Thread: Iraq/Dinar News until 5/23/07 Midnight CST

Originally Posted by shotgunsusie

the cabinet did approve the law back then. what we currently are awaiting and what they are having conflicting reports about is the oil law in PARLIAMENT. it goes from cabinet, to parliament, to presidential council.

I believe that although it had been approved there had been discrepancies regarding the verbiage (income and revenues) disputed by the Kurds, which could be misinterpreted or something to that effect that would not benefit the Iraqis as a whole.
I am sure someone recalls this information. I am not sure whether it was with regard to the HCL or the FIL.

Marlene in NY

Iraqi Trade Chambers Federation demands the release of its blocked funds
Includes 611 thousand Iraqi traders
18 May 2007 (Iraq Directory)
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Iraqi Trade Chambers Federation achieved advanced steps on the road to activate the role of the private sector in the reconstruction of Iraq within the framework of its attempt to make Iraqi traders take their role in the economic variables required in the country. Chairman of the Federation, Jaafar Rasool Al-Hamadani, said: The Federation managed in a short period to settle its internal affairs after electing the board of the unions directories scattered in 18 provinces, including Kurdistan, which in its turn elected President of the Chambers Federation and his two deputies.

He demanded the government to release the Federation’s funds which were seized by the State to protect them from the abuse of the remnants of the old government’s organizations.

He said: The reasons behind the seizure are over after the Federation’s board of directors had met and elected the President and his two deputies in the city of Arbil in Kurdistan, where elections were held in July last year, and they were followed by complementary elections in 27 / 12 / 2006; he expressed his hope that the ministerial committee would release the funds so the Federation could achieve its objectives and implement its obligations.

He added that the funds will promote the performance of unions and assist in implementing various programs to enhance the performance of Iraqi traders and expand cooperation relations with the world’s countries to benefit from international experiences through exchanging delegations and the establishment of training courses to prepare traders to keep up with the development after being detached from the world for many years.

Al-Hamadani pointed out that the members of the Federation and its branches throughout the country amount to 611 thousand trader of various magistrates, and this indicates the importance of the Federation as a critical link in dealings, cooperation and coordination among the State’s departments and ensure the rights of traders in business dealings.

He said that the adopted laws and legislations does not suit the responsibility of the Federation and its branches in the new transformations in the country and that they need to be renew to expand the performance of the private sector, pointing out that the most important features of the market economy, which represents the economic program of the new Iraq, is how effective the private sector and its role in the leadership of economic transformations.

Jaafar Al-Hamadani addressed a very important issue which is the intellectual property law, and said: "If this law is ratified and succeeded, it would achieve all the economic and social changes”.

He stressed the need for Iraq to join the World Trade Organization and said: joining the Organization means to re-gain Iraq’s international role and entering the world market, since Iraq enjoys many advantages like possessing treasures and natural resources and being one of the rich nations in the world, pointing at the importance of openness to the world and to achieve the return of Iraq into the international arena.

About the qualification of Iraq’s joining the Organization and the ability of the private sector to lead the economic transformation, he said: Iraq possesses mental, intellectual and scientific expertise well-known in the world, but the private sector needs the government’s support at this stage for the advancement of performance and achieving transformations.

Al-Hamadani also pointed out that the Federation sponsored and organized a number of exhibitions of reconstructing Iraq held in Iran and Turkey, and there is an intention to hold ones in the Gulf States. The Federation participated in the exhibition at Ein Tabb in Turkey as well as in the exhibition at Diyar Bakir, and exhibition of medical and pharmaceutical industries in the State of Kuwait. He pointed out to the importance of such exhibitions in informing the Iraqi merchant and businessman on the the evolution of the world in different areas and the transfer of global experiences in this field.

Among the most notable achievements of the Federation is approaching the ministries of Finance and Trade to activate the role of traders and contribute in bringing items of the ration card and they did defy the difficulties and brought the items despite the complicated security circumstances.

