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

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» UAE RC brings first batch of Iraqi patients to Abu Dhabi 14May03
» UAE is laying foundation of democracy: Sheikh Khalifa 20Nov06


Abu Dhabi, Dec. 18th, 2006 (WAM)---A new batch of Iraqi patients will receive treatment on the expense of Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister due to the lack of proper medical services at hospitals in Iraq.

Sheikh Hamdan pressed on giving medical and humanitarian support to the Iraqi people who are reeling under harsh humanitarian and security circumstances.

This is the third batch of Iraqi patients to get aid on the expense of Sheikh Hamdan in the last 3 months.

The UAE hospitals have received a large number of Iraqi casualties as part of the UAE support to the Iraqi people.

Meanwhile, the UAE Red Crescent Society -RCS- continues giving humanitarian aid to victims of the harsh humanitarian situation in Iraq.

Originally Posted by Vipor

Hmm... interesting (as Mike says).

My coworker (who is involved on this ride) went to Chase today to get a few more NID and the purchase price was the same as it was last week ($0.00078290) regardless of the drops the past two auctions.

I've been wondering about that - in the bottom part, below the auction data, there's a long list of the IQD vs many different currencies. It hasn't been changing lately for the US Dollar even though the auction prices have gone down so much. Strange! Does anybody have any idea what it means?

Originally Posted by neno

I might have stumbled onto something. I will keep it updated here: http://www.rolclub.com/rumors-predic...my-source.html For now, I am Testing it. All have a look, to follow where my Posting, in the Rumor Section, will be.

I want to redeem my ROL Club coupon on the 50+ words deal, but I could not find the slot on the side of my CPU, so you will just have to "trash-me!"

Just added my three "fils" to your http://www.rolclub.com/rumors-predic...my-source.html We love you!

Going to get you a "nick-name"!

It will probably be the "RV Kid!"

Originally Posted by Vipor

Hmm... interesting (as Mike says).

My coworker (who is involved on this ride) went to Chase today to get a few more NID and the purchase price was the same as it was last week ($0.00078290) regardless of the drops the past two auctions.

It actually has changed. Remember, we're talking fraction of a cent changes with the dinar right now. When I first started buying from Chase, I paid 767.60 per mil then last week I paid 782.50 for a mil and today it's at 782.90 per mil. And I'm hopefull that the next time I go into Chase to discuss dinars, it will be to cash them in!!!!!

Monday 18th December, 2006

Saudis claim Iran arming Iraqi Shiites
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Big News Network.com Monday 18th December, 2006 (UPI)

Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency claims Iran is arming Shiite Muslim militants and funding Shiite schools and hospitals in neighboring Iraq.

The report was submitted to the Saudi government in March but has not been seen publicly, The Washington Times reported Monday.

The report says the Sunni Muslim insurgency numbers about 77,000, while the Shiite militia forces total about 35,000.

Anti-U.S. cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia is thought to number just fewer than 10,000, while his party has the support of about 1.5 million Shiites, the Times said.

U.S. officials have acknowledged Shiite militias have infiltrated the national police service, but stopped short of saying there is direct Iranian involvement in the security forces.

Where the Americans have failed, the Iranians have stepped in, the report said.

The security report was directed by Nawaf Obaid, who was fired recently for writing in The Washington Post that Saudi Arabia would not tolerate Iraq's Shiites destroying its Sunni population

BECHTEL ENDS IRAQ REBUILDING MISSION

SAN FRANCISCO - 12/18/06 - Bay Area-headquartered Bechtel, the largest engineering company in the US, said it has left Iraq after more than three years of work there rebuilding the country's infrastructure under contract to USAID.

The engineering firm - one of the leading US-based firms involved in reconstruction projects in Iraq - said it completed all but two of the 99 projects it had been working on there.

The company’s contracts in Iraq were valued at more than $2.3 billion.

In a statement by its former Iraq project manager, Bechtel said it would not seek any more work in Iraq after company's last contract expired at the end of October, due to the extremely difficult security situation.

