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

Saddam aides 'to die this week'

CONDEMNED MEN
Awad al-Bandar and Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti
Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti (right) - Saddam Hussein's half-brother, former head of the intelligence service
Awad al Bandar - former chief judge of Revolutionary Court

Profile: Barzan Ibrahim
Verdicts in detail
The Iraqi government has said that the executions of two senior associates of former leader Saddam Hussein, will take place some time during the week.

This is despite an appeal from the new UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, that they should not go ahead.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the execution orders for Barzan al-Tikriti and Awad al-Bandar had been signed, and there was no way back.

Saddam Hussein's execution has led to a chorus of international criticism.

Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Saddam Hussein's intelligence chief, and Awad al-Bandar, a former chief judge, were convicted along with Saddam Hussein for their part in the killing of 148 Shia Muslims in the Iraqi village of Dujail in the 1980s.

Mr Dabbagh said that while the government respected the UN's view, it also had to respect the victims of Saddam Hussein and his henchmen.

"Certainly, the execution orders have been signed and are ready to be implemented," he said.

"There are some technical preparations that need to take place in order to carry out the court's decision."

Saddam Hussein was hanged on 30 December amid chaotic scenes.


I think we can sum this up as a deplorable set of events... completely unacceptable
Gordon Brown,
UK Chancellor

UK condemns execution

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who had been criticised for saying nothing on the issue, has now joined the critics.

His officials now say the prime minister does believe the way Saddam Hussein was taunted and filmed before he was hanged was completely wrong.

Earlier, the man expected to succeed Mr Blair as prime minister, Chancellor Gordon Brown, described events at the execution as deplorable and completely unacceptable.

'Domestic affair'

Mr Ban has been criticised for failing to state the UN's policy of opposing the death penalty.

He said capital punishment "was for each and every member state to decide" - words that seemed at odds with the UN's policy of opposing the death penalty.

Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon has been criticised for not stating UN policy
But in a letter to the Iraqi representative at the UN, Mr Ban urged restraint in carrying out death sentences imposed by the Iraqi High Tribunal.

The UN said Mr Ban's letter "also refers to the secretary general's view that all members of the international community should pay due regard to all aspects of international humanitarian and human rights laws".

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has reacted angrily to the international outcry over the execution.

He said his government could review relations with any country that criticised the action.

Mr Maliki said the hanging was a "domestic affair" for the benefit of Iraq's unity, adding that the former president had received a fair trial.

International protest has continued, however. On Saturday Rome's mayor lit up the Colosseum to highlight Italy's support for a global ban on the death penalty.

Italy this week began a diplomatic push to have the issue taken up by the UN General Assembly.

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi called the execution a "political and historic error".

Several Sunni Arab countries have criticised the hanging as sectarian.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said it had turned the former leader into a martyr.

Took this from the Drudge Report this morning. I think this speaks volumes considering that it is coming from a major publication...

Independent Online Edition > Middle East

Future of Iraq: The spoils of war
How the West will make a killing on Iraqi oil riches
By Danny Fortson, Andrew Murray-Watson and Tim Webb
Published: 07 January 2007

Iraq's massive oil reserves, the third-largest in the world, are about to be thrown open for large-scale exploitation by Western oil companies under a controversial law which is expected to come before the Iraqi parliament within days.

The US government has been involved in drawing up the law, a draft of which has been seen by The Independent on Sunday. It would give big oil companies such as BP, Shell and Exxon 30-year contracts to extract Iraqi crude and allow the first large-scale operation of foreign oil interests in the country since the industry was nationalised in 1972.

The huge potential prizes for Western firms will give ammunition to critics who say the Iraq war was fought for oil. They point to statements such as one from Vice-President Dick Cheney, who said in 1999, while he was still chief executive of the oil services company Halliburton, that the world would need an additional 50 million barrels of oil a day by 2010. "So where is the oil going to come from?... The Middle East, with two-thirds of the world's oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies," he said.

Oil industry executives and analysts say the law, which would permit Western companies to pocket up to three-quarters of profits in the early years, is the only way to get Iraq's oil industry back on its feet after years of sanctions, war and loss of expertise. But it will operate through "production-sharing agreements" (or PSAs) which are highly unusual in the Middle East, where the oil industry in Saudi Arabia and Iran, the world's two largest producers, is state controlled.

Opponents say Iraq, where oil accounts for 95 per cent of the economy, is being forced to surrender an unacceptable degree of sovereignty.

Proposing the parliamentary motion for war in 2003, Tony Blair denied the "false claim" that "we want to seize" Iraq's oil revenues. He said the money should be put into a trust fund, run by the UN, for the Iraqis, but the idea came to nothing. The same year Colin Powell, then Secretary of State, said: "It cost a great deal of money to prosecute this war. But the oil of the Iraqi people belongs to the Iraqi people; it is their wealth, it will be used for their benefit. So we did not do it for oil."

