Thread: Iraqi/Dinar News before 3-12-2007 7:45PM CentralTimeZone

Originally Posted by smcquiller1

Updated: 12:29 p.m. ET March 12, 2007
MANAMA/HOUSTON - U.S. oil services firm Halliburton Co. is moving its headquarters and chief executive to Dubai in a move that immediately sparked criticism from some U.S. politicians.

Texas-based Halliburton, which was led by Vice President Dick Cheney from 1995-2000, did not specify what, if any, tax implications the move might entail. It plans to list on a stock exchange in the Middle East once it moves to Dubai — a booming commercial center in the Gulf. The company said it was making the moves to position itself better to gain contracts in the oil-rich Middle East.

“This is an insult to the U.S. soldiers and taxpayers who paid the tab for their no-bid contracts and endured their overcharges for all these years,” said judiciary committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat.

Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, might hold a hearing on the implications, an aide to Waxman said.

Halliburton has drawn scrutiny from auditors, congressional Democrats and the Justice Department for the quality and pricing of its KBR Inc. unit’s work for the U.S. army in Iraq.


“My office will be in Dubai, and I will run our entire worldwide operations from that office,” Chief Executive David Lesar said at an energy conference in Bahrain on Sunday. “Dubai is a great business center.”

Halliburton, which has long been involved in the Middle East, generated more than 38 percent of its $13 billion in oil-services revenue in the eastern hemisphere last year.

Middle East growth
“The company as a whole has continued to diversify internationally, and the Middle East is a point that they have targeted,” said William Sanchez, a U.S.-based analyst at Howard Weil Inc.

“They are being opportunistic in putting the CEO in the middle of the action.”

Sanchez said he believed Halliburton’s move to Dubai was not tax related. Instead he viewed it as a strategic play.

Alan Laws, an analyst at Merrill Lynch, said the move would likely help Halliburton’s position in negotiating large contracts.

Halliburton said it would maintain its legal registration in the United States and was not leaving Houston, where it was currently based.

But Lesar told reporters: “At this point in time we clearly see there are greater opportunities in the eastern hemisphere than the western hemisphere.”

KBR, the engineering and military-services contractor unit that Halliburton is in the process of splitting off, is the Pentagon’s largest contractor in Iraq.

It seems to me that Haliburin knows something is about to happen. Why else would you move your entire business to another country. Something is going on right now and they know what it is

Exactly,

Like Cheney didn't know months ago, funny. lol

Good luck to all, Mike

President Receives in Amman, a number of political and parliamentary figures and receives a telephone call from Sheikh Izz al-Din al-Husseini