Cliff Mumm, Bechtel's president for infrastructure work, told the San Francisco Chronicle recently that the firm "had not expected to be operating in a conflict situation" when it began working in Iraq.

A total of 52 people working on Bechtel's projects in Iraq have been killed and 49 injured since it started working in the country in 2003.

The firm was involved in rebuilding the country's power plants; water and sewage treatment facilities; bridges, ports and airports; and telecommunications infrastructure. It also refurbished more than a thousand schools and health clinics.

Bechtel is currently working on major projects in some 40 countries around the world, including several in the Middle East.

Several months ago, the company was selected to act as the project manager for the design, construction and operation of the Khalifa Port & Industrial Zone (KPIZ).

The KPIZ project will reportedly be located between Abu Dhabi and Dubai and will include the development of a combination deep-water container port/industrial center/logistics hub covering more than 75 square miles.

RHHS sends teddy bears to Iraq
By: G.C. Gould, Special to The Herald
12/18/2006
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ROCKY HILL - "We have been inundated by teddy bears," said organizer Karen Redanz, who started the effort as part of a new organization at the school, Family, Career, Community Leaders of America, or FCCLA, along with Debora Wolfe. They both teach Family Consumer Sciences at Rocky Hill High School.
Every homeroom at the high school has a box for stuffed animals and school supplies, and there are literally hundreds of bears stockpiled in Redanz's room.
Student Abby Charamut said "The children had nothing to do with it (the war). We thought that sending stuffed animals would make them feel more comfortable even though there's a war going on in their country."
"The stuffed animal would make their year and they would cherish it," added student Nicole Anderson.
Charamut said it is easier for kids to donate stuffed animals if they are not using them.
Rendanz said she doesn't need any more bears and that shipping costs are what is needed for the project now.
The new organization, FCCLA, offers students the ability to expand their leadership potential, personal communication planning, problem-solving and decision-making skills, Redanz added.
"We were looking for a community service project to reach out, and we found a woman on the Internet named Ednay Mayers who volunteered for service in Iraq," said Redanz. "She has developed a really strong relationship with the children." Mayers follows the Army Corps of Engineers who are building schools in Iraq. Redanz said Mayers began handing out teddy bears to Iraqi children.
"She handed out about 50, then she went out to purchase more bears to distribute," Redanz said. "Then she contacted more families to send more bears and school supplies." Redanz said she found Mayers and decided to see if RHHS students could help out with the program.
"We thought it was a great fit with us making a connection with Iraqi families and having a contact in Iraq made it easy to do this," Redanz said. She said they have been collecting stuffed animals and school supplies for a week, and they will continue to collect through the month of December.
"What we're looking for is help with shipping costs," she said. "If anyone is willing to make a donation of any amount, which we will put toward shipping, write checks to RHHS SAF."
Anyone with any questions may call Karen Redanz at 258-7721.

It looks like the domain "www.uruklink.net" is shut off for now (the registrar is not revealing the info). They could be moving it, or just keeping it offline for some reason.

For those of you who don't understand how it all works, think of the url as a name. Your browser goes and looks up the name on a name server (DNS) to get an address (those number urls like 123.33.442.2). Then it can actually connect to the server where the site is and display pages for you. It's kind of like looking somebody up in the phone book to get their number. Anyway, the entry for this url has been taken out of the name server, so your browser can't get the address.

Los Angeles Times
Originally published December 17, 2006
CAIRO,Egypt // Strolling the alleys and boulevards of this city, Raaid Lafta sometimes thinks he glimpses his old country: in the barber's face, in the baker's oven, in the way the restaurant chef serves the spiced dishes he's known since boyhood.
Like him, they are Iraqis adrift in war. Escaping their battered homeland in bundled cars and lopsided buses, boarding planes and walking stretches of desert, Iraqi refugees are growing diasporas in Cairo, Egypt; Damascus, Syria; Amman, Jordan; and other Arab cities. With children in tow and life savings hidden in pots and suitcases, they are another precarious burden for the Middle East.

