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

MENAFN) People's Daily Online said that Brazil will be the first Latin American country to reopen its embassy in Iraq since the 1991 Gulf War.

The Brazilian Ambassador, who will kepp living in Jordan until safer conditions are provided for him, presented his credential to Iraqi President last week.

The ambassador said that it will be extremely expensive to resume operations in the Brazilian Embassy's former building in the Iraqi capital.

On the other hand, the ambassador said that Brazil seeks to do business with Iraq as the latter offers great opportunities for food exports, transportation equipments, and in the construction and medical service sectors.

It is worth mentioning that Brazil was an important supplier of industrialized products to Iraq in the 1980's, with trade between the two countries reaching up to $4 billion per year.

Business booming for contractors rebuilding Iraq equipmentDANIEL LOVERING
Associated Press
LEMONT FURNACE, Pa. - Dozens of military vehicles plucked from the battlefields of Iraq stand idle and partly dismantled outside a rural Pennsylvania plant, awaiting mechanics, welders and painters who will prepare them for another tour of duty.

The Bradley Fighting Vehicles, stripped of their treads, scarred and simply worn down from being driven long miles in harsh desert conditions, are the latest of hundreds refurbished or upgraded annually by their maker, BAE Systems - one of many defense contractors whose business has grown throughout five years of fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.

BAE Systems has seen its Bradley business roughly double since the start of the war in 2003, and like many defense companies, is poised to benefit further from soaring government spending as the military replaces, repairs or upgrades combat equipment used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Earlier this year, the military began shipping thousands of battered Humvees and other pieces of equipment - from helicopters to tanks - from Iraq to the United States to be rebuilt.

Another major defense contractor, General Dynamics Corp., has been awarded contracts to overhaul hundreds of its Abrams tanks since 2004, according to Tom Peterson, the company's M1A2 Abrams program manager. It has also established a major repair depot in the Middle East for its eight-wheeled Stryker troop carriers.

Other defense companies doing refurbishment work include Boeing Co., the Chicago-based maker of Apache and Chinook helicopters; Lockheed Martin Corp., the Bethesda, Md.-based F-16 fighter jet manufacturer; and L-3 Communications Holdings Inc., a New York-based maker of specialized communications systems.

BAE Systems was already refurbishing or upgrading the vehicles, built between 1981 and the mid-1990s, before the Iraq war began, but the fighting has brought a big increase in the number of Bradleys that need fixing or improving. The Army currently has about 4,500 of the vehicles.

The work largely entails basic automotive work - rebuilding diesel engines, transmissions and suspension systems. Relatively few show signs of combat damage. Andy Hove, director of the company's Bradley Combat Systems division, said a typical Bradley might have been driven between 800 and 1,000 miles per year before the war, but might cover as many as 10,000 miles per year in Iraq.

As a result, they need to be refurbished more frequently. "It's routine work, but instead of seeing these vehicles every 10 years, we're starting to see them every one year," he said.

This warehouse-size plant about 40 miles southwest of Pittsburgh has been receiving as many as 500 Bradleys annually from an Army depot in Texas. The company later sends them to a larger BAE Systems facility in York, Pa., for reassembly and testing.

Inside the Fayette County facility, a roof-mounted crane lifts a gun turret out of a Bradley and gently carries it to another part of the floor. Workers crawl around the aluminum shells of some vehicles, drilling fresh holes or welding on brackets that eventually will hold new equipment. Some Bradleys are still clad in thick steel armor.

Like many employees at the plant, Joe Snyder has military experience. An Army National Guard reservist, he was deployed to Iraq for about nine months last year.

"I know where these vehicles are going and I know what they're going to be put through," he said.

Some vehicles carry traces of the troops who rode in them. Spent shell casings are often found trapped under floorboards. Compasses, soda cans and sunglasses have also been discovered in the vehicles' recesses.

"Occasionally, we get little notes," said Deborah Fox, the plant's manager. "We found a wedding ring once and sent it back to the government and they got it back to the guy."

A message scrawled inside one vehicle appears in a photograph at the facility: "This Bradley saved the lives of six soldiers from C/116th in Ft. Riley, Kansas. This Bradley struck an anti-tank mine and proved itself as a savior ..."

The company disassembles the Bradleys, overhauls their salvageable parts and rebuilds them. Other Bradleys are remanufactured, or upgraded to newer specifications by adding electronics such as targeting systems and other features.

The process generally takes slightly less than six months, assuming needed materials are available, said Hove, the Bradley program director.

Upgrading an older Bradley to the latest version - the Bradley A3 - costs slightly less than $2.5 million dollars, while a basic overhaul of an existing configuration can cost between $1 million to $1.5 million, depending on the vehicle's condition, he said.

