Thread: Iraqi/Dinar news until March 1st, 2007

Iraqi Cabinet members approve draft version of oil law




An oil tanker is seen in Basra this month. Iraq is nearing passage of a bill that would manage its vast oil wealth. (ESSAM AL-SUDANI/AFP/Getty Images)

By Robert H. Reid, Associated Press | February 27, 2007

BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi Cabinet approved a draft law yesterday to manage the country's vast oil industry and distribute its wealth among the population -- a major breakthrough in US efforts to press the country's Shi'ite, Sunni, and Kurdish groups to reach agreements to achieve stability.
Parliament will take up the measure when it reconvenes early next month after a recess. With all major parties endorsing the bill, approval is likely -- although some politicians predicted a vigorous debate on some of the details.

Many Iraqis fear the measure will effectively hand the country's major natural resources over to foreign oil companies. Supporters maintain that oil giants have the billions of dollars needed to upgrade the country's decrepit wells, pipelines, and port.

"I very much hope the main political groups will rise to the occasion" and approve the bill in parliament, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh, a Kurd, said. Iraq has some of the world's largest petroleum reserves, and supporters hope the legislation will encourage major oil companies to invest billions -- if the security situation improves.

However, the bill had been bogged down for months in infighting between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government and the self-ruled Kurdish administration of northern Iraq over who had the final say in negotiating contracts and managing the revenues.

Under the oil legislation, regional administrations will be empowered to negotiate contracts with international oil companies. The contracts will be reviewed by a central government committee in Baghdad headed by the prime minister.

Under the measure, revenues will be distributed to all 18 provinces based on population size -- a concession to the Sunnis whose central and western homeland has relatively few proven reserves. Most of Iraq's oil is in the Kurdish north and Shi'ite south, and many Sunnis fear they would be cut out of a fair share.

Maliki announced the decision after the Kurds accepted the draft oil bill over the weekend -- nearly two months after the government's own deadline for enacting a new oil law.

The Bush administration has been urging the Iraqis to finish the new oil law.

In Washington, White House spokesman Tony Snow called the new oil law the "key linchpin" in Iraq's recovery because it gives "everybody a shared economic interest in working together."

© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.

Iraqi Cabinet members approve draft version of oil law - The Boston Globe


Subscribe for free.

one step in the right direction...makes it possible to reach our hoped for distination.

wishing us all success (and many more little steps)

harrisomi

Iraqis Reach an Accord on Oil Revenues


By EDWARD WONG
Published: February 27, 2007
BAGHDAD, Feb. 26 — The Iraqi cabinet approved a draft of a law on Monday that would set guidelines for nationwide distribution of oil revenues and foreign investment in the immense oil industry. The endorsement reflected a major agreement among the country’s ethnic and sectarian political blocs on one of Iraq’s most divisive issues.

Go to Complete Coverage » The draft law approved by the cabinet allows the central government to distribute oil revenues to the provinces or regions based on population, which could lessen the economic concerns of the rebellious Sunni Arabs, who fear being cut out of Iraq’s vast potential oil wealth by the dominant Shiites and Kurds. Most of Iraq’s crude oil reserves lie in the Shiite south and Kurdish north.

The law also grants regional oil companies or governments the power to sign contracts with foreign companies for exploration and development of fields, opening the door for investment by foreign companies in a country whose oil reserves rank among the world’s three largest.

Iraqis Reach an Accord on Oil Revenues



Published: February 27, 2007
(Page 2 of 2)



The minority Sunni Arabs, who ruled Iraq for decades before the toppling of Saddam Hussein and are now leading the insurgency, have chafed at rule by the Shiites and Kurds partly because they fear that those two groups might hoard oil wealth for themselves. Sunni Arab leaders have resisted attempts by the Kurds and some Shiite politicians to create laws allowing for greater regional autonomy.

Skip to next paragraph
The Reach of War
Go to Complete Coverage » The draft law says that all revenues from current and future oil fields will be collected by the central government and redistributed to regional or provincial governments by population, in theory ensuring an equitable distribution of profits. That method could help assuage Sunni Arabs hostile to Kurdish and Shiite autonomy.

The attitudes of Sunni Arabs could also soften if more oil exploration is done on their land. Iraqi officials recently increased their estimates of the amount of oil and natural gas deposits in Sunni Arab territory after paying tens of millions of dollars to foreign oil companies to re-examine old seismic data across the country and retrain Iraqi petroleum engineers.