Supporters say the provision allowing oil companies to take up to 75 per cent of the profits will last until they have recouped initial drilling costs. After that, they would collect about 20 per cent of all profits, according to industry sources in Iraq. But that is twice the industry average for such deals.

Greg Muttitt, a researcher for Platform, a human rights and environmental group which monitors the oil industry, said Iraq was being asked to pay an enormous price over the next 30 years for its present instability. "They would lose out massively," he said, "because they don't have the capacity at the moment to strike a good deal."

Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister, Barham Salih, who chairs the country's oil committee, is expected to unveil the legislation as early as today. "It is a redrawing of the whole Iraqi oil industry [to] a modern standard," said Khaled Salih, spokesman for the Kurdish Regional Government, a party to the negotiations. The Iraqi government hopes to have the law on the books by March.

Several major oil companies are said to have sent teams into the country in recent months to lobby for deals ahead of the law, though the big names are considered unlikely to invest until the violence in Iraq abates.

James Paul, executive director at the Global Policy Forum, the international government watchdog, said: "It is not an exaggeration to say that the overwhelming majority of the population would be opposed to this. To do it anyway, with minimal discussion within the [Iraqi] parliament is really just pouring more oil on the fire."

Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman and a former chief economist at Shell, said it was crucial that any deal would guarantee funds for rebuilding Iraq. "It is absolutely vital that the revenue from the oil industry goes into Iraqi development and is seen to do so," he said. "Although it does make sense to collaborate with foreign investors, it is very important the terms are seen to be fair.

Bush to offer $1bn in aid and 20,000 troops to Iraq
By Leonard Doyle, Foreign Editor
Published: 08 January 2007

Iraqi troops are mounting a concerted effort to restore peace to the streets of Baghdad as President George Bush prepares to unveil his new strategy for the country. But despite their efforts at least 14 people were killed yesterday in a series of bombings and shootings.

President Bush is widely expected to order as many as 20,000 new US combat troops to Baghdad in a renewed "push" against the insurgents. The troops will be based in Baghdad and Anbar province with a back-up force in Kuwait.

The US is also planning to pump up to $1bn (£500m) into Iraq's shattered economy to boost morale. The details of the plan - from painting schools to cleaning streets - have a ring of earlier failed initiatives launched with high hopes by the US military.

Mr Bush's high-risk strategy is being unveiled amid deep unease in Washington about the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki.

The guards who taunted and abused Saddam Hussein at his execution have been linked to Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shia militia leader and a supporter of Mr Maliki. "If that's an indication of how Maliki is operating these days, we've got a deeper problem with the bigger effort," a senior US official told The New York Times.

The plan also puts Mr Bush on a collision course with the leaders of the new Democratic Congress. The leadership told him by letter on Friday that the US needs to move instead to a phased withdrawal of American troops, to begin in the next four months.

Mr Bush is expected to address the country on Wednesday and to describe the plan as a joint effort by the US and Iraq to reclaim the control of Baghdad. The "push" in Baghdad is extremely unpopular domestically for the President and is scheduled to last for no more than a year.

US politicians discussed the options on the Sunday morning talk shows, as a barrage of mortars killed four civilians and wounded five others in central Baghdad.

Gunmen also raced through a market, spraying bullets into food and clothing stalls and killing three Sunni Muslim shopkeepers. Another drive-by shooting targeted four guards at the Iraqi Finance Ministry, killing one of them.

According to well-sourced leaks, Mr Maliki has formally agreed to send three more Iraqi brigades to Baghdad to match the American troop increase of five combat brigades. Two-thirds of the new Iraqi force for Baghdad is to consist of battle-hardened Kurdish peshmerga units from northern Iraq.

Mr Bush is facing deep scepticism about whether the new plan has any chance of success however. Great store is being put in to an expected doubling of the State Department's reconstruction efforts in Iraq and the new strategy will see the administration emphasise reconstruction as much as fighting.

The Democrats find themselves with the power to stop Mr Bush's plan in its tracks by refusing to fund it.

Mr Bush's forthcoming speech is expected to focus on Iraqi efforts to defeat the insurgents and the Shia militias which are behind much of the sectarian killing.

Much trumpeted reconstruction efforts in Iraq have become mired in corruption or have failed to materialise in the face of the growing insurgency. There is no evidence that a rebuilding programme will shift the Iraqi population's deeply hostile attitude to the US military.

Originally Posted by stargate-sg13

You may be getting email set up to auto-respond. Try sending another email and see what ya get.

JK

Nope. Mine was definitely not auto-respond. It was a direct answer to a direct question I had. Thanks for asking though. They are there and working (late) as far as I can make out.