March 12, 2007March 12, 2007

استقبل رئيس الجمهورية جلال طالباني، في عمان يوم الأحد 11-3-2007، وفد مجلس النواب الذين جاؤوا للسؤال على صحة فخامة الرئيس.President Jalal Talabani, in Amman on Sunday, 3-11-2007, the delegation of the House of Representatives who came to a question on the health of His Excellency the President.
و أعرب أعضاء الوفد النيابي، الذي ضم السادة همام حمودي و مثال الآلوسي و سامي العسكري و سلمان الجميلي و تانيا طلعت، عن سروهم لتحسن صحة الرئيس طالباني.And members of the parliamentary delegation, which included Messrs. Humam Hammoudi, Alalosi example, the military and Sami Salman Jumaili, Tania Talat, the Srohm to improve the health of President Talabani. و تمنى وفد مجلس النواب لفخامته دوام الصحة و العودة السريعة للوطن لمواصلة العمل خدمة للعراق و العراقيين بمختلف قومياتهم و طوائفهم، مؤكدين أن الرئيس طالباني يحمل هموم الشعب العراقي و يعمل لصالحهم و هو صمام الأمان و المحافظ على وحدة صفوف جميع العراقيين.He and the delegation of the House of His Excellency good health and a speedy return to the homeland, to continue to act in the service of Iraq and the Iraqis of different ideologies and sects, adding that he shared the concerns of President Talabani, the Iraqi people and work for their benefit, is the safety valve and the governor on the unity among all Iraqis.
بدوره، شكر رئيس الجمهورية، الوفد الزائر و قال فخامته انه سيعود قريبا إلى أرض الوطن ليواصل مهامه و مساعيه الرامية إلى دعم المسيرة الديمقراطية في العراق و تحقيق الأمن و الاستقرار و الازدهار الاقتصادي في جميع أرجاء البلاد.In turn, thanked President of the Republic, the visiting delegation and His Excellency said he would return soon to the homeland and to continue his efforts to support the democratic process in Iraq and achieve security, stability and economic prosperity throughout the country.
كما استقبل فخامته، في عمان يوم الأحد، سكرتير الحزب الاشتراكي الديمقراطي الكردستاني محمد الحاج محمود الذي زار الرئيس طالباني للاطمئنان على صحته، وأشار الحاج محمود، خلال اللقاء، إلى اهتمامه الشديد بصحة رئيس الجمهورية مؤكدا أن جميع العراقيين حريصون على دوام صحة فخامته و عودته إلى الوطن سالما معافى.He also met with His Excellency, in Amman on Sunday, secretary of the Socialist Party of Kurdistan Democratic Party Mohammad Haji Mahmoud, who visited President Talabani to check on his health, and pointed Haji Mahmoud, during the meeting, to the strong interest in the health of the President of the Republic, stressing that all Iraqis are keen to the health of His Excellency and the permanence of his return home safe and sound.
من جانبه، أعرب الرئيس طالباني عن شكره لسكرتير الحزب الاشتراكي الديمقراطي الكردستاني لزيارة فخامته في المستشفى، مؤكدا انه يتمتع الآن بصحة جيدة مشيرا إلى قرب عودته إلى البلاد.For his part, President Talabani thanked the secretary of the Socialist Party of Kurdistan Democratic Party to visit His Excellency in the hospital, saying that he now enjoys good health, pointing to the imminent return to the country.
في سياق متصل، تلقى رئيس الجمهورية اتصالا هاتفيا من الشخصية الكردية المعروفة الشيخ عز الدين الحسيني الذي تمنى لفخامته موفور الصحة و العمر المديد و العودة سالما معافى لمواصلة مهامه خدمة لجميع العراقيين بمختلف قومياتهم و طوائفهم و أديانهم.In a related development, President of the Republic received a telephone call from the Kurdish-known personal Sheikh Izz al-Din al-Husseini, who wished His Excellency good health and longevity and return safe and sound to continue his work in the service of all Iraqis, the various ideologies and sects and religions.
من ناحيته، أعرب رئيس الجمهورية عن امتنانه للسيد الحسيني على مشاعره مشيدا بمواقفه حيال نصرة شعب كردستان و العراق بشكل عام.Meanwhile, The President of the Republic expressed gratitude to Mr. Husseini hailed for his feelings toward his positions supporting the people of Kurdistan and Iraq in general.

Blood and Oil Three cheers for Iraq's new hydrocarbon law.

Posted Monday, March 12, 2007, at 12:28 PM ET

A Baghdad oil refinery

The recent hydrocarbon law, approved after much wrangling by Iraq's council of ministers, deserves a great deal more praise than it has been receiving. For one thing, it abolishes the economic rationale for dictatorship in Iraq. For another, it was arrived at by a process of parley and bargain that, while still in its infancy, demonstrates the possibility of a cooperative future. For still another, it shames the oil policy of Iraq's neighbors and reinforces the idea that a democracy in Baghdad could still teach a few regional lessons.

To illustrate my point by contrast: Can you easily imagine the Saudi government allocating oil revenues so as to give a fair share to the ground-down and despised Shiite workers who toil, for the most part, in the oil fields of the western region of the country? Or picture the Shiite dictatorship in Iran giving a fair shake to the Arab-speaking area of Khuzestan, let alone to the 10 percent of Iranians who are both Sunni and Kurdish? To ask these questions is to answer them. Control over the production and distribution of oil is the decisive factor in defining who rules whom in the Middle East.