"I see everyone speaking in an Iraq accent," said Lafta. "Iraqi men singing Iraqi songs in the streets, Iraqi cafes, Iraqis shops. ... I was opening a bank account here, so when the banker asked for my address, I replied that I live in Cairo's 6th of October neighborhood. He smiled and said, 'You Iraqis have invaded October.' "

An estimated 100,000 Iraqis leave their country each month, part of more than 1.6 million who have fled since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, including many of Iraq's best educated professionals. The Syrian government on Wednesday said it had taken in more than 800,000 Iraqis so far. Jordan has about 700,000, and hundreds of thousands more have scattered across the Arab world since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. They have carried Iraq's civil strife into the incendiary politics of a region that is also navigating Iran's nuclear aspirations and turmoil in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon.

Iraqi refugees are accumulating much like the estimated 3 million displaced Palestinians who have flowed across the region for decades. Iraqis began trickling out during Saddam Hussein's regime, but their numbers steadily increased as their nation tumbled into civil war. The newest refugees are finding that compassion is fraying, prejudice growing and host countries, such as Jordan, are less welcoming.

A recent report by Human Rights Watch criticized Jordan for slowly renewing visas for Iraqis who live "in the shadows, fearful and subject to exploitation." The report credited Jordan's past tolerance but now blamed it, saying the country was ignoring "the existence of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees, does not address their needs for protection, and has not asked for international assistance on their behalf. It is a policy that can best be characterized as 'the silent treatment.' "

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees put it more starkly in a recent assessment: "Iraq is hemorrhaging. The humanitarian crisis which the international community had feared is now unfolding." Including those who have fled their homes but remained inside the country, nearly 10 percent of Iraq's pre-war population of 26 million has been displaced.

The violence has been escalating for so long that it's difficult for refugees, most of whom are Sunnis, to pinpoint the exact horror that sent them rushing for borders. For many, like Khadem Salih, a 70-year-old retired lawyer, it was a numbing diary of suicide bombs, sectarian militias and dusk-to-dawn bloodshed. Salih appeared at a Jordanian checkpoint two months ago. Interviewed by officials at length, he was granted only a one-month visa.

"I'm very much ashamed I left," said Salih, who lives in Amman. "Now, I'm struggling to get residency here, which will cost me at least $150,000. I am miserable to be forced to finally leave my country at the end stage of my life."

That misery reverberates like a relentless echo out of Iraq. Consider the fate of Laith Youssef, a shopkeeper who also ended up in Amman. An Iraqi gang threatened to kidnap his three children if he did not pay $40,000. Weeks later, a grenade exploded outside his shop, speckling his leg with shrapnel. Then he was jailed for 15 days for offending the Shiite-militia known as the Mahdi Army. While he was imprisoned, his wife was attacked for not wearing strict Islamic dress in public.

Youssef and his family fled to Jordan, but even here, without the bombs and the beheadings, life is tough. Nearly half of Jordan's population is composed of the roughly 1.8 million Palestinians displaced by Arab-Israeli conflicts. The added influx of Iraqis, many of whom are educated and affluent, is straining a weak job market and raising the possibility of terrorist strikes inside the kingdom.

"We're not stable," said Youssef. "I have no job because the law doesn't allow me to work, and if the police catch me working, they'll send me back to the Iraqi border. My wife takes care of elderly people and sometimes we get aid from churches."

He added: "I don't deal with people here because I know if any problem happens I will be blamed. This is not my country. Jordan was kind enough to allow us in, but the number of Iraqis has increased more than this country can endure. Some Jordanians deal with us normally, but some, when they hear our Iraqi accent, look at us in a weird way."

Alliah Talib also has been stung by the eyes of her hosts. The director of an Iraqi organization for a free press, Talib, a Shiite, arrived in Cairo four months ago after militants accused her of working with foreign intelligence services.