Al-Hamadani stressed that the Federation is still pursuing the issue of the traders affected by the terrorist operations in the commercial markets of Baghdad and other governorates, and demanded compensation, in addition to approaching the Ministry of Finance on granting traders facilitated loans to expand their business and has achieved remarkable steps in this regard.

He pointed out at the conclusion of the meeting to the promising future awaiting Iraq after the Investment Law was approved, which he described as the key to start the economic development in the country, and it will contribute to attracting foreign capital and modern technology, which contributes to the reconstruction of Iraq, pointing out that the advantages included in the law guarantee the rights of Iraqis in the partnership with international companies as well as contribute in the fight against unemployment through creating job opportunities.

Iraqi Trade Chambers Federation demands the release of its blocked funds | Iraq Updates
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set for Iran, US ambassadors to meet in Iraq
Nasir Jaffry
AFP
May 17, 2007


'DATE SET': Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, announced May 17 that Iran and the US are to meet at ambassador level in Iraq May 28 to discuss Iraq's security situation.
(REUTERS)
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ISLAMABAD -- Iran and the United States are to meet at ambassador level in Iraq May 28 to discuss its security situation, Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Thursday in Islamabad.

The talks are believed to be the first official bilateral ambassadorial encounter between the arch-foes since they froze relations in the wake of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

Announcing the date for the first time, Mottaki - whose country is at the center of international concerns about its nuclear program - insisted that the talks would only deal with the unrest in Iraq.

"Nothing but Iraq is on the agenda for Iran and US talks," he told reporters during a conference of Islamic foreign ministers here. "The talks will strictly be focused on the security situation in Iraq," he added, saying that the meeting would be held in the presence of Iraqi officials.

Iran was sending an "expert diplomat" at ambassador level to the talks while the US had appointed one of their ambassadors as chief negotiator, Mottaki said.

Iranian officials announced several days ago that the meeting would take place within the next few weeks, most likely in Baghdad.

Relations between Tehran and Washington have been bedeviled by the situation in Iraq, where the United States accuses Iran of aiding militant Shiite groups and attacking US forces.

Mottaki batted the issue back at the United States, saying that its policies had failed in the country that it invaded in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein.

"We are facing two problems in Iraq, one relates to instability caused by terrorist activities and the other by continuation of occupation of Iraq," he said.

Mottaki said that Iran scrapped negotiations with the United States over Iraq in March last year "due to the US propaganda-based approach."

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Wednesday punctured any expectation that the latest meeting would produce a breakthrough, saying that its policy of not negotiating with the United States was unchanged.

Khamenei said that Iran would merely use the talks with US diplomats to remind Washington of its "occupiers' duty" in the conflict-torn country.

The United States insisted Monday that the talks did not presage a retreat from its policy to isolate the Islamic republic, with White House spokesman Tony Snow saying that the contacts will be "about Iraq and only Iraq."

Khamenei's downbeat assessment came after criticism from conservatives of the decision to hold the discussions, which the editor of the hardline daily Kayhan likened to "dancing with wolves and shaking hands with the devil."

Some moderates had expressed hope that the contacts could result in a warming of ties, and a small group of deputies in the Iranian parliament has even been canvassing support to set up an Iran-US friendship group.

Two weeks ago hopes were dashed that Iran and the United States would hold substantive talks at a conference on Iraq's security in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh.

At that meeting, Mottaki barely exchanged pleasantries with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice while a lower-level encounter between high-ranking diplomats lasted just minutes.

