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

Gloomy in the burgh today also. I need some good news to get my juices going.

Read the post just before yours...looks good to me!

U.S. Seeking New Strategy for Buttressing Iraq's Government


6/10/2006


By DAVID E. SANGER and JAMES GLANZ
WASHINGTON, June 10 — President Bush's two-day strategy session starting Monday at Camp David is intended to revive highly tangible efforts to shore up Iraq's new government, from getting the electricity back on in Baghdad to purging the security forces of revenge-seeking militias, White House officials said.

Three years of past efforts to accomplish those goals have largely failed. Billions of dollars have been spent on both electricity and security, yet residents of Baghdad get only five to eight hours of power a day, and the American ambassador acknowledged on Friday that the city is "more insecure now than it was a few months ago."

One of the senior officials involved in the strategy session characterized it as a "last, best chance to get this right," an implicit acknowledgment that previous American-led efforts had gone astray.

He said that the decision to hold a joint cabinet meeting on Tuesday, between Mr. Bush's top advisers and the newly appointed cabinet of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq via a video link from Baghdad, was intended to set an agenda for the new government that could begin to win the loyalty disaffected Iraqis. It is also an effort to hand off leadership to Mr. Maliki's government and, in an analogy used by several American officials, to begin to let go of the bicycle seat and find out if the Iraqi government can stay upright with less American support.

For Mr. Bush, the session comes at a critical moment in Baghdad and in Washington. His efforts to prop up two interim prime ministers with similar pledges of support largely failed. At home, he is attempting the create a sense of political progress at a time when some Democrats — and some in his own party — are calling for significant numbers of American troops to come home by the end of this year, a debate that will be taking place in Congress this week during arguments over spending bills for the war.

No matter how that debate turns out, Congress has made clear that its willingness to fund more Iraqi reconstruction is just about exhausted. Both American and Iraqi officials now acknowledge that they will have to seek billions in investment and aid from Gulf nations that so far have been unwilling to contribute many dollars or any troops.

Mr. Bush on Friday made clear that the American commitment to the country will be long-term. Officials say the administration has begun to look at the costs of maintaining a force of roughly 50,000 troops there for years to come, roughly the size of the American presence maintained in the Philippines and Korea for decades after those conflicts.

But no decisions have been made, and Mr. Bush has carefully sidestepped any discussion of a long-term presence, insisting that American forces will be in the country only as long as the Iraqi government wants them there. Mr. Bush's aides said that the meeting is not intended to focus on troop levels. But in many ways, that subject is the subtext of the entire discussion.

Providing electricity means securing pipelines and generators that have been prime targets of the insurgency. Enforcing a breakup of the militias that have infiltrated security forces could require a significant show of force, particularly if elements of the Mahdi army and the Badr Organization, the two strongest Shiite militias, resist.

Mr. Maliki's plan is expected to be announced in coming days, and it will amount to what the American ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, said Friday on PBS would be "a new plan for the security of Baghdad." Mr. Maliki wrote on Friday in the Washington Post that among his first priorities would be to "reestablish a state monopoly on weapons by putting an end to militias."

Dealing with electric power and security, of course, were among the problems that the administration insisted, in briefings in the spring of 2003, it was prepared to tackle as soon as Saddam Hussein was deposed.

"None of these problems — or even the solutions that are being proposed — are new," said one former senior official who worked extensively on reconstruction, but did not want his name published because he still deals with the administration regularly. "What's been lacking is the political will."

Administration officials say they are not trying to reinvent the reconstruction, but rather relaunch it. "Everybody views the completion of a truly unity government as a moment of opportunity," Dan Bartlett, Mr. Bush's senior counselor, said on Friday in his office at the White House. "That is exactly why this meeting is taking place now."

The session was planned, he said, before the killing on Wednesday of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Qaeda leader in Iraq, but Mr. Bush has made clear he thinks Mr. Zarqawi's elimination could help turn the tide.

Mr. Maliki has said that solving the electricity problem, particular in Bagdad, and ridding the security forces of infiltrators who have killed Sunnis and other rivals, are his top priorities. But American officials acknowledge that to pay for some of Mr. Maliki's agenda, it will be necessary to raise money among Iraq's neighbors in the Gulf — an effort that has yielded minimal results so far.

As the prime minister's own tour of some new electric facilities in Iraq earlier this week made clear, the challenges are enormous. Already, the United States has allocated $4 billion to electricity projects around the country, and at least $2 billion of that has been spent. Yet the amount of power flowing through Baghdad's aging electric grid has not changed much.

The pipelines that feed oil to generating plants have been systematically attacked by insurgents, or drained by black marketers who back tanker trucks up to the line and siphon off the supply.

The most recent official figures say that Baghdad is receiving at least 8 hours of electricity a day, but Iraqis say that after a fleeting improvement earlier this month, they now receive less than that.