Industry and government analysts in and outside Iraq estimate the proven oil reserves at 115 billion barrels. Oil production peaked at 3.7 million barrels a day in 1979, according to the United States Department of Energy. Production stood at 2.6 million barrels a day before the 2003 invasion, but has dropped since.

The oil law’s drafters reached agreement on the principle of revenue sharing fairly early in the process. Much more contentious was the issue of signing oil contracts. The Kurds, who have enjoyed de facto independence in the mountainous north since the end of the Persian Gulf war in 1991, argued strongly for regional governments or companies to have full power in signing contracts with foreign companies to develop oil fields. Sunni Arab leaders insisted on keeping this power in the hands of the Oil Ministry. The Shiites fell somewhere in the middle.

The draft law has a compromise: regions can enter into contracts, but a powerful new central body, the Federal Oil and Gas Council, would have the power to prevent the contracts from going forward if they do not meet certain prescribed standards, Mr. Salih said. A panel of oil experts from inside and outside Iraq would advise the federal council on the contracts.

The draft law also re-establishes the state-run Iraq National Oil Company, which was founded in 1964 to oversee oil production but was shut down by Mr. Hussein in 1987. The company would operate separately from the Oil Ministry and use a business model. In addition, any region that can produce at least 150,000 barrels of oil a day can create its own operating company.

Energy analysts said the new law is unlikely to lead to a stampede by foreign companies anytime soon because it leaves too many unresolved issues, including the lack of a mechanism to settle potential disputes between the federal authority and local governments.

“I think the devil is going to be in the details,” said Fadel Gheit, an analyst with Oppenheimer & Company in New York. “Oil companies need governments that will honor the contracts they sign and they need a safe environment to operate,” he added.

While Mr. Gheit said he expected American and British oil companies to receive preferential treatment in the awarding of contracts, other analysts said Iraqis would be suspicious of awarding preferential deals to American companies.

“Iraqis are extremely protective of their resources,” said Rochdi A. Younsi, an analyst at Eurasia Group, a political risk consulting firm. “Given the level of anti-American sentiment, any major American oil company perceived to take advantage of their relations in government would be seen as being part of the so-called conspiracy to take over Iraq’s natural resources.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/27/wo..._r=1&th&emc=th

Iraqi officials say dozens of major foreign companies, including ones based in the United States, Russia and China, have expressed strong interest in developing fields or have done some work with the Iraqi industry. The national oil law would allow regions to enter into production-sharing agreements with foreign companies, which some Iraqis say could lead to foreigners reaping too much of the country’s oil wealth.

Iraqi officials say all such contracts will be subjected to a fair bidding process, but American inspectors have reported that the upper echelons of the government, including the senior ranks of the Oil Ministry, are rife with corruption. There are also fears among non-Americans that American companies could be favored.

But oil industry analysts in the United States say it is unclear whether companies will rush to sign contracts because the law is vague about what legal protections investors would be given.

The oil law and several related measures must still be approved by Parliament before they are enacted. Since the American-led invasion in 2003, Iraqi politics have often been split bitterly along ethnic and sectarian lines, and that kind of conflict could stall the law’s passage. Drafts were debated for months by a committee before the cabinet finally approved one.

“At the end of the day, we all supported this thing because it’s workable for all the parties,” said Barham Salih, a deputy prime minister and the head of the committee.

Distributing revenue by population is not guaranteed to placate the feuding parties because no accurate census exists. There is intense disagreement over demographics in Iraq — many Sunni Arabs insist they are the majority of Iraqis, even though Sunni Arabs are generally estimated to be 20 percent of the population, Kurds 20 percent and Shiite Arabs 60 percent.

If the law is passed, its effect on the oil industry could be enormous, assuming that foreign companies would be willing to work here despite the violence. Iraq has 80 known oil fields, 65 of which will be offered for bids for development contracts, said Hussain al-Shahristani, the oil minister.

Iraqi leaders say they want the 275-member Parliament to approve the law before May. The legislature is in recess but is expected to reconvene next month. American and Iraqi leaders had tried to get the law approved last year, but the effort bogged down at the drafting level. Before the cabinet vote on Monday, the main Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish political blocs agreed to work together to ensure that the law passes Parliament in an expeditious manner, Mr. Shahristani said.

Since last year, senior Bush administration officials and top American commanders here have said a new oil law is crucial to the country’s political and economic development, and they have pressured Iraqi leaders relentlessly to make passage of the law a priority.