Iraq urges Iran firms to bid for oil refinery work; Baghdad, Tehran to activate oil pipeline deal
BAGHDAD (RTRS): Iraq has invited Iranian firms to bid for contracts to build at least four oil refineries across the country, Iraq’s oil ministry said on Wednesday in a sign of growing ties with the United States’ regional foe. “Today, the Iranian firms have been invited to bid in building refineries which the ministry has already announced it was planning to build,” spokesman Asim Jihad told Reuters. Iran and Iraq, which fought a bitter war in the 1980s, have been strengthening ties since the US-led invasion in 2003, arousing concern among Iraq’s once dominant Sunni minority and other Arab states, as well as in the United States. Washington, which considers Iran part of an “axis of evil”, accuses Tehran of meddling in Iraq. But the two countries, which broke ties in 1979 after Iran’s Islamic Revolution, have said they will hold talks within weeks in Baghdad to discuss helping Iraqi people. Iraq wants to build at least four refineries to help it solve chronic fuel shortages. The ministry said last year that it wants to build Nahrain, just south of Baghdad, with a capacity of 140,000 barrels per day. A second refinery at Kuya in the north, is projected at 70,000 bpd. Iraq also plans to build a refinery in Nassiriya, south of Iraq, for export purposes with a capacity of 300,000 bpd and another in southern Amara.


Damaged
Iraq has eight oil refineries, none of which were damaged during the invasion. Oil officials say that the plants are operating at only 50 percent-75 percent of capacity, forcing Baghdad to import most of its fuel. Jihad said that Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani agreed with the Iranian ambassador on Wednesday to activate an agreement to build a pipeline to carry about 200,000 bpd of Iraqi crude to Iran’s southern refineries. “They have agreed that the technical committees should begin within days mutual visits to discuss costs and the time they need to build the pipeline,” Jihad said.


Attract

“The Iranians will buy the crude based on market price.” Iraq needs to attract investment from international oil companies to develop its oilfields and increase production. Oil multinationals are waiting until a new hydrocarbon law, which sets the rules of investment in Iraq to be passed by the parliament before pumping cash into Iraq. International oil firms are eyeing its giant and largely underdeveloped oilfields. Oil is the country’s main source of the hard currency needed to rebuild its economy, and the energy sector is struggling to recover from years of mismanagement and sanctions.

UK opens dialogue with Iraq factions
By Basil Adas, Correspondent



Baghdad: Iraqi president Jalal Al Talabani revealed that the British have held secret talks with Iraqi resistance factions.

The move aroused questions concerning the security dossier, notably whether the previous US negotiations with the Iraqi resistance have broken down, and if the British are rivalling Americans in contacting resistance groups and thus to lead the future Iraqi security talks.

Mohammad Abed Hussain, an Iraqi political researcher at Nahrain University, told Gulf News: "The Britons were initially against dissolving the Iraqi army and the Baath party, unlike Americans who supported the approach espoused by Shiite religious leader Abdul Aziz Al Hakim and Shiite secular leader Ahmad Al Chalabi."


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He added: "The Iraqi resistance is aware of the British position and possibly will be ready for more serious and effective talks with the Britons."

Iraqis hate occupation forces and the hatred directed against the US army is more than towards the British army because the latter was not involved in security operations or/and significant backlash against gunmen south of Iraq despite the large presence of the Mehdi army south of Iraq which was no less dangerous than the Sunni gunmen.

The Britons tend to conduct extensive dialogue with the Iraqis unlike the Americans who have so far preferred a military solution to any political issue or security challenge in Sunni and Shiite cities in Iraq.

Adil Al Quraishi, an Iraqi political analyst, told Gulf News: "It has become known that Americans are too radical, so it is in the best interests of the Iraqi resistance if the British have decided to negotiate with them.

"One of the main Iraqi resistance demands is rescheduling withdrawal of foreign forces, in addition to the abolition of the former American official Paul Bremer's laws concerning the Baath party and the military ministries."

The Irish model

But any agreement between the British army and Iraqi resistance would not continue unless it is approved by the Americans since the British coordinates with Americans on dialogue with the resistance.

Naji Al Janabi, former Iraqi journalist, told Gulf News: "What is important is that the British have successful experience in secret talks with the Irish army.

"They had succeeded in concluding an agreement of weapon extradition and normalisation of the security situation. I believe that the Irish model is evident through contacts with the Iraqi resistance."

Some Shiite parties back talks between Iran and US
By Basil Adas, Correspondent



Baghdad: Experts expect talks soon between Americans and Iranians on improving security and stability in Iraq.

