologized. Maybe they had been wrong to open fire, Abd says they told her, but after all, her husband had crossed a security line.

Very vulnerable

Trammeled in sorrowful black shrouds, often bereft of financial support and social standing, widows are among the most vulnerable members of Iraq's fraying society. Alternately pitied and shunned, widows receive only a small stipend from the government -- as little as $25 a month.

No one knows how many widows are wandering Iraq's violent landscape, but everybody here seems to know several. Anecdotal evidence -- and the deaths of at least 40,000 Iraqis since the U.S.-led 2003 invasion -- suggests they are increasing.

When the soldiers left, Abd stumbled into the street to look for Saidie. Her neighbors tried to coax her back into the house, with all-too-transparent lies that her husband was unharmed, that everything was OK, that the burning husk of metal down the street wasn't Saidie's car.

"After the fire was out," Abd says, "I could not recognize him -- his bones and flesh looked like coal. They didn't even bother to pull him out of the car."

Family not a refuge

There was little sympathy at home, Abd says. Although pregnant, she was beaten by her father-in-law, who also sold her gold jewelry. Her daughter, Zahra, was born two months later. When Abd's mother gave her some money to support Zahra, her brother beat her and ransacked her room, demanding the money, Abd says.

"His strike was very strong," she says. "I can't hear with one ear now. Brothers have no mercy."

Abd moved out of her in-laws' house and now rents a mud hut for $500 a month, her dignity obliterated.

Abd spoke while waiting for an appointment in a lobby at the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry. She had spent weeks shuffling from one shabby government building to another and ricocheted from clerk to clerk. Each said no in his own way: You're in the wrong place. I can't help you.

Protection and support

Shadha Naji, head of Women for Peace, an Iraqi nongovernmental organization, says activists have tried in vain to establish better benefits and protections for widows.

According to religious and civil law, a widow is supposed to inherit a share of her dead husband's wealth and his house -- the structure but not necessarily the land.

But Naji says it is too easy for male relatives to disregard the law when times are so desperate and Iraq's legal institutions so weak.

Increasingly, Naji says, families are forcing a widowed relative to marry a brother or cousin of her late husband -- a traditional requirement that has the added effect of keeping the husband's wealth in the family.

"The male relatives are coming to the woman who has lost her husband and taking everything, even if they are old and married and living in their own houses," Naji says. "Sometimes in rural areas, the families will try to marry her off to others to resolve debts, as if [the women] are a gift to be given away. As more people move into the cities because of the violence, we are seeing these kinds of customs in Baghdad."

newsobserver.com | Woes worse for Iraq's widows

Originally Posted by Adster

The Iraqi government do not give a shiite about their people, isn't that apparent that a third of them can't be arsed to turn up for work? They will line their own pockets first through greed and corruption before sorting out the poor and needy.

As for delays, well, the country has been having problems for months on end, problems in parliament, arguments etc. I don't believe they think 'we have to do this now'.

They will do the reval when it suits the politicians, not us or the poor people of Iraq.

We know it will happen, WHEN? Anyone's guess, everything points to soon, but the debt, enactment of the laws and a signed Compact are a necessity. Has this been done? We just don't know, maybe, maybe not.

I'm still as confident as ever of a reval, but if it's not tomorrow, hey, no big deal, we can wait another week/month, it'll be worth it. Been in this too long now to get downbeat when dates come and go.

Great point here Adster.

I also believed in several dates. Also this one if the 10,000 dinar really is handed out, but we'll see.

I am also a person that thinks, my god how is it possible that they don't help the people. We know they are sliding into mass poverty. But the first report I read the poverty was 20% they did nothing, now it's 60% and still aren't doing nothing. It's all about politics and business.

Corruption is high.Though I am certain that it will happen this year with enacting the ICI and HCL and I think those 2 are planned at the same time.

In the mean time I am buying more dinars because this is an investment that I believe in.

They must finish some business in 2006 according the IMF agreements. We have seen a lot of positive things coming out and we will see more.

Chairman of the Stock Exchange of Trustees Iraqi demands for rapid activation of the investment law.
The lack of activation of the new investment law in Iraq in terms of the composition of its management and supervisory and naming its members and functioning, great disappointment among investors in the Stock Exchange of Iraq, especially that the vigorous efforts being made, and specifically with regard to updating the performance of the Stock Exchange. إذ يجري،As it is,
According to the tempo of the machines, installation of equipment and supplies electronic trading in terms of organizing rooms Stock Exchange for this purpose, in preparation for the start of the adoption of this mechanism, which is considered the first modern exercised in Iraq.
The head of the Stock Exchange of Trustees of the Iraqi student Tabatabai told «life» in the hope that help factors, considered crucial to the continuation of investors in this vital sector. to recruit their investments to be better. On top of these factors, the stability of the security situation.

MORE FOLLOW LINK:
Translated version of http://www.alzawraa.net/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4695&Ite mid=73

Irbil / long

Austrian Airlines said it would begin flights from Vienna to Arbil city twice a week.
The company said the first European Airline is expected to start regular flights to Iraq : it is a safe and Irbil.
The newspaper company that will be a transit point Irbil to Mosul.
The Austrian Airlines had announced in January start regular flights to Irbil, but canceled the plan after the month following the review of the situation.

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I have my own opinions about Israel, but perhaps their voice, among others will help to slow the Dems in their push to leave Iraq

Olmert warns US against 'premature pullout' from Iraq

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has warned the United States, in an interview published on Sunday (local time), against a "premature pullout" from Iraq as US officials ponder a new strategy following a sweeping Democratic win in the mid-term elections.

Mr Olmert will hold talks with US President George W Bush at the White House tomorrow.

Democrats, who wrested control of the US Congress from Republicans this week, have long called for a reassessment of the US strategy in Iraq, with many calling for redeployment of US forces from the country.

"If there is a premature pullout before Iraq has a robust government with a strong authority that can keep the country from collapsing into an internal civil war, America will have to think about the possible ramifications on neighbouring Arab countries with moderate governments," Mr Olmert warned in an interview with The Washington Post newspaper and Newsweek magazine.

"How will it affect the stability of these countries against the radical forces that might flourish as a result of a premature pullout of America?"

Mr Olmert also says Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a dangerous man and must be made to understand what is at stake if Iran does not suspend its uranium enrichment program.

"President (Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad is a man who is ready to commit crimes against humanity, and he has to be stopped," Mr Olmert said.

He says Israel will be in favour of any compromise that would keep Iran from "crossing the technological threshold" making them nuclear-weapons ready.

"But I don't believe that Iran will accept such compromise unless they have good reason to fear the consequences of not reaching a compromise," he said.

"In other words, Iran must start to fear.

"The guideline has to be that this government and the people of Iran must understand that if they do not accept the request of the international community, they're going to pay dearly."

His comments come as the Iranian Foreign Ministry said the country was planning to install 3,000 centrifuges for uranium enrichment by March 2007, despite international calls to freeze controversial nuclear work.

"Iranian officials and experts are seeking to do this," ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters, responding to a question as to whether Iran remains determined to install the 3,000 centrifuges by the end of the Iranian year in March 2007.

Iran has so far built two cascades of 164 centrifuges for uranium enrichment - the process used to make nuclear fuel and, in much higher grades, the core of an atom bomb.

Backed by the US, Israel has said sanctions are necessary following Iran's persistent refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, a process which Israel, the US and several European powers say hides a secret nuclear weapons program - despite Iran's insistence it is for peaceful purposes.

-AFP

Olmert warns US against 'premature pullout' from Iraq. 12/11/2006. ABC News Online