In recent weeks, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, the senior American envoy here, has been in intense talks with Kurdish leaders in the north to overcome their objections to the draft, which centered on the contracting powers given to the central government versus the regions. Iraqi officials say Mr. Khalilzad’s negotiations were crucial to winning unanimous cabinet approval on Monday.

“This is a significant political achievement because leaders representing all of Iraq’s communities have demonstrated that they can pull together to resolve difficult issues of vital national importance,” Mr. Khalilzad said in a written statement on Monday evening. “The drafting of this framework law was not easy. It presented special challenges for the Iraqi and Kurdistan regional governments, and the leaders of key political blocs.”

Several members of the committee overseeing the drafting said in interviews that they were confident that Parliament would ultimately endorse the law, but perhaps only after heated debate.

“It will be tough,” Mr. Salih said. “I want to admit it and I want to recognize that. It will be an interesting roller coaster, my friends.”

The writers of the draft law tried to balance the powers of regional and central governments, an issue that goes directly to the heart of the Iraq war.

Originally Posted by PAn8tv

U.S. to attend Iraq regional conferences
Reuters
Tuesday, February 27, 2007; 1:47 PM


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it would attend two planned conferences on stabilizing

Iraq in coming months that may bring it in contact with Iran and Syria, nations Washington has been reluctant to engage.




Vice President Cheney made an unannounced visit to Islamabad and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to address resurgent Taliban and al-Qaeda fighting along the border with Afghanistan. (Pakistan Press Information Department/AP)


SEE FULL COLLECTION


Feedback



In Today's A Section
» More in Today's Print Edition


Save & Share Article What's This?

DiggGoogle
del.icio.usYahoo!
RedditFacebook

The State Department would not rule out the possibility U.S. officials might hold bilateral talks with Iranians at the first conference, to be held in Baghdad in March, but the White House played down the chances of such talks.

The United States accuses both Iran and Syria of fomenting the violence in Iraq and has repeatedly spurned suggestions -- including in the December report of the U.S. blue chip Iraq Study Group -- that it engage both to try to stabilize Iraq.

The first conference, which is expected to gather mid-level officials, would be a rare meeting involving envoys from the United States and two nations it considers state sponsors of terrorism, Iran and Syria.

"We will be there," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

Asked if he could rule out the possibility of bilateral U.S.-Iranian talks on the sidelines of the meeting, McCormack said: "We'll see. The focus is on Iraq. The Iraqi government is convening the meeting. We look forward to attending it."

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice later said Iraq also planned to convene a ministerial meeting of its neighbors and the Group of Eight countries as early as the first half of April to help stabilize the country.

"(Iraqi) Prime Minister (Nuri al-) Maliki believes, and President Bush and I agree, that success in Iraq requires the positive support of Iraq's neighbors. This is also one of the key findings of the Iraq Study Group," Rice said in excerpts

of congressional testimony released by the State Department.

"So I'm pleased to inform you that the Iraqis are launching a new diplomatic initiative that we fully support," she said.

"The Iraqi government has invited Syria and Iran to attend both of these regional meetings. We hope these governments seize this opportunity to improve their relations with Iraq -- and to work for peace and stability in the region," she said.

White House spokesman Tony Snow cast doubt on chances for any bilateral talks with Tehran during such a conference, saying Washington had already laid out conditions for such direct discussions.

President George W. Bush has ruled out direct talks with Iran unless it suspends uranium enrichment that Washington believes is aimed at developing a nuclear weapon, a charge Tehran denies.

Greart post PAn8tv. Boy our Veep's got some stones. Thanks

Scott Paye

Originally Posted by darock0116

GCC ReValue Its Currencies!!
GCC set to revalue its currencies
BY ISSAC JOHN (Chief Business Reporter)