When Mr. Maliki visited the Baghdad South power plant earlier this month with his electricity minister, Karim Wahid, they acknowledged that three years after the invasion, billions more will have to be spent.

Mr. Wahid estimated that power output in the Baghdad area would have to more than double just to meet current demand, which was growing at somewhere between 7 percent and 10 percent a year.

The cost to satisfy those needs, he said, could run to as much as $2 billion a year for ten years, requiring substantial foreign investment. "I will ask the government to correct the budget, and if it's possible to add something else," Mr. Wahid said.




U.S. Seeking New Strategy for Buttressing Iraq's Government - Source

Iraqi Dinar News Article List

Originally Posted by clueless

Zero lopping is just a phrase that has been used to describe one method of "adjusting" the exchange rate. Peg refers to "fixing" the exchange rate at a specific value.

Actually this specific comment was related to the one rumor that Adster had posted with the potential bad news that an early reval might be done at the low rate of just under 7 cents per NID. So, that is .0685 USD per NID or the 68,500 USD per million NID as posted. This rumor sounded like it might be a reval without a peg, i.e. still floating after the original revaluation.

But this is only one possibility and there seems to be more support for a the idea of a peg at a higher rate.

Mike, sorry to be in disagreement with you (not a place i am comfortable to be) but that whole idea that lopping referrs to changing the denomination of the notes is not the real story right? there was a very good post about what happened in Afghanistan explaining that lopping actually was referring to removing decimal places from the exchange rate itself. that matches what Adster posted in the sad rumor about a possible initial reval below 7 cents.

No disagreement,

A lopping of zeros is simply another way of changing the value of currency, no disagreement there, but in this case, it would have to happen at same time of so called peg, which is another way of explaining a value change. I had posted the explanation of lopping a few weeks ago, and you are correct, it has nothing to do with currency notes, just the value.

Good luck to all, Mike

Hey Mike, still hearing .30 to .40 as peg? Cigarman

Boy, almost tooooooooo quiet here today. Lets have some excitement brewing.

Bush: U.S. ready to help new Iraq gov't


6/12/2006


By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer 13 minutes ago

President Bush reassured Iraqis on Monday that the United States stands ready to help their new government, but said success in Iraq largely depends on Baghdad's ability to secure the nation and care for its citizens.

Beginning a two-day strategy session on Iraq at Camp David, Bush also said Iraq's neighbors should be doing more to help. He said the United States expects countries that have promised $13 billion in financial assistance to make good on their pledges.

Bush's huddle with top advisers was a chance to outline ways the U.S. government can best help Iraq, where the power runs sporadically and Iraqi civilian and U.S. troop deaths are mounting. White House advisers said the U.S. mission in Iraq was at a breakpoint, rhetoric that suggests the administration is anxious to shift responsibility for the future of Iraq to the Iraqis.

"The best way to win this war against an insurgency is to stand up a unity government which is capable of defending itself, but also providing tangible benefits to the people," Bush said, standing outside a cabin at the secluded, wooded presidential retreat with his national security team and members of his Cabinet.

"Ultimately, the Iraqi people are going to have to make up their mind. Do they want to live in terror, or do they want to live in peace?" he said.

Now in its fourth year, the war also was an issue Monday on Capitol Hill.

The Senate opened debate on a military policy bill, and John Kerry, D-Mass., intended to offer a plan to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of the year. The White House has long opposed setting deadlines in Iraq, and Kerry's amendment is expected to be defeated in a vote later this week.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, in a speech in Washington, called the war in Iraq an "intractable conflict" and said Americans deserve a plan from the president that provides troops with an exit strategy. "It is no longer sufficient to say 'we will stand down as the Iraqis stand up,'" Reid said, quoting a Bush refrain.

The House and Senate are poised to deal with a $94.5 billion measure to fund Iraq and provide additional aid for the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast. The bill should receive easy approval, even as impatience is growing with the Iraq war and its $8 billion monthly tab.

On Thursday, the House will vote on a resolution supporting the U.S. mission in Iraq.

The Camp David meeting came as the Bush administration was trying to capitalize on momentum generated by last week's swearing-in of key Iraqi national security officials and the U.S. airstrike that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida's leader in Iraq.

Al-Qaida named a successor Monday to al-Zarqawi and said he would stick to the slain leader's path — attacks on Shiites as well as on U.S. and Iraqi forces. Bush warned, "I think the successor to Zarqawi is going to be on our list to bring to justice."

The highlight of the Camp David work session is Tuesday's secured video teleconference with new Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and members of his cabinet. During the first day of meetings, Bush and his advisers addressed violence in Iraq, especially in Baghdad and Basra, as well as the Iraqi economy and oil.