These talks are backed by Shiite parties in the Iraqi government especially the ruling coalition led by Abdul Aziz Al Hakim, a prominent political and religious figure in Iraq, who called for establishing such meetings between the two estranged countries.

Hassan Al Taee, leader in a nationalist party in Baghdad, told Gulf News: "Al Hakim aims at creating objective conditions for establishing a Shiite self-autonomy region in the middle and south of Iraq.

"Al Hakim knows his aspiration clashes with the continuation of US-Iranian conflict because Americans would not allow establishing an Iraqi sectarian territory with tolerable ties with Iran, in the light of power struggle in the region."


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Al Taee added: "At the other end, Shiite leader Moqtada Al Sadr's supporters are not satisfied with any US-Iranian talks because it means hindering Iranians' support to Shiite armed militias in Iraq."

Esmail Al Jaf, a researcher in the political affairs told Gulf News : "Clearly there is a cleavage amid Shiites concerning US-Iranian dialogue. I think some Shiite parties want to be in reckoning with their rivals by supporting such talks.

"Recently, we witnessed few attacks conducted by the Mehdi Army against offices of the Supreme Council led by Al Hakim in the Sadr neighbourhood and in Diwaniya."

Baath party fears

Topics like the Mehdi Army and the Iranian support will occupy top positions at these security talks. Americans accuse Iran of backing and harbouring hundreds of Mehdi members in camps belonging to Iranian Revolutionary Guard on the Iraqi-Iranian border.

Iran denies the allegations. The American army has repeatedly displayed captured Iranian weapons and arrested cells linked to the Mehdi army who use such weapons, specifically highly explosive devices used to attack armoured American rangers in Baghdad and other Iraqi areas.

Sunni Arabs hold deep suspicions about the US-Iranian talks. They fear that it will harm their political rights.

On the other hand, Baathists are extremely concerned because it weakens their attempts in portraying Iran's vigorous influence and threat in Iraq thereby forcing Americans to accept Baath role in the political life and decision-making process within the Iraqi national reconciliation framework.

Eyad Mousa, member of the dissolved Baath Party, told Gulf News: "Al Hakim sought desperately for US-Iranian dialogue to block Baathists return because Baath is the only Iraqi peer against Iranian influence in the region."

IRAQI POLICE CHIEF REMOVED AFTER REFUSING ORDER FROM BAGHDAD
The Interior Ministry has dismissed Kirkuk police chief Major General Sherko Shakir and replaced him with Major General Jamal Tahir, Peyamner reported on May 17. Shakir refused a May 2 ministry order to demote Kurdish officers in Kirkuk earlier this month. At the time, Shakir said the order was politically motivated. He said the demotion would affect 266 officers. Shakir has since said he will abide by the order, though he believes the officers are competent, according to press reports. According to the "Kurdish Globe" website, the order to demote the officers came from Deputy Interior Minister General Ayden Khalid Qadir, a Turkoman. KR

Turning The Corner In Iraq
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Posted GMT 5-18-2007 14:45:18
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The progress in the past three short months in Iraq is unmistakable. Since General Petraeus has taken command of MNF-I forces in mid February, the convergence of developments has fundamentally changed the outlook in Iraq. While "The Surge" has dominated discussion -- be it on operational tempo within Baghdad or withdrawal timetables within the DC Beltway -- progress on several vital fronts is beginning to reshape realities on the ground.

As the contentious internal American political debate continues, our leaders and the American public would do well to acknowledge the significantly changing situation.

In Baghdad, for example, the over-hyped Muqtada al-Sadr has long made tracks for the more hospitable climes of Iran. The Baker Commission's Iraq Study Group Report estimated the Mahdi Army (Jaish al-Mahdi or JAM) to consist of 40-60 thousand armed fighters. In the absence of its leadership, Sadr's 'army' has splintered into the various bands of Shia street thugs they always were. Sure, there are exceptions, such as the particular hard core 'extremist' extra-judicial killing (EJK) cells hunting Sunnis to stoke Iran's much-desired Iraqi civil war. But an estimated 3,000 Iranian-backed extremists in EJK cells still roaming the streets must be seen as an undeniable improvement over the tens of thousands recently under the Mahdi Army banner.