27 February 2007



DUBAI — The currencies of the UAE, Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia face the imminent prospects of getting revalued by up to 30 per cent in the wake of meeting of the governors of the GCC Central Bank scheduled for next month.
At their meeting in Saudi Arabia, the central bank governors are likely to review currency pegs to the US dollar and may agree to switch to another currency or a currency basket.
According to Deutsche Bank AG, the UAE dirham and Bahrain dinar would be revalued by between 10 and 15 per cent while Saudi and Oman currencies could be revalued by 25 to 30 per cent. The bank did not rule out the revaluation of Kuwaiti dinar and Qatari riyal, but pointed out that they are estimated to be around fair value.
In its "GCC macro outlook" report, the bank said large current account surpluses in the GCC suggest currencies may have been overly competitive. However, the bank, noting that forex appreciation will not change the US dollar price of oil, said current account surpluses will be fairly unresponsive to any revaluation.
The International Monetary Fund recently said both currency revaluation and measures to stimulate economic growth in the GCC would be on its agenda.
Currency revaluation speculation is normally focused on the Chinese yuan but GCC currencies also increasingly under scrutiny these days as $250 billion US trade deficit with the Middle East oil producers are higher that the $200 billion trade deficit with China.
According to analysts, the immediate fallout of a dirham revaluation would be that euro-priced products will become cheaper, dampening consumer price inflation. "There would also be a one-off currency gain for the owners of local real estate. But on the other hand, the region would become more expensive for some tourists and the inflow of foreign money might falter as assets would be more expensive."
The UAE Central Bank governor also hinted out on the possibility by saying "we (the governors) could come to the conclusion that we need to change." Speculation about a revaluation was rife since the dollar fell around 10 per cent against the euro in 2006.
The dollar's slide has driven up the cost of imports in the region, where some countries, such as Kuwait, pay for half their imports in euro and yen.
Kuwait, which allows its dinar to trade in a 3.5 per cent band around a reference rate set in 2003, revalued the currency in May for the first time in 17 months, allowing one per cent appreciation against the dollar. The move sparked a currency rally across the Gulf, as investors bet other countries, especially Saudi Arabia, would follow suit. GCC countries except Kuwait have been maintaining fixed currency pegs to the dollar for the past three decades.
The bank also said that GCC hopes of launching a common currency by 2010 may be delayed. “Conflicting statements from GCC officials during recent months leads us to believe a delay to the 2010 date.”
Oman recently questioned the viability of 2010 as the year for a scheduled monetary union in the GCC. The UAE Central Bank has suggested that a more limited currency union might be achieved without a central bank through the fixing of currency rates and issuing of currency rather than an institutional union. This is practical as long as the dollar peg is maintained

Khaleej Times Online - GCC set to revalue its currencies

I know this has nothing do with the Iraqi dinar right now, but it could in the near future and the new values of the GCC currency gives some what of target for Iraqi!!!!
I love this statement:
The International Monetary Fund recently said both currency revaluation and measures to stimulate economic growth

Darock

If the GCC have had their currencies pegged to the US Dollar - and the fact that they are wanting to change to a basket currency - some indication that if the IQD goes up then the USD goes down- which we all predict. Of course they would want to adjust - makes perfect sense to me- If I am not totally off-base here on my simple understanding.
I would also venture to believe that they would want to do this before the IQD revals. So, this may be more of any indication and something to really keep an eye on. JMHO

Marlene in NY

[QUOTE=darock0116;170373]IMF Cancel Debt of Iraq!!!!

Voices of Iraq - debt negotiations :

كتب.

[LEFT]He said media source at the Oil Ministry said today, Tuesday, that Oil Minister early next month to take part in the delegation government in charge of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund told reduction and the cancellation of the debt of Iraq, the delegation includes also the Minister of Alma Why and the Central Bank Governor.

I like this part and it fits so well with the expiration of the SBA...and to borrow a line from Scota..."the more they take the more we make", relieving more of their debt has to lead to a faster and more substantial reval.

Originally Posted by Loki

Iraqi Cabinet members approve draft version of oil law




An oil tanker is seen in Basra this month. Iraq is nearing passage of a bill that would manage its vast oil wealth. (ESSAM AL-SUDANI/AFP/Getty Images)

By Robert H. Reid, Associated Press | February 27, 2007

BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi Cabinet approved a draft law yesterday to manage the country's vast oil industry and distribute its wealth among the population -- a major breakthrough in US efforts to press the country's Shi'ite, Sunni, and Kurdish groups to reach agreements to achieve stability.
Parliament will take up the measure when it reconvenes early next month after a recess. With all major parties endorsing the bill, approval is likely -- although some politicians predicted a vigorous debate on some of the details.

Many Iraqis fear the measure will effectively hand the country's major natural resources over to foreign oil companies. Supporters maintain that oil giants have the billions of dollars needed to upgrade the country's decrepit wells, pipelines, and port.

"I very much hope the main political groups will rise to the occasion" and approve the bill in parliament, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh, a Kurd, said. Iraq has some of the world's largest petroleum reserves, and supporters hope the legislation will encourage major oil companies to invest billions -- if the security situation improves.