The Bradley overhauling and remanufacturing businesses totaled about $1.4 billion in 2006 compared with $500 million to $800 million in prewar years. The company's London-based parent, BAE Systems PLC, had 2005 sales of more than $28 billion.

Government spending on military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2007 is expected to reach its highest level since the Iraq war began, possibly growing to as much as $200 billion. About $120 billion was spent in the 2006 budget year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Some $70 billion has already been approved for the budget year that began Oct. 1, and more money is needed to replace lost or worn-out equipment.

"We're getting into that cycle now where all that equipment over there is breaking down and needs to be refurbished," replaced or upgraded, said Stephen Trimble, Americas bureau chief for the defense industry magazine Jane's Defense Weekly.

Demand for the equipment has become acute because the conflict has dragged on for nearly four years, he said.

"It starts getting really pricey and companies have been making a lot of money doing this," Trimble said. "It's certainly something that for the next few years is going to be nice for their bottom lines."

Originally Posted by coolhand009

Go to safe dinar, just order another 4 million! Mo 5k notes, they sold out in one day already. Good luck

Rolclub is supporting Iraq dinars Dinar Trade call Ali and get the same price or cheaper. Has everything Safedinar does and delievers to other Countries COD too. Get the RC Member Discount. Safedinar does not Advertise with Rolclub. But you are free to use whoever you want.

Originally Posted by jsfletcher

People need to stop calling Chase banks. Go in to the branch. ALL CHASE BANKS BUY AND SELL

Yep, I just picked up 5M today at Chase in Metro Denver. Ordered it on Tuesday. ALL 25k bills.
No problems. The "teller" that handed it over to me just happened to be the Bank Vice Pres.

ND

Originally Posted by noodlesdad

Yep, I just picked up 5M today at Chase in Metro Denver. Ordered it on Tuesday. ALL 25k bills.
No problems. The "teller" that handed it over to me just happened to be the Bank Vice Pres.

ND

Hope you went out before the heavy snow started.

I went and ordered more today and found out that all of the chase bank managers have a certin amount of disgretion (sp) meaning a bank manager can limit the amount of an order, or limit orders to account holders, that is up to the manager but it falls across the board to all currency. All chase banks are set up for the same currencies. He also told me the same thing I said earlier, you really need to go in, if you get Joe teller on the phone they may or may not look at the currency screen. There is no "MEMO" going around on the dinar, it is another foreign currency on their screen they buy and sell, just like the euro peso, dollar.

Originally Posted by noodlesdad

Yep, I just picked up 5M today at Chase in Metro Denver. Ordered it on Tuesday. ALL 25k bills.
No problems. The "teller" that handed it over to me just happened to be the Bank Vice Pres.

ND

That sounds like, good ole country road music ...where John comes from and with such handovers... that is a cool place to chase your dinars like noodles flowing out of a rice bowl to prosperity...


WTG ND... - YB.

Originally Posted by Gloribee

I'm thinking maybe the rumor section, if I get the e-mail replys I'm hoping for today. Still cautious after my last Boo Boo.

I will admit all forum members were great in not bashing me when I got the Interpetation wrong, but still, I like to confirm things first then post.

If I can confirm my ideas with-out a doubt, then yes I will put on news thread.

Thanks, Gloribee

Gloribee, if you would have put it this way, in the first place, we all would have understood better. I am deeply sorry the way I took your post Thank you for your diligence.

Joe

Originally Posted by neno

Rolclub is supporting Iraq dinars Dinar Trade call Ali and get the same price or cheaper. Has everything Safedinar does and delievers to other Countries COD too. Get the RC Member Discount. Safedinar does not Advertise with Rolclub. But you are free to use whoever you want.

I placed and order for four million with them for 5k notes IQD. Wrote me back and said that they were out. I also bought 20 million DONG from them, but thanks, they got some of my business. I have bought over 15 million from safedinar, most of the dinar I sold to friends and family to get to a brake even point. I appericated the info that you provided. I could get it local bank much cheaper, but when it hits, I won't care about dealer fees.

11 million Iqd and now 20 million Dong. I am done! RV

Originally Posted by coolhand009

I appericated the info that you provided. I could get it local bank much cheaper, but when it hits, I won't care about dealer fees.

11 million Iqd and now 20 million Dong. I am done! RV

WTG .... keep it cool esp. from where U R from... roll round that hoola...

YB. - any chance of buying a small piece of an island near Maui?





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http://baghdadblog.msnbc.com/

NBC: Saddam to be hanged by Sunday - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com

http://en.ce.cn/World/big-news/20061..._9928739.shtml

Bush: Making progess on new Iraq policy - USATODAY.com

Analysis: Iraq oil in '07, bleak as '06

home - Bilateral Economic Relations

Gulfnews: Risks and perils loom large

News & Analysis: When Iraqis Gave Up on Government