The Saddam Hussein dictatorship, with its record of mass murder against Shiites and Kurds, can be explained partly by a Baathist ideology that subordinated everything to the leader and to the state. But—without wishing to be overly Marxist on the point—I would argue that it was also determined by an economic imperative. The Sunni minority, and especially the Tikriti minority of that minority, lived in areas of Iraq where oil was relatively scarce. In order for it to exert control over the country's chief national resource, it had by definition to act as an almost colonial power in the Kurdish and Shiite provinces, with results that are well-known. (It also had to invade and annex Kuwait to make up the huge self-inflicted deficit created by its invasion of Iranian Khuzestan.)

But there is, in fact, enough and more than enough oil for everybody in Iraq. And important new fields are being prospected all the time, most notably and recently in the Anbar province, where al-Qaida forces have been making their strongest challenge. Here, as across much of the rest of the country, the visitor stands amazed at the sheer abject poverty and misery of people who are living in what is potentially one of the richest countries on earth. Iraq has the third-largest oil reserves of any nation, and that's if you take the lowest estimate of its reserves. Its oil is of purer quality, and nearer to the surface, than that of many of its rivals. A dusty and hopeless city like today's Basra could be, as one minister told me excitedly last December in Baghdad, "as rich as Kuwait in five years." The new law proposes a federalized control over oil and gas, with a distribution of revenue that would be in proportion to the population of each province. To put it another way: The very element that greased the weaponry of dictatorship and aggression could, with a certain amount of nurturing, become the economic basis of a federal democracy. I must say that it sounds worth trying.

On the left and in the anti-war camp, the very mention of the word "oil" is usually considered profane: a Brechtian clue to the secret designs of neoconservatives. So, I was interested to see Christian Parenti, a staunch foe of the Bush policy in Iraq, saying in the March 19 Nation that "on key questions of foreign investment and regional decentralization versus centralized control, the law is vague but not all bad." What have Iraqis got to lose here? It's not as if a withdrawal of foreign investment would leave the oil as a trusteeship for the people. Remember that Iraq under Saddam had already seen the most extreme form of "privatization," with the whole industry a private fiefdom of a parasitic elite. Remember that no real investment was made in the oil fields for almost 20 years, so that when experts visited the refineries after 2003, they could not (in the words of one I spoke to) "find anywhere even to put a Band-Aid." Remember that the Baathists used the "oil for food" program to sow corruption throughout the United Nations. Remember that Saddam Hussein set fire to the Kuwaiti fields and also ordered the taps opened so that crude oil would flow straight into the seawater of the Gulf, destroying the marine habitat. After all that, even Halliburton must come as a blessed relief.

Of course, all this is still heavily overshadowed by the daily menace of vicious jihadist sabotage, of corruption in a sectarian oil ministry, and of the generally parlous state of the infrastructure. And the deal has yet to be approved by the Iraqi parliament—a body that has some difficulty in meeting. Nonetheless, a principle is being established that does great credit to the Iraqis who signed it and to the coalition forces that made it possible. If it were not for the general American feeling that oil is a substance too dirty even to be mentioned in polite society, this consideration might even influence the current debate about an "exit strategy." One would like to know, of those who advocate leaving Iraq, whether they are happy to abandon the control of its fabulous wealth to be parceled out between the highest or most ruthless bidders—say, al-Qaida in Anbar, the Turks in the north, and the fans of Ahmadinejad in the south? Or might it be better to have even an imperfect federal democracy that could be based not just on ideals but on an actual material footing? A country that might, over time, undercut the power currently exerted by Saudi Arabia and Iran? I only ask. And it's no good chanting "no blood for oil" at me, because oil is the lifeblood here, and everybody knows it and always has.

Originally Posted by CharmedPiper

Blood and Oil Three cheers for Iraq's new hydrocarbon law.