Iraqi Shi'a Party Rebuffs Iranian Direction

Additional bad news for Iran is the seismic shift of Iraq's largest political party away from Iran. The Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) began to fundamentally distance itself from Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khameini, taking on a more nationalistic stance. It has removed 'Revolution' from its name -- as well as historical deference to Qom - and is now looking to Iraq's Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani for religious guidance.

This announcement came just ten days after Iran's Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, visited Sistani in Najaf, Iraq. After the meeting, Larijani said to Iranian media, according to Asia Times, that "Sistani informed him that the US government has been holding meetings with Iraqi terrorist groups." The Asia Times went on to say that the meeting between the two was of great significance, "reminding the world of Iran's close ties to the Shi'ite power hierarchy in Iraq."

In fact, what exists is a deep rivalry between the revolutionary Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini and the traditionalist Grand Ayatollah Sistani, both claiming authority over the Shi'a faith. While the Khomeinist revolutionary Khameini clearly believes in Shi'a theocracy, the Iraqi Ayatollah Sistani believes that the faith can exist within a democracy without theological conflict. And while the Iranians work to spin the growing Sunni tribal rejection of al-Qaeda as Americans "negotiating with terrorists," Sistani himself has always had open channels of communication with American forces and the Iraqi government.

Iran Evidence Turned SCIRI, Sistani Popular In Iran

It was through those open channels that the United States clearly shared evidence of Iranian material support for specific Sunni groups engaged in targeting Shi'a Iraqis in attacks. And it was clearly compelling enough to cause Iraq' largest Shi'a political party to seek guidance from the traditionalist (and pro-democracy) al-Sistani instead of the revolutionary Iranian leaders.

While it is not known publicly what specific Iran intelligence was shared with the SCIRI leadership, the compelling details surely included such things as the information gained through December and January Baghdad and Irbil raids on Iranain Quds Force operatives. One official confirmed, "We found plans for attacks, phone numbers affiliated with Sunni bad guys, a lot of things that filled in the blanks on what these guys are up to." Such detailed information proving Iranian cooperation with Sunni groups killing Iraqi Shi'a civilians likely proved compelling enough to the SCIRI leadership that Iran's support is far less than advertised.

Indicative that what was announced is the tip of an iceberg of change, the announcement of the change in the new Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (formerly SCIRI) came with a claim that more profound changes are yet to come.

Sistani's appeal does not end at the Iraqi border, as Iranians increasingly observe his leadership with interest and fondness. Some are "intrigued by the more freewheeling experiment in Shi'ite empowerment taking place across the border in Iraq," which is fundamentally different in approach than the Iranian theocratic brand of dictated observance and obedience. The Boston Globe's Anne Barnard reports that within Tehran's own central bazaar, "an increasing number of merchants are sending their religious donations, a 20 percent tithe expected from all who can spare it, to Iraq's most senior Shi'ite cleric."

While it is difficult to understate the significance of the monumental shift within Iraq, it should also be recognized that the decision to transform the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq into simply the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council was not arrived at with unanimity. Nor was it arrived at without heated debate. As well, many of the SCIRI party's elected government officials have ties and allegiances to Iran that are unlikely to simply evaporate overnight. But a profoundly significant Shi'a nationalist transformation process has begun, and this is a very positive development -- one good for Iraq and beneficial to American interests in the region.

Al Qaeda's Forced Migration From Anbar to Diyala

On the Sunni front, the steadily increasing membership and activities of the Anbar Salvation Council under Sheikh Abdul Sattar has given rise to a new and formidable enemy for al-Qaeda in Iraq. Sattar's Anbar Salvation Council movement, which was joined by many Anbar tribal sheikhs in rejection of al-Qaeda's murderous ways and oppression and intimidation of local populations, served as the catalyst that drove al-Qaeda terrorists from their relatively comfortable perches in Anbar province. The sheer will and exponentially increased intelligence capabilities that the local tribal leaders bring to their partnership with US and Iraqi government forces against the terrorists in their midst has caused al-Qaeda to lose the initiative in Anbar, most notably in their former Ramadi stronghold southwest of Baghdad.

