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Wednesday, February 22, 2012. Chaso and violence continue, the Committee
to Protect Journalists releases a new report which ranks Iraq the third worst
country in the world for journalists, the oil in the ground in Iraq needs to be
extracted if Nouri's going to amass money, the US federal government sues Cindy
Sheehan and more.
Arab News Blog
provides this context for the 'progress' claims on Iraq, "One in six
Iraqis live in poverty. This is in a nation with the second
highest oil reserves in the world and a budget surplus of more than fifty
billion US dollars in 2011. According to Transparency
International, Iraq has one of the most corrupt
governments in the world. Some of the wealth stays inside the
country and is spread among the beneficiaries and clients of the new political
elite. Much of it, however, is transferred outside and translated into real
estate or other assets, or is often hard to trace. Not a year has passed without
plunder in Iraq."
And of course, 2012 is the current year and yet, as Aswat al-Iraq notes, the government of Iraq is
still at work on coming up with a 2012 budget. The 'good' news in 'free' Iraq
never ends, Al Mada
reports the judiciary and the Ministry of the Interior have charges
against and plans to arrest several members of Parliament. Nothing says
stability like being a dangerous place for reporting failure to come up with a
budget for a year already underway and arresting elected officials, right?
February 12th, Ben
Lando and Ali Abu Iraq (Iraq Oil Report) noted that Nouri
tried to stage a photo-op at the floating port with assistants handing out
flowers and flags right before the cameras started clicking. Let's hope it made
for some pretty pictures. Ahmed Rasheed
(Reuters) reports that the opening of the port has yet again been
delayed with "bad weather" being given as the reason with one unidentified
source stating, "Rough weather made it impossible for the crew to complete work
at the floating terminal. We had to halt work in the past days."
Meanwhile in the KRG, April Yee (The National
Newspaper) reports, "Kurdistan's welcoming of foreign partners has
raised tensions between the semi-autonomous region's seat of power in Erbil and
Baghdad. This month, the Iraqi oil ministry warned Total against signing any
agreements with Kurdistan and barred ExxonMobil from a forthcoming auction of
exploration licenses." A lot of Iraqi politicians made a lot of noise last week
but the Ministry of Oil was forced to clamp down on those threats. Monday, the
Kurdish Globe translates a
statement Mutasam Akram, Deputy Minister of Oil, issued which includes: According to the Iraqi constitution, the oil and all
the natural resources that exist in Iraq are national wealth that belongs to all
Iraqi people, living in all of the regions and provinces of Iraq. This wealth
should be used to increase the well-being and prosperity of all the people of
Iraq. Therefore, such agreements should be a joint effort between everyone in
Iraq and no individual group should single-handedly decide on how these
resources are used.In our view, these
statements, especially those that threaten renowned international investment
companies working in the Kurdistan Region, could lead to companies being
reluctant to work in all of Iraq, and they will portray a negative image to
investors across all sectors. This contradicts the general policies of economic
openness, the promotion of trade and attracting foreign direct investment in
order to provide better services to the people of Iraq, who have suffered for
decades from closed centralized economic policies that have led to widespread
poverty, destitution and deprivation.In addition, such
statements lead to increased disputes between the political parties and to the
accumulation of new problems at a time when we need to think and work together
in order to solve the problems that already exist--especially as we are building
up a new democracy, which is what all the political and national components of
Iraq want.Yes, all those threats didn't play well to
international corporations thinking about doing business in Iraq. In
addition, Hevidear
Ahmed (Rudaw) interviewed
Matasam Akram on this topic:
Rudaw: Signing some contracts between the Kurdistan
Region and ExxonMobil, an oil giant, has angered Baghdad and the capital has
asked the company to cancel its deals. Where does this issue stand at the
moment?
Mutasam Akram: Inside Iraq's Ministry of Oil, no actual
step has been taken against ExxonMobil and what we see is only in the media.