Originally Posted by MrsCK

???EXTENSION WAS PENDING COMPLETION OF PRINTING COUPONS FOR 2007??? YEAH RIGHT!!! THEY ARE SOOOOO FULL OF COW PATTY ON THAT ONE!!. I FEEL THEY HAVE POSTPONED IT SO THAT COUPON WILL BE WORTH MORE THEN IT WOULD RIGHT NOW IF THEY HANDED IT OUT!!!!!!!!!! THERE ONCE AGAIN IS THAT DATE JAN. 15TH!!
HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

if the coupon is good for 50 gallons of kerosene, how could that be worth more than 50 gallons of karosene after an RV?

Sorry we lost so many morning posts as there was alot of excitement.. my favorite was following the CBI site posting today then changing it back to Thursday 2006/ 12/28.. it was halarious... I did copy the on going converstion as it was unfolding... any of you who were part of that and want a copy for your memoirs .. you can pm me.. to me it was priceless!! ez :)

Originally Posted by michaeljordan

if the coupon is good for 50 gallons of kerosene, how could that be worth more than 50 gallons of karosene after an RV?

The "cost" of those 50 gallons would be different after an RV I believe. Some correct me if I wrong here but the government provides those coupons per the 2007 budget and we have already figured out the the budget is set at RV price - correct?

Originally Posted by MrsCK

The "cost" of those 50 gallons would be different after an RV I believe. Some correct me if I wrong here but the government provides those coupons per the 2007 budget and we have already figured out the the budget is set at RV price - correct?

No offense, but I think you are "ALL WET". No matter what the budget is, we are still talking dinars. Keep in mind that it is the "EXCHANGE RATE" we are all wanting to be different than it is today. So, my point is this...if the budget is X dinars, it will be X dinars after an RV and before. It is just that after an RV, goods in Iraq will be a different price, like instead of 1325 dinar, it will be maybe 1 dinar. Therefore, if 50 gallons of karosene costs 66250 dinar before RV, then it might be 50 dinars after. So I guess it all depends on how the coupon is worded. "GOOD FOR 50 gallons of karosene" or "GOOD FOR 66250 dinar worth of kerosene". Big difference!

لبحث ملفات التضخم والديون والاستثمار الاجنبي بغداد/العدالة..To examine the files of inflation, debt and foreign investment Baghdad / justice.
التقى نائب رئيس الجمهورية الدكتور عادل عبد المهدي محافظ البنك المركزي الدكتور سنان الشبيبيHe met with Vice-President Dr. Adel Abdel Mahdi, Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Sinan Shabibi

وتم خلال اللقاء مناقشة العديد من الملفات من اهمها التضخم الحاصل في الاقتصاد العراقي . وملف الديون وقانون الاستثمار الاجنبي الذي سيعرض على مجلس النواب للمصادقة عليه وأكد السيد المحافظ ان اسباب التضخم لاتتعلق بالظاهرة النقدية أساسآ بل بالوضع المالي عمومآ حيث انه هناك ضغط بأنفاق يتعلق بالجانب الامني والجانب الخدمي مع قلة في عرض السلع لذلك ينتج عنه تضخم . فالمطلوب التنسيق بين السياسة المالية والسياسة النقدية . (وعن قانون الاستثمار(نحن نتوقع له فوائد كثيرة أيجابية بالاضافة الى انه احد التدفقات الاساسية للاقتصاد .والاستثمار ليس تدفقا ماليا للبلد بل اداريا وتكنلوجيا بالاضافة يكون مكملا للاستثمار المحلي من اجل زيادة الناتج المحلي .وعن امكانية رفع قيمة الدينار العراقي ... ان ارتفاع قيمة الدينار ترتفع من خلال الاعتماد على ان البلد يستطيع ان يوفر كمية من العملة الاجنبية عن طريق زيادة الصادرات وحجم الصادرات وتقليل الديون بالنتيجة الآقتصاد هو الذي يرفع قيمة الدينار.During the meeting, discussion of many of the files of the most important inflation in the Iraqi economy. File debt and foreign investment law which will be presented to the parliament for approval and the governor stressed that the causes of inflation for اتتعلق phenomenon cash basis, but the financial situation in general terms that there is pressure to spend the security aspect and the service with little in the supply of goods to result in inflation. What is needed is coordination between fiscal policy and monetary policy. (And the Investment Law (We expect him many positive benefits in addition to that one base flows of the economy. The investment flow is not financially, but the country's administrative and Tknlujia addition complement domestic investment in order to increase GDP. As for the possibility of raising the value of the Iraqi dinar. The rise in the value of the dinar will rise by relying on the country could provide a quantity of foreign currency through increased exports, the volume of exports and reduce debt outcome is the economy, which raises the value of the dinar.

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