As the situation in Anbar began to turn increasingly sour for al-Qaeda, their defacto base of terrorist operations migrated to Diyala province on the opposite side of Baghdad. As was the case in Anbar province, al-Qaeda terrorists, led by Abu Ayyub al-Masri, used brutal intimidation and violence to entrench themselves within the new province's Sunni population, targeting reluctant or resistant tribal leaders there and terrorizing the population into submission.

But the Sunni nationalist movement is growing, most recently challenging al-Qaeda in their new stronghold in Diyala province, which stretches from northeast Baghdad to the Iranian border. As in Anbar, Diyala tribal sheikhs opposed to al-Qaeda's murderous means and theological ends have openly announced the formation of the Diyala Salvation Council, reportedly consisting of over 280 local tribal leaders. This opposition has existed well before the announcement, but fear of al-Qaeda retribution kept its participants underground. The threat of retribution is still a clear and present danger of those publicly taking the stand. But the Coalition presence in Diyala is growing ahead of predictably imminent major US and Iraqi military operations that will sweep through the province once ample cordoning forces can be put into place, expected by the end of June.

The public formation of the Diyala Salvation Council comes after the operation against al-Qaeda in which it was initially believerd that al-Qaeda In Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri had been killed by tribal forces loyal to Shiekh Abdul Sattar's movement. While a man named al-Masri ("the Egyptian") had indeed been killed, it was not the terrorist leader who also hails from Egyptian origin. But the confrontation sought out by the tribal forces should be seen in retrospect as a sign of growing confidence and operational capability in Diyala province. The open announcement of the official public formation of the Diyala Salvation Council is a natural progression of that confidence and a clear indicator of the will to eradicate al-Qaeda terrorists from Iraqi soil.

To be sure, its creation is no coincidence, nor is its similar name, and is evidence of the growth and popularity of Sheikh Adul Sattar's Iraq Awakening (Sahwat Al Anbar) nationalist movement that itself emerged from the Anbar Salvation Front (later renamed Anbar Salvation Council). The Diyala organization comes under the Iraq Awakening umbrella as the national appeal of both the Iraq Awakening movement and Sheikh Sattar begins to take concrete form.

Turning The Corner In Iraq

At the end of the day, it must be acknowledged -- particularly by American political leaders -- that the situation is improving going forward, particularly because Iraqis themselves are taking ownership of the survival and security of their own country, neighborhood by neighborhood, city by city and troubled province by troubled province. While the Sunni tribal leaders increasingly reject al-Qaeda and transform into the terrorists' newest and most damaging new enemy, the Shi'a leadership also has begun to internally acknowledge the shallowness and duplicity of Iran's stated support for them.

There is much work to be done, both by Iraqis and by Coalition forces, and much fighting lay ahead, particularly in the coming bloody house-to-house street fighting against increasingly desperate al-Qaeda terrorists who have lost Anbar and see the cordon beginning to encircle their new Diyala powerbase. Americans should be prepared for the necessary fight ahead.

But there is a corner being turned in Iraq by Sunni and Shi'a alike, and Americans currently engaged in the incessant debate on the Iraq War would do well to look up long enough to notice. To fail to do so would be to once again trade military victory for political defeat. We've been down this road before. When discussing withdrawal at this stage -- just as the corner is being turned -- would leave yet another population to the un-tender mercies of unabated terror and tyranny.

This is the generational test of our nation's character. What we do or do not do will define us in the eyes of enemy and ally alike. Most importantly, our actions will lie at the feet of our own collective conscience.

We stand as a nation at the bank teller window, accessing our National Character account. The question remains: Will our balance reflect a deposit or a withdrawal?

By Steve Schippert
FrontPageMagazine.com

Steve Schipper is co-founder of the Center for Threat Awareness and managing editor for ThreatsWatch.org.