Posted Monday, March 12, 2007, at 12:28 PM ET

A Baghdad oil refinery

The recent hydrocarbon law, approved after much wrangling by Iraq's council of ministers, deserves a great deal more praise than it has been receiving. For one thing, it abolishes the economic rationale for dictatorship in Iraq. For another, it was arrived at by a process of parley and bargain that, while still in its infancy, demonstrates the possibility of a cooperative future. For still another, it shames the oil policy of Iraq's neighbors and reinforces the idea that a democracy in Baghdad could still teach a few regional lessons.

To illustrate my point by contrast: Can you easily imagine the Saudi government allocating oil revenues so as to give a fair share to the ground-down and despised Shiite workers who toil, for the most part, in the oil fields of the western region of the country? Or picture the Shiite dictatorship in Iran giving a fair shake to the Arab-speaking area of Khuzestan, let alone to the 10 percent of Iranians who are both Sunni and Kurdish? To ask these questions is to answer them. Control over the production and distribution of oil is the decisive factor in defining who rules whom in the Middle East.

The Saddam Hussein dictatorship, with its record of mass murder against Shiites and Kurds, can be explained partly by a Baathist ideology that subordinated everything to the leader and to the state. But—without wishing to be overly Marxist on the point—I would argue that it was also determined by an economic imperative. The Sunni minority, and especially the Tikriti minority of that minority, lived in areas of Iraq where oil was relatively scarce. In order for it to exert control over the country's chief national resource, it had by definition to act as an almost colonial power in the Kurdish and Shiite provinces, with results that are well-known. (It also had to invade and annex Kuwait to make up the huge self-inflicted deficit created by its invasion of Iranian Khuzestan.)

But there is, in fact, enough and more than enough oil for everybody in Iraq. And important new fields are being prospected all the time, most notably and recently in the Anbar province, where al-Qaida forces have been making their strongest challenge. Here, as across much of the rest of the country, the visitor stands amazed at the sheer abject poverty and misery of people who are living in what is potentially one of the richest countries on earth. Iraq has the third-largest oil reserves of any nation, and that's if you take the lowest estimate of its reserves. Its oil is of purer quality, and nearer to the surface, than that of many of its rivals. A dusty and hopeless city like today's Basra could be, as one minister told me excitedly last December in Baghdad, "as rich as Kuwait in five years." The new law proposes a federalized control over oil and gas, with a distribution of revenue that would be in proportion to the population of each province. To put it another way: The very element that greased the weaponry of dictatorship and aggression could, with a certain amount of nurturing, become the economic basis of a federal democracy. I must say that it sounds worth trying.

On the left and in the anti-war camp, the very mention of the word "oil" is usually considered profane: a Brechtian clue to the secret designs of neoconservatives. So, I was interested to see Christian Parenti, a staunch foe of the Bush policy in Iraq, saying in the March 19 Nation that "on key questions of foreign investment and regional decentralization versus centralized control, the law is vague but not all bad." What have Iraqis got to lose here? It's not as if a withdrawal of foreign investment would leave the oil as a trusteeship for the people. Remember that Iraq under Saddam had already seen the most extreme form of "privatization," with the whole industry a private fiefdom of a parasitic elite. Remember that no real investment was made in the oil fields for almost 20 years, so that when experts visited the refineries after 2003, they could not (in the words of one I spoke to) "find anywhere even to put a Band-Aid." Remember that the Baathists used the "oil for food" program to sow corruption throughout the United Nations. Remember that Saddam Hussein set fire to the Kuwaiti fields and also ordered the taps opened so that crude oil would flow straight into the seawater of the Gulf, destroying the marine habitat. After all that, even Halliburton must come as a blessed relief.