Bush suggested that the Iraqi government use the nation's vast supply of oil as a way to unite the country, perhaps creating a fund for the Iraqi people to restore their faith in the new unified central government.

The war is weighing down Bush's approval rating at home, and Republicans are worried about losing control of Congress in November's midterm elections. Only a third of respondents to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll in early June supported Bush's handling of the situation — an all-time low.

"I keep reminding the American people that the stakes are worth it," Bush said. "It is worth it to help Iraq succeed. It is worth it to have a democracy in the Middle East."

Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Baghdad, said he thinks it will be possible to withdraw some of the 130,000 U.S. forces in the months ahead as long as Iraq's government and security forces make progress.

But Bush, who noted that Iraq's new defense minister was just sworn in last week, made no predictions about U.S. troop withdrawals. He said Casey would make recommendations after assessing the Iraqis' ability to take the fight to the enemy and secure the country.

"Whatever we do will be based upon the conditions on the ground," Bush said.


Bush: U.S. ready to help new Iraq gov't - Source

Iraqi Dinar News Article List

Bush urges Iraq neighbors on rebuilding
6/12/2006


By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer2 hours, 44 minutes ago

President Bush prodded Iraq's neighbors on Monday to do more to help in its reconstruction and said he would push nations around the world to make good on aid they have promised.

"Iraq's neighbors ought to do more to help," the president said after a day of discussion with his top national security advisers on Iraq's future.

Bush said that nations around the world — many of them outside the Middle East — have pledged $13 billion for Iraq and "we expect our friends ... to honor those commitments."

Bush's comments came on the first of two days of meetings at the presidential retreat, aimed at charting future U.S. involvement in Iraq now that a new government has taken office in Baghdad. Members of his national security team were on hand, while military commanders in Iraq took part by video.

Bush said the message he wanted to send the government there was, "We stand with you."

He declined to make specific predictions about U.S. troop withdrawals, saying the new Iraqi defense minister just stepped into his job and needed more time to make assessments.

"Whatever we do will be based upon the conditions on the ground. This is a process," Bush said.

Bush also said the United States would target the successor to terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. "I think the successor to Zarqawi is going to be on our list to bring to justice," the president said.

He said he and his advisers discussed oil production and how Iraq can best use its resources to the benefit of its people. Bush expressed hope that the new government would use oil to unite the country, perhaps having a fund that could benefit all and mend the sectarian division.

"The oil sector is very much like the rest of the infrastructure," Bush said. "Saddam Hussein let it deteriorate."

The meeting came as the administration sought to boost public support for the unpopular war and capitalize on the death of al-Zarqawi. "I fully recognize that's not going to end the war," Bush said of the death in a U.S. air attack. He asked the commanders to congratulate their troops "for bringing Zarqawi to justice."

Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were briefed by video conference by Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. John Abizaid, who has overseen the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

Bush endorsed the views of his advisers.

"I thought your assessment of the situation in Iraq was very realistic and I think your recommendations to us on how to win in Iraq — to have an Iraq that can govern itself, sustain itself, defend itself — your recommendations are valid," the president said.

Khalilzad commended Iraq's new prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki. "We've got a prime minister who is very much hands on," the ambassador said.

Dan Bartlett, a senior presidential counselor, played down Casey's television interview comments Sunday in which the general said coalition troops could gradually move out of Iraq in the coming months. Bartlett said Casey had stipulated that troop reductions could be made only if Iraqi forces are able to deal with the violence.

Bartlett said that it would be narrow-minded to view U.S. efforts in Iraq only through troop reductions and that Bush's Camp David meetings were to determine how else the U.S. government can help Iraq. "We're taking a soup-to-nuts look across all agencies," he said.

Bartlett said the group did not discuss overall troop strength, but talked about what was required for specific military operations across the country. For example, he said, U.S.-led forces are fighting al-Qaida and foreign fighters in Ramadi, while in Baghdad the troops are more focused on sectarian violence.

They also discussed whether al-Zarqawi's death would leave a power vacuum at the top of the al-Qaida network, Bartlett said.

He dismissed any idea that the meetings were for political reasons or to help beef up the waning public approval of the war. "I haven't heard one person here talk about the political consequences of any decisions," he told reporters.

Participants in the meeting included Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Intelligence Director John Negroponte, Central Intelligence Director Michael Hayden, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and others.

White House officials said announcements of force reductions were not expected. Yet, Casey said he thinks it will be possible to withdraw some of the approximately 130,000 U.S. forces in the months ahead as long as Iraq makes continuing progress in cementing its new government and strengthening its security forces.

Casey would not say in advance of Monday's meeting whether he planned to advise Bush on a troop reduction plan. But he did hint that the time soon may come for such a recommendation.

"I was waiting until we got a government seated before I gave the president another recommendation, so we have some sense of what we've got," Casey said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation."