© 2007, Assyrian International News Agency

The Kurdish PR Machine
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Posted GMT 5-18-2007 14:33:29
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Jesus Christ was a Kurd! Well, he probably was not; but this is the kind of conclusion American lobbyists who are on Kurdish payroll are coming close to. With some more funding going to these extremely creative lobbyists, the American public should be prepared to lobbying bombshells featuring new scientific discoveries that may include "George Washington's secret will for an independent Kurdish state," "Kurdistan: the Holy Land that inspired Christopher Columbus' journey across the Atlantic (Columbus had first sailed to the turquoise shores of Mesopotamia), "The story of a Kurd who gave up his life to prevent a new 9/11," or "Apostolic evidence reveals Kurds were pious Christians before being forced to convert to Islam under the Turkish sword."

Alternatively, Hollywood can produce the "United 93 -- Revisited," this time featuring the story of a Kurdish hero fighting back the four terrorists who had hijacked the United Airlines airplane on 9/11. In the new version, perhaps some further revisions can be made. Why not, instead of killing all aboard, make the Kurdish hero safely land the aircraft and deliver the terrorists to justice. The injured but proud hero, in the final picture, appears on the apron holding two flags in his hands; American and Kurdish.

Did you, by the way, know that the United States won both the World War II and the Cold War thanks mainly to secret Kurdish efforts? Or that the Statue of Liberty was in fact built by a Paris-based Kurdish sculptor whose work had unfortunately been stolen by a man called Frederic Auguste Bartholdi?

An interesting article

A recent article in Washington Post (Kurds Cultivating Their Own Bonds with U.S., by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, April 23, 2007) was both very informative and amusing. Mr. Chandrasekaran detailed how the vigorous Kurdish lobbying efforts hope not only to have important men in their political sphere in Washington, but also to build emotional bonds with ordinary Americans. That was the informative part for which praise should go to a skilled journalist. The amusing part was not Mr. Chandrasekaran's liability, but an inevitable content problem. Since Mr. Chandraserakan could not alter what his interviewees told him, the article gained an entertaining touch too.

For example, listen to what Bill Garaway, an evangelical Christian minister, told the Post: "…(having realized that the Kurds had a public relations problem)… They (his neighbors) said, 'Who are the Kurds?' I said, "There is nobody like them in the Middle East. They're Muslim, but they hate fundamentalist Islam. They love America.'"

Mr. Garaway believes that many key events described in the Bible occurred in Kurdistan, including the stories of Noah's ark and Queen Esther. Although Mr. Garaway claims that the three wise man the Bible says visited baby Jesus in Bethlehem came from Kurdistan, he probably misses the fact that Bethlehem was actually part of Mesopotamia at the time -- well, what matters, a few hundred miles to the east or west? Yes, Jesus Christ was a Kurd and the wise men who came to visit him were his Kurdish baptizers! With a larger lobbying budget, we might have been told that God was Kurdish too.

Here is more scientific evidence to support Mr. Garaway's theory: The powerful King of Kurdistan, Abdullah Talazani VIII, had once sent an e-mail message to his Viceroy, Shiwan Jameson Jr., circa 666 BC, declaring: "O trustful Viceroy! Convey my message to the noble Kurds no later than 8:00 a.m. GMT. I hereby prophesize that one day we shall stand by a great nation with a great leader whose name saints revealed to me will be George W. Bush. Tell them we shall be with them in good times and in bad times. And Shiwan Jameson Jr., now please remember to send in my golf tutors."

Mr. Garaway, who joined the Church after "God revealed himself to him," hopes to take his national campaign on behalf of Kurdistan to "the next level" with an influential Washington partner: Qubad Talabani, son of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and a mechanic-turned-lobbyist, as the article describes him. The Post story also tells us that Mr. Garaway encouraged Mr. Talabani and other Kurdish leaders to spend several million dollars this year to run commercials on prime-time network television. Getting Americans "to understand our story," agrees the mechanic-turned-lobbyist, is essential for the Kurds.