However, the bill had been bogged down for months in infighting between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government and the self-ruled Kurdish administration of northern Iraq over who had the final say in negotiating contracts and managing the revenues.

Under the oil legislation, regional administrations will be empowered to negotiate contracts with international oil companies. The contracts will be reviewed by a central government committee in Baghdad headed by the prime minister.

Under the measure, revenues will be distributed to all 18 provinces based on population size -- a concession to the Sunnis whose central and western homeland has relatively few proven reserves. Most of Iraq's oil is in the Kurdish north and Shi'ite south, and many Sunnis fear they would be cut out of a fair share.

Maliki announced the decision after the Kurds accepted the draft oil bill over the weekend -- nearly two months after the government's own deadline for enacting a new oil law.

The Bush administration has been urging the Iraqis to finish the new oil law.

In Washington, White House spokesman Tony Snow called the new oil law the "key linchpin" in Iraq's recovery because it gives "everybody a shared economic interest in working together."

© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.

Iraqi Cabinet members approve draft version of oil law - The Boston Globe


Subscribe for free.

Fill that baby up!

U.S. Launches New Talks to Secure Iraq
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

(02-27) 13:56 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --


Changing course, the United States is joining the Iraqi government in a diplomatic initiative inviting Iran and Syria to a "neighbors meeting" on stabilizing Iraq, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday.


The move reflects a change of approach by the Bush administration, which previously had resisted calls by members of Congress and by a bipartisan Iraq review group to include Iran and Syria in such talks.


"We hope that all governments will seize this opportunity to improve their relations with Iraq and to work for peace and stability in the region," Rice told the Senate Appropriations Committee in a hearing on the administration's request for additional war funding.


Rice said the diplomatic initiative is aimed at building more support, both within the Middle East and beyond, for peace and prosperity in Iraq. She added that U.S. and Iraqi officials agree that success in Iraq — after four years of war — "requires the positive support of Iraq's neighbors."


At the same time, Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., chairman of the committee, lambasted the administration's past approach in Iraq.


"Congress cannot continue to fund failing policies and failing strategies," Byrd said. "Under the president's plan, there is no end, I say, no end in sight."


The Rice announcement came even as the United States is engaged in its latest confrontation with Iran over its nuclear program, which U.S. officials say is aimed at developing nuclear weapons but Tehran says is for new sources of energy.


A U.N. Security Council deadline for Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment has just expired, and in response the U.S. wants the council to expand the limited sanctions the world body has imposed on Iran.


As for the neighbors meeting, Rice stressed that it was the Iraqi government inviting Iran and Syria to participate, with the United States in support.


At the White House, press secretary Tony Snow told reporters the administration is "happy that the government of Iraq is taking this step and engaging its neighbors. And we also hope and expect that Iran and Syria will play constructive roles in those talks."


But Snow cautioned people to be patient, noting that "this is one where the agenda is being set up by the government of Iraq. And the conditions, especially for bilateral conversations with the Iranians, are pretty clear."


The administration in recent weeks had increased its public criticism of Iran's role in Iraq, charging it with supplying deadly weapons, including advanced technologies for the most lethal form of roadside bombs. The administration also has accused Syria of harboring anti-Iraqi government forces and allowing weapons to cross its border.


Meanwhile, Democrats' plans to limit President Bush's war authority and force a change of course in Iraq are faltering amid party divisions over how quickly and aggressively they should act.


A group of senior Senate Democrats is pushing to repeal the 2002 measure authorizing the war and pass a new resolution restricting the mission and ordering troop withdrawals to begin by this summer. In the House, a respected veteran wants to use Congress' spending power to essentially force Bush to scale back U.S. involvement in Iraq.


Both plans appear to lack the support they would need to prevail, however, as Democratic leaders struggle to form party consensus on how to move forward.


Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he wants to put off votes on the new, narrower war authorization so the Senate can turn to a measure enacting the recommendations of the bipartisan 9/11 commission.


"Iraq is going to be there — it's just a question of when we get back to it," Reid said, predicting it would be "days, not weeks" before the Senate returned to the issue.


The Iraqi government announced in Baghdad that it is preparing the meeting for mid-March, and that invitees include members of the Arab League and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — the U.S., Britain, France, China and Russia.


Syria will be represented at the conference by Ahmed Arnous, an aide to the foreign minister, an Iraqi Foreign Ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the plans had not yet been formally announced. Other Arab countries and Iran have not confirmed their attendance or the level of delegates they would send.