ExxonMobil is the biggest oil company in the world and, if they wanted to work
in some part of the world, they would think it over a hundred times before
making a decision. When they sign a contract, they know well what the results
will be. If ExxonMobil had known it would lose by signing a contract with the
Kurdistan Region, it would not have done it. The same goes for the French Total
that is also one of the biggest oil companies now in Kurdistan. Both companies
enjoy heavy economic and political weight in the world and they wouldn't have
come to Kurdistan had they known they would lose
Back in the days of the non-stop threats, ExxonMobil and Total both faced
threats of not being able to bid in the upcoming auction. Not much of a threat
since most of the oil industry saw the offerings and the proposed contracts as
"a dingo dog with fleas." Shwan Zulal
(Niqash) pointed out earlier this month:
The fact that attracting international oil companies into Iraq will
be an ongoing challenge is illustrated by the delay in the fourth round of
bidding for oil contracts. The bidding was to take place in January but has been
postponed until the end of May. The contract on offer is a sort of new, hybrid
version of contract. Some have noted that the contract is something of a
production sharing contract in disguise -- and the contract is disguised because
of the general Iraqi public's belief that a production sharing contract is
selling out their oil to foreign owners.
However for the oil companies themselves, if they are risking their
money and going looking for oil, they find it difficult to quantify risks. Even
if they did find oil, there's no guarantee that Iraq's infrastructure would be
ready to help them begin pumping the oil out -- especially given Baghdad's poor
past record for completing projects and building capacity.
In conclusion then, Iraq has had grand plans for its own oil
industry as well as ambitions for the power and influence that its oil could
give it upon the world stage. However procrastination and misguided thinking
about the oil industry's most chronic problems seem to have made these ambitions
impossible.
Ahmed Rasheed
(Reuters) notes the oft postponed "auction is now scheduled for May
30-31" and quotes the head of Petrocluem Contracts and Licensing Directorate
Sabah Abdul-Kadhim stating, "We have made major amendments to the initial
contract, and all of them are positive and serve interests of foreign firms."
They had to do something because there's been little industry interest and while
Iraq may be one of the top oil reserves in the world, with the violence and the
ongoing political crisis, a failed auction in May could do a great deal to
damage the country's international business standing across the board. Daniel J. Graeber (Oil
Price) notes that "Iraq gets in its own way" on the issue of oil and
reminds:
The political circus in Iraq, however, suggests not much gets done
in a country where oil can buy a lot of things, but does little to keep the
lights on for most Iraqis.
Iraq, after a stormy 2010 parliamentary election,
smashed the world record for the longest period between elections and the
forming of a new government. Not exactly an accomplishment for a country that
had democracy handed to them by the so-called standard bearer of participatory
government. Baghdad politics have since been held together by the tiniest of
threads, with various political factions storming out of the halls of government
at various times for various reasons. Though the fight hasn't yet taken to the
streets, the country's Shiite prime minister ordered his Sunni vice president
arrested on terrorism charges.
Al
Rafidayn notes the Supreme Judicial Council has decreed that
they will begin their trial of Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi in absentia on
May 3rd. Nouri al-Maliki has accused al-Hashemi of terrorism and issued an
arrest warrant for him. al-Hashemi is in the KRG and has maintained since
December that he cannot receive a fair trial in Baghdad -- an assertion that was
demonstrated to be true when a 9 member panel of judges held a press conference
last Thursday and declared al-Hashemi guilty of terrorism before a trial had
taken place and in violation of Article 19 of the Iraqi Constitution. Al Mada
reports on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
announcement yesterday that most of Iraq's internal refugees do not feel that
they can safely return to their homes. Aswat al-Iraq states UNHCR's Claire Bourgeois
will give a press briefing on this topic Sunday. During 2006 and 2007, ethnic
cleansing took place in Iraq. Whole neighborhoods were overturned. What was
mixed became Shi'ite or Sunni, what was Sunni became Shi'ite, etc. Many had to
flee their family homes to stay alive. Often they received a death threat prior
to uprooting themselves. Iraq birthed the largest refugee crisis in the region
since 1948. Over 4 million Iraqis became refugees -- either internal or
external. Internal refugees moved to other neighborhoods. Some internal
refugees moved close to their old ones. Some, like Christians who fled Iraq for
northern Iraq, moved futher from their homes. Regardless, the ration cards were
issued in certain neighborhoods and moving -- even a short distance away --
tended to result in Iraqis not being able to receive their rations (staples like
sugar, flour and milk). External refugees largely fled to the surrounding
countries. Some were able to go on to other host countries after but Jordan,
Syria and Lebanon housed a large number of the refugees and Jordan and Lebanon
continue to (Syria most likely does but the current conflict has dispersed some
Iraqis along with some Syrians). Though Christians made up a small percentage of
the Iraqi total population, they make up a significant amount of external
refugees.
