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

Originally Posted by Wm.Knowles

Hello Everyone. Another auction that confirms the trend we have seen this week. Much better exchange rate this week with the CBI continuing to pull dinar out of the economy. Very consistent pattern, and one that not only gets us excited about the rate, but results in less dinar in the economy. Very good! We are also seeing other reports that are interesting. Smaller amounts in 25000 dinar notes at higher prices on e-bay. Some banks unable to get dinar when in the past, they were able to do so. Circulated bills being sold, while in the past this didn't happen. National news attention, on the good side for once! And over a 7% rise in the value of the dinar in around 6 weeks. All very good. If the program of the CBI is to continue to pull dinar from the economy, they are going to have to pay more. A simply fact, so expect higher prices in the near term. This seems to have been their program for most of '06. All very good for us. Hopefully, they'll get their laws (FIL&HCL) into effect and that will allow bigger investors to come in. I think they will, they don't have any other choice. It will happen. And since their statements were to reduce inflation, expect these numbers to look much better. Investors will pay a lot of attention to inflation numbers as a sign of a healthy economy in the future. So stay put and enjoy the ride. Thank You.

i been sayin this for months wm. im glad the cbi and iraq decided to catch up with me!!

Originally Posted by Adster

Guys, the NY Post has been so anti Iraq all this time, do we see a turnaround in thinking??? Do I hear a Wooottttttttttttttttt?

Amazing, we know so much more than these knobby reporters on $80k plus a year!


BAGHDAD ECONOMY STARTING TO BOOM


By NILES LATHEM



December 19, 2006 -- WASHINGTON - Iraq's economy is starting to blossom, providing an underreported success story for a war that has seen little else but bloodshed and chaos, according to a new report.
A story published on the Newsweek International Web site said that despite the sectarian violence and political chaos engulfing the country, there are signs that many sectors of Iraq's economy are healthy and growing.
Citing studies conducted by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the report said Iraq's economy grew 4 percent, by one account, and 17 percent, according to another.
The fact that Iraq's economy was able to grow at all is a major accomplishment - as well as what Newsweek called "the mother of all surprises."
Among the recent findings:
* Real estate, construction and retail sales industries are booming in Iraq.
* The number of registered companies in Iraq grew from 8,000 in 2003 to 34,000 this year.
* Iraq earned $41 billion in oil revenue this year.
U.S. officials cautioned that it's too early to call Iraq an economic miracle.
Unemployment remains at 30 to 50 percent throughout the country, and many experts believe that's contributing to the sense of despair among the population that is in part resulting in the violence.
Sources told The Post that the White House is considering proposals from U.S. military leaders to create an FDR-style public works/jobs program for Iraq as part of the new initiative that President Bush will unveil next month.
The report also said reduced customs restrictions and fees have made imported goods more accessible and affordable to many Iraqis.
Other studies showed a growth of almost 100 percent in salaries for those who have jobs.
And Iraqis have even had American-style tax cuts, the report said.

WOoT!!!!!!

I have a question...If a loaf of bread is currenty about 1500 dinar in Iraq, what would be the price after the RV? Would it still be 1500 since all that changed was the "exchange rate"?

Bush vows new course in Iraq By Kristin Roberts and Ibon Villelabeitia
Wed Dec 20, 5:40 PM ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - President Bush pledged on Wednesday to chart "a new way forward" in Iraq and said he would only consider boosting U.S. troop numbers there if he was sure it would help to curb rampant sectarian violence.

His new defense secretary, Robert Gates, making a first trip to Iraq to talk to U.S. commanders and Iraqi officials, said commanders were concerned that a surge in U.S. forces might delay the time when Iraqis can take control.

"We are looking at all options and that includes increasing more troops," Bush told a news conference in Washington. "I have not made up my mind.

Bush vows new course in Iraq - Yahoo! News

Bush warns of new sacrifices in Iraq by Olivier Knox
Wed Dec 20, 5:28 PM ET



WASHINGTON (AFP) - Weeks before a possible Iraq strategy overhaul, President George W. Bush warned of more "sacrifices" there next year and stopped short of saying the United States is winning the war.


A somber Bush, under fierce pressure to change course in Iraq, also said in a year-end news conference he had not yet decided whether to send more troops into the country, and said his heart broke for slain US soldiers.

Bush warns of new sacrifices in Iraq - Yahoo! News

Sens. Kerry, Dodd hold talks with Syrian president on Iraq
Posted 12/20/2006 7:51 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Subscribe to stories like this



DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Sens. John Kerry and Christopher Dodd met with Syrian President Bashar Assad on Wednesday and discussed the need for Damascus to cooperate with efforts to maintain the unity and stability of war-ravaged Iraq, state media reported.
The U.S. Embassy in Damascus said the meeting, which lasted two and a half hours, covered "a full-range of topics relating to U.S.-Syrian relations and regional issues."

"I feel quite confident in saying this was a conversation worth having and that the (Bush) administration ought to pursue it," Kerry said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press from Jerusalem where he traveled after the meeting with Assad. "I feel very strongly about that...It's worth following up on a number of avenues."

Kerry said he told Assad the new Democratic-controlled Congress has serious concerns about issues such as the flow of "money, weapons and terrorists" through Syria into Iraq and Lebanon.


Sens. Kerry, Dodd hold talks with Syrian president on Iraq - USATODAY.com

FRANK RICH DECLARES IRAQ 'BOX OFFICE POISON!'Wed Dec 20, 6:42 PM ET


Last year, Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, wrote to the head of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, telling him to "be ready starting now" for America to run from Iraq, reminding him how America cut and ran from Vietnam and the "aftermath of the collapse of American power in Vietnam, and how they ran and left their agents."



Alas, Zarqawi never got to implement his Iraq takeover plan because the same troops that are allegedly losing the war right now killed him in June.

But al-Qaida in America isn't ready to quit, yet!

New York Times theater critic Frank Rich made headlines on the Drudge Report last week by announcing: "We have lost in Iraq." Of course, Rich was saying we had lost in Iraq more than six months before we went into Iraq.

FRANK RICH DECLARES IRAQ 'BOX OFFICE POISON!' - Yahoo! News

Originally Posted by michaeljordan

I have a question...If a loaf of bread is currenty about 1500 dinar in Iraq, what would be the price after the RV? Would it still be 1500 since all that changed was the "exchange rate"?

Well, lets take a pair of shoes, it's a bit easier since bread has multiple ingredients. If shoes are imported and they cost $7.28 to import or 10k dinar at current exchange rate.

Now let say you are Joe Iraqi and have managed to hold onto a 5k note. You can't even buy shoes for your kids, but if they rv at 1:1 it now cost less than 10 dinar to import, that's where the purchasing power comes into play, now joe iraqi can buy plenty of shoes

Originally Posted by TEXASGIRL

That's just gross. Couldn't they just slap each other around to prove their manhood? Or get a Hemi??

i resemble that remark!

Bush warns of more U.S. losses in Iraq By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent
1 hour, 33 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - Acknowledging deepening frustration over Iraq, President Bush said Wednesday he is considering an increase in American forces and warned that next year will bring more painful U.S. losses. New Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in Baghdad that a troop surge was an obvious option.

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Bush was unusually candid at a year-end news conference about U.S. setbacks and dashed hopes in the war, which has claimed the lives of more than 2,950 U.S. military members.

He said "2006 was a difficult year for our troops and the Iraqi people. We began the year with optimism" but that faded as extremists fomented sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061221/..._wh/us_iraq_47