___

On the Net:

White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov


Bush urges Iraq neighbors on rebuilding - Source

Iraqi Dinar News Article List

Bush Sees Oil as Key to Restoring Stability in Iraq

6/12/2006


By DAVID E. SANGER
THURMONT, Md., June 12 — President Bush proposed today that Iraq create a national fund to use its oil revenues for national projects, as part of a strategy to build loyalty to the new government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.

Speaking after six hours of meetings at Camp David with his national security advisers, members of his Cabinet and top American officials in Baghdad, Mr. Bush talked less about strategies to quell the insurgency in Iraq than about promoting economic development.

He made it clear that strategies to increase Iraq's oil production, from revitalizing old oil wells to rebuilding an infrastructure that he said Saddam Hussein let decay, would be at the top of the agenda on Tuesday morning when his Cabinet meets in a video conference with Mr. Maliki's newly appointed ministers.

"The government ought to use the oil as a way to unite the country," Mr. Bush told reporters, flanked by Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Iraq, he said, "ought to think about having a tangible fund for the people so the people have faith in the central government."

Mr. Bush did not elaborate, and he said nothing about the insurgent attacks on pipelines and pumping plants that have kept production to levels below what Iraq produced under Mr. Hussein's rule, and the rampant corruption that has diverted oil revenues from the Iraqi government.

This is not the first time that Mr. Bush and his aides have suggested that oil could be a solution to many of Iraq's problems: Before the war, Paul D. Wolfowitz, then the deputy secretary of defense, suggested that oil revenues could pay for Iraqi reconstruction. So far, that has not happened.

It was not immediately clear if the idea of setting up an oil fund for Iraq was anything more than a notion. One Bush administration official said he believed the idea was loosely based on the fund set up in Alaska that still delivers oil revenues to Alaska residents. "In this case, it would be an effort to give everyone a stake in keeping the country together and the oil flowing," the aide said, declining to allow his name to be used because he was discussing internal conversations in the administration.

Mr. Bush's meetings here came at what his senior counsel, Dan Bartlett, called a "break point" for the new Iraqi government, and by extension the American effort to help stabilize Iraq.

The White House revealed little of the conversations that took place around a long conference table in "Laurel," one of the larger buildings in the mountaintop retreat of Camp David that Franklin D. Roosevelt first used as a presidential escape. Reporters were ushered into the cabin to hear a brief fragment of the conversation between Mr. Bush and the American ambassador in Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzad, that appeared carefully staged to underscore a sense of confidence — though no particular optimism — while revealing nothing of the internal deliberations.

"I thought your assessment of the situation in Iraq was very realistic," Mr. Bush said to Mr. Khalilzad, who was one of the architects of Mr. Bush's Iraq strategy and also served as ambassador to Afghanistan after the overthrow of the Taliban. The ambassador sat alongside Generals John Abizaid and George C. Casey, the top American commanders in Iraq.

"I think your recommendations to us on how to win in Iraq, to have an Iraq that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself are — your recommendations are valid."

Mr. Bush's aides said the president was trying to capitalize on both the death last week of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, and the formation of a new cabinet that includes ministers responsible for security.

At one point this afternoon, Mr. Bush was asked about Al Qaeda's announcement that Mr. Zarqawi would be succeeded by Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, one of his deputies. "The successor to Zarqawi will be on our list to bring to justice," Mr. Bush said, without using his name. That warning was far more muted than the "dead or alive" statement that the president made about Osama bin Laden in 2001, and that he said recently he regretted.

But Mr. Bush's use of the word "realistic" to describe the advice he was getting may have been a telling phrase: it was stripped of the optimism, and occasional hyperbole, that has often surrounded Mr. Bush's efforts to bolster to previous Iraqi governments. Mr. Bush noted at one point that the killing of Mr. Zarqawi is "not going to end the war," continuing a White House strategy of diminishing expectations.

In fact, Mr. Bush sidestepped questions about troop withdrawals, and Mr. Bartlett told reporters that the meeting here was not intended to consider withdrawal schedules.

"The goal is to accomplish our mission as quickly as possible so our troops can come home," Mr. Bartlett said. "That's a fundamental premise of all of our conversations. That's what the president has pledged to the American people. But I don't think the American people want us to do it in a premature way in which we don't complete the mission."


Bush Sees Oil as Key to Restoring Stability in Iraq - Source

Iraqi Dinar News Article List

Right, so let me see if I got this right. You guys seriously belive that in a couple of months (years whatever), every average iraqi family will be cruising around in their new sportcars. I mean the value of the dinar will rise everywhere if it ever goes up, but I guess after a reality check the Iraqi government realizes that making every iraqi houehold rich could improve the risks of inflation. And most probably they will take a few zeros off their currency.