I, too, agree. The Kurds should spend more, perhaps several hundred million dollars, not just one million, "to buy" a love affair with the ordinary Americans. But what more can be done? Here is my humble proposal.

Mr. Garaway told the Post: "There is more of the best American values in Kurdistan than anywhere else in the Islamic world." Ah, that gives us ideas. To cement the nation-to-nation love affair, Mr. Garaway could, for example, champion a nationwide holiday-making campaign: Every American family to Kurdistan for vacation! I suggest the right slogan for the campaign could be: A living more American than American!, or "Meet Jesus Christ's descendants!"

PKK camp, an alternative

If one should have doubts about the bed capacity in Kurdistan, I suggest a shortcut solution: every family in Kurdistan should host one American family a year (depending on the success of the program this hosting idea can be made mutual so that every Kurdish family stays in American homes and teaches them the real American values.) That idea failing, the American tourists can always be comfortably hosted at the nearest PKK camping facility with fresh mountainous air and an immaculate view of the country.

As for the financing of a "getting-to-know-our-Kurdish brothers" program, I am sure, if Kurdish or American resources failed to suffice, the Turks would volunteer to donate.

By Burak Bekdil
Turkish Daily News - May 18, 2007

© 2007, Assyrian International News Agency

Increased stability provides industrial opportunities in Iraq
Friday, 18 May 2007


Paul Brinkley, U.S. deputy undersecretary of Defense for Business Transformation, and Fawzi Hariri, Iraqi Minister of Industry and Minerals, discussed the progress of Task Force for Business and Stability operations and continuing efforts to build the Iraqi economy at the Combined Press Information Center Thursday. U.S. Army Photo by Spc. Jennifer E. Fulk, Combined Press Information Center.BAGHDAD — The U.S. deputy undersecretary of Defense for Business Transformation and Iraqi Minister of Industry and Minerals held a press conference at the Combined Press Information Center Thursday.

Paul Brinkley, U.S. deputy undersecretary of Defense for Business Transformation, and Fawzi Hariri, Iraqi Minister of Industry and Minerals, discussed the progress of Task Force for Business and Stability operations and the continuing effort to rebuild the Iraqi economy.

“We continue to work in partnership with the [Iraqi] Minister of Industry to reinvigorate the near-idled industrial capacity in Iraq,” said Brinkley. “This is part of a continuing effort to bring businessmen from the international community to Iraq.”

As part of the effort to rekindle the Iraqi economy, the Iraqi Minister of Finance Bayan Jaber announced additional sets of low interest loans totaling $20 million to be distributed amongst factory outlets in need of financial support.

“These will support 24 different factory operations,” said Brinkley. “This is also part of our effort to partner with the government of Iraq to restore industrial operations, to reemploy sizable numbers of people here in Iraq and to restore normalcy to areas of the country where stability exists.”

While the intra-Iraqi economy begins a cycle of creating jobs and industries to restart the economy, international businesses are beginning to show interest in what an industrial Iraq has to offer.

“We continue to work contract negotiations with Western retailers as well as heavier industrial operations in the West,” Brinkley said. “One of the most inspiring locations is a very large textile factory [in Najaf] where 1,800 Iraqis have now returned to work, and the clothing made in that factory is being reviewed by Western retail outlets.”

As factories begin showing signs of success, other factories are being reestablished to provide similar opportunities for the Iraqi public.

“We are working to [restart] as many factories as we can to sell our products to the local and Western markets to guarantee salaries for everyone,” said Hariri.

While revitalizing the Iraqi economy is expected to provide business opportunities, it is also expected to bring Iraq up-to-date with current technology.

“We believe the development of the Iraqi industry in cooperation with international companies will fill the gap in technology from the past 30 years,” said Hariri.

As security improvements in Iraq make industrial opportunities possible, the economy is expected to improve the standard-of-living and return everyday life to normalcy.

(U.S. Army story by Spc. Carl N. Hudson, Combined Press Information Center)