Zaki is also a victim of the situation in post-war Iraq. His family
confirmed what Zaki had told Gulf News -- that it was not safe for him to go to
Baghdad.
"Even I have not gone back home during the past six years, being
afraid of abduction and other crimes," Zaki's son who is studying in a south
east Asian nation, told Gulf News over the phone yesterday.
Zaki's wife said the same from Baghdad but said she was ready to
come to the UAE to take care of Zaki if there is any way they get any support. A
prominent company which came forward to help Zaki following the Gulf News report
said it would look into the possibility of offering him a job.
From leaving Iraq to visiting, Al Sabaah
reports the Pope is planning a visit to the city of Ur
shortly.
Turning to the topic of violence, Reuters notes a
Baquba bombing targeting a police officer's home which injured his wife and
their child, a Mosul roadside bombing injured one person and 1 person was shot
dead in Mosul. Al Rafidayn
notes a death yesterday Reuters never did, Skvan Jamil Mohammed, a college
professor who was shot dead outside his Dohuk home. He was shot ten times by
assailants in a car and he died en route to the hospital. The paper notes he was
also active in the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KRG President Massoud Barzani's
party). Aswat al-Iraq
reports a police officer's Falluja home was bombed today and his wife and
their three children were left wounded.
The Committee to Protect Journalists issued a new report entitled " Attacks on the Press
in 2011." The report notes that, since 1991, 151 journalists have
been killed in Iraq and five are known to have been killed last
year:
September 8, 2011, in Baghdad, Iraq
June 21, 2011, in Diwaniyya, Iraq
March 29, 2011, in Tikrit, Iraq
March 29, 2011, in Tikrit, Iraq
February 24, 2011, in Ramadi, Iraq
The report ranks the top
three most dangerous places for journalists in 2011 as:
1) Pakistan
2)
Libya
3) Iraq
In what might be a bit of good news for Iraqi journalists, Mariwan F. Salihi (Gulf
News) reports that construction is ongoing on the first phase of the
Erbil Media City which will include "two high-rises, studios and other services
needed for broadcasting" while the later three phases will see businesses
(hotels, retail outlets, etc) come on board and when "the TV production and
studio buildings open by the end of 2014, a large TV network will be established
which will have separate news and entertainment channels broadcasting from Arbil
Media City."
Moving over to the topic of education, Aamer Madhani (USA
Today) reports that Iraqis officials are speaking with US counterparts
in DC to discuss programs for Iraqi students studying in the US. The US State Dept released the following
statement today from the US-Iraq Joint Coordinating Committee for Cultural and
Educational Cooperation:
The United States of America and the Republic of Iraq are committed
to expanding and strengthening education and cultural cooperation. Pursuant to
the 2008 Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA) between the United States and Iraq,
the Joint Coordinating Committee for Cultural and Educational Cooperation met
Monday, February 21, 2012 for the second time. The Committee last met in March
2011 in Baghdad. Since then, we have continued to expand our joint efforts in
the areas of higher education, primary and secondary education, cultural
heritage, and youth and sports initiatives.
This latest meeting of the JCC for Cultural and Educational
Cooperation, hosted at the U.S. Department of State, was co-chaired by Iraqi
Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Ali al-Adeeb and U.S.
Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Ann Stock. The
meeting of the JCC builds on efforts to strengthen the strategic partnership
between the United States and Iraq through academic and cultural exchanges and
shared efforts to preserve the unique archeological heritage of
Iraq.
Citing significant opportunities to send Iraqi students for
advanced studies in the United States, the two sides stressed the importance of
increased academic linkages and exchanges between the United States and Iraq as
a key element in building a strong, productive bilateral relationship. They also
reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening ties between the Iraqi and American
people through professional, educational and cultural exchanges and
dialogue.
The delegations noted with satisfaction that the people-to-people
ties between the U.S. and Iraq continue to grow stronger. Fulbright fellowships,
the International Visitor Leadership Program, the Iraqi Young Leaders' Exchange
Program and other initiatives bring hundreds of Iraqi scholars, students