Rice said the mid-March meeting will be held at the sub-ministerial level. That is to be followed, perhaps as early as the first half of April, by a full ministerial-level meeting with the same invited countries, plus members of the G-8 group of leading industrial powers.


"I would note that the Iraqi government has invited Syria and Iran to attend both of these regional meetings," Rice said. She also noted that the Iraq Study Group, headed by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, had recommended inviting Iran and Syria to such a neighbors meeting. At the time of that recommendation in December, President Bush rejected that diplomatic approach.


___


AP Military Writer Robert Burns in Washington and Brian Murphy in Baghdad contributed to this story.

February 27, 2007
Cautious Optimism on Iraq
By Jon Kyl

I recently had the opportunity to lead a bipartisan, bicameral congressional delegation to the Middle East. Although such trips are short, they still provide more direct information than briefings back in Washington. Based on face-to-face meetings with U.S. troops and our top military commanders on the ground, as well as Iraqi officials in Baghdad, I took away three key points.

First, both the Iraqi leaders and Americans we met expressed cautious optimism about the new Baghdad Security Plan, and all believed that it was already showing some signs of working. For example, violence by Shiite militias and death squads has significantly subsided. And the Iraqi government is now committed to a key part of the military plan, making sure that after an area of the city is cleared, the Iraqi army and police remain to keep it pacified. The political part of the plan is also showing progress. For example, the Iraqi Parliament is close to passing a badly needed law to define how Iraq's oil resources will be shared with its citizens.

Two key Iraqi leaders noted a feeling among ordinary Iraqis, Sunni and Shia alike, that "something was different this time" - that this new strategy has a chance to succeed. All cautioned that there would be "bad days and good days" and that we wouldn't be able to pass judgment on the new strategy for months; but the sense of hope and optimism was still palpable.

The second message I took away from our trip was that we cannot micromanage this war from the U.S. Congress either by cutting off funding for our troops or setting conditions on troop deployments. Beginning with our first meetings at Camp Arijan in Kuwait, senior military leaders consistently emphasized to us the need for Congress to pass the President's supplemental spending request to carry out the mission over the next several months. Threats from some in Washington to block the request for funding or impose onerous restrictions on how the money is spent have our military leaders worried that they won't have what they need to fight and win. The troops with whom I spoke are also carefully watching the debate back home and don't want to be undercut while their lives are on the line. I am convinced, now more than ever, that this "slow bleed" strategy that seeks to end the war by choking off funds and reinforcements is totally irresponsible. It would "pull the rug out" from under our troops just as they appeared to be making real progress against the enemy.

Finally, I left the Middle East with a growing concern over the pernicious role Iran plays in the region. Whether we were meeting with U.S. military leaders or Iraqi government officials, the conversation always seemed to come back to Iran. Shiite militias in Sadr City and elsewhere are clearly being armed by Iranian agents. The Commanding General of Multi-National Corps-Iraq, Lieutenant General Odierno, showed us advanced IEDs, known as Explosively-Formed Penetrators (EFPs), which had Farsi writing on them indicating they were made in Iran. In Kuwait we had seen the damage EFPs can do when we walked through long rows of armored vehicles, including 70-ton Abrams tanks, ripped apart by these devilish weapons.

Part of the President's Baghdad Security Plan includes going after IED networks and capturing those who bankroll them, regardless of their nationality. Some have criticized this approach as an "escalation against Iran" or a "prelude to war." It is not, but I believe we have an obligation to stop those who are responsible for killing our troops. And we do need to apply the appropriate pressure to get the Iranians to back off.

I returned home from my trip more convinced that stabilizing Iraq is the only acceptable outcome in this struggle and that the President's new strategy is our best opportunity for achieving it. We have an incredibly complex and difficult road ahead, but everyone I met in Baghdad - Iraqi or American, general or private - believed that we were finally moving in the right direction.

Sen. Kyl serves on the Senate Finance and Judiciary committees and chairs the Senate Republican Conference. Visit his website at United States Senator Jon Kyl.
Page Printed from: RealClearPolitics - Articles - Cautious Optimism on Iraq at February 27, 2007 - 05:36:32 PM CST

Originally Posted by www.xealthy.com

Fill that baby up!

Yes, that tanker is empty because if it was full, that brown section would be submerged.

So, FILL 'ER UP AND GET UNDERWAY!!!

Mtgrown