This city is crowded, and sometimes she feels guilty about taking a seat on a bus, knowing that means an Egyptian will have to stand. Such are the subconscious calculations of a nomad: a woman who prays her money won't run out before her nation's cycle of killing has finished.

"I only watch Iraqi satellite TV channels here, so I can cry some more," she said. "I know that my friends and relatives are suffering in Iraq. I watch the news here to suffer with them. When I go out and see Iraqis in [Cairo's] streets, I feel more secure. There is a common reason that made us all escape Iraq. Seeing that many others are participating or sharing the same lifestyle as you, reduces the feeling of loneliness."

May Abassi knew it was time to leave her country when she began to envy the days of Saddam Hussein's rule. She and her husband and two young children escaped through the smoke and funerals to Cairo. She has discovered that Egyptians are not like Iraqis. She said she will send her son to an English-language school so he will not pick up an Egyptian accent or play with boys she considers too rough.

"I don't have anything against Egyptians," said Abassi. "They are good and welcoming, but we just can't mix with them. If I feel the security in Baghdad improves, I will go back immediately. I don't want anything except security, even electricity and water are not important, just give me security and I will go back. I feel a pain inside my heart when I see Baghdad burning."

Some of the refugees have begun new enterprises in new lands. Amid the camaraderie of the dispossessed, Raaid Lafta opened Studio Happy Time. A photographer who graduated with a fine arts degree from Baghdad University, Lafta left Iraq 14 months ago and landed in a Cairo neighborhood teeming with his countrymen. Business is not so good, he said, but we "are out of harm's way."

He will not stay here forever; a man belongs in the country where he drew his first breath, he said. But for now, the accent he hears in these alleys is the lilt of home; the faces are the people he knows. An Iraqi barber cuts his hair, an Iraqi baker bakes his Koubiz bread. There are Iraqi Internet cafes; there are stories only Iraqis would know, or believe.

"To be honest with you," he said, "as I walk down the street of this city, I see all the Iraqi families spending time with their children. It really disappoints and annoys me because I wonder what made us and all these respectful families flee our homeland to live here as strangers."

Others, including Youssef, the shopkeeper in Amman, are preparing to be strangers for the rest of their lives. Youssef doesn't expect he'll see his old shop back on Al Nidhal Street or drive past the date palms in the now murderous Al Dawra neighborhood in Baghdad. He recently applied for a visa to Australia.

"I doubt Iraq will ever be safe again," he said.

Subversive media?

Sunday, December 17, 2006


Here's just one concrete example of bias in the media, with respect to coverage of the war in Iraq.
MyWay.com reports AP news stories on the Web. On Dec. 12, Will Weissert, an AP reporter, filed a story from Iraq based on interviews with soldiers stationed in Rawah in al-Anbar province, west of Baghdad. This place is a staging area for fighters infiltrating Iraq, before they continue on to Baghdad.

When the story was first posted on the MyWay.com site, it carried the headline "Marines in western Iraq see progress." That was at 6:30 a.m. Dec. 12. The same story, identical to the last word, was posted again on the MyWay site at 10:49 a.m. However, this time the headline was "Life in Iraq grates on soldiers' morale."

Is it any wonder polls report that our public thinks we're losing the war in Iraq?





Good news isn't "news" and "If it bleeds, it leads" are the guiding principles of the mainstream media. The MSM use self-commissioned polls to see just how much they've swayed the public against support for winning this war.

It applauds the "realism" of the twin Chamberlains of the Iraq Study Group, James Baker and Lee Hamilton, in recommending that the U.S. ask Iran and Syria to cooperate in reducing violence in Iraq. These countries are fomenting the violence in Iraq. They are sending in foreign fighters and manufacturing shaped charges to more efficiently blow up our troop transports.

Only a clueless politician (but I repeat myself) would recommend asking Iran and Syria to abandon their interference in Iraq, Lebanon and Israel, when that appears to be working so well to advance the fanatical Muslim takeover of the Middle East.

Stanley J. Penkala
South Park