Of course, all this is still heavily overshadowed by the daily menace of vicious jihadist sabotage, of corruption in a sectarian oil ministry, and of the generally parlous state of the infrastructure. And the deal has yet to be approved by the Iraqi parliament—a body that has some difficulty in meeting. Nonetheless, a principle is being established that does great credit to the Iraqis who signed it and to the coalition forces that made it possible. If it were not for the general American feeling that oil is a substance too dirty even to be mentioned in polite society, this consideration might even influence the current debate about an "exit strategy." One would like to know, of those who advocate leaving Iraq, whether they are happy to abandon the control of its fabulous wealth to be parceled out between the highest or most ruthless bidders—say, al-Qaida in Anbar, the Turks in the north, and the fans of Ahmadinejad in the south? Or might it be better to have even an imperfect federal democracy that could be based not just on ideals but on an actual material footing? A country that might, over time, undercut the power currently exerted by Saudi Arabia and Iran? I only ask. And it's no good chanting "no blood for oil" at me, because oil is the lifeblood here, and everybody knows it and always has.

This is a great article Charmed. Nice find.

Originally Posted by shotgunsusie

what can i say. i seem to be batting a thousand these days with my posts. probably is a good indication that i should be just reading instead.

You took the words right out of my mouth!

Originally Posted by Adster

Recent quotes.
Shabibi stated last Thursday:

Pointing out that the bank wants as a means to affect the economic and monetary policy by making the dinar a valuable and powerful.

Then we had this yesterday:

Abdul-Razzaq al-Abaiji, an economist, told VOI "the decline in today's demand for the dollar was due to the expectation that a new policy will be adopted by the Central Bank to raise the dollar exchange rate in upcoming sessions."

Followed by Shabibi on the CBI site:

The Central Bank of Iraq will work hard to lower inflation and face its directions and its causes to raise the value of the Iraqi dinar and its interest rate,until such a time when inflation will take its route downwards
which will help the whole economical stability and maintain the general growth of the economics of Iraqi.

Thanks!! The truth and nothing but the truth.

Originally Posted by bob1940

I don't want to sound like a Nit Picker . but personal comments and prediction and rumor go in the Rumor and prediction threads. Please Adhere to the TOS. Thanks and have an Awesome DAY> BOB

No THANK YOU BOB1940 For the reminder.

Just been reminded on IIF of the Chinese Yuan which floated back in the summer of 2005. The press etc said there would be no float for months.....2 days later they did float the Yuan, remember it, almost 2 years ago.

Good example of not believing what you read guys. Too many people downbeat at the moment. No need to be.

Keep it coming brother.

Originally Posted by Adster

أعلن البنك المركزي العراقي عزمه على خفض التضخم ورفع قيمة الدينار العراقي لتوفير الاستقرار النقدي وتوسيع وتعجيل معدلات النمو الاقتصادي.

The Iraqi Central Bank announced its intention to reduce inflation and increase the value of the Iraqi dinar to provide monetary stability and to expand and accelerate economic growth rates.

وجاء في بيان صادر عن البنك المركزي العراقي أن السياسة النقدية للبنك في الأشهر المقبلة ستعتمد على إشارتين أساسيتين هما رفع سعر صرف الدينار العراقي وزيادة معدلات فائدة البنك المركزي العراقي.

A statement issued by the Central Bank of Iraq that the bank's monetary policy in the coming months will depend on two basic references raise the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar and increasing interest rates, the Central Bank of Iraq.

ويشير البنك في بيانه إلى أن نشاطاته في تنفيذ سياسته ستستغرق بعض الأشهر حتى تتضح تأثيراتها على اتجاهات التضخم ومساراته.

The World Bank in its statement that its activities in implementing the policy will take some months until the effects on inflation trends and its operations.

Radio Sawa - البنك المركزي العراقي يعلن عن سلسلة إجراءات لتو�ير الاستقرار النقدي

Originally Posted by duck2000

maybe you should try to just contribute more instead of this!!

Just looking for the truth and nothing more, You people are the brains I am just the Bum A$$ on the ride, never said I had anything to benefit this forum just tired of rumors!! that are being posted here when it has been said this is suppose to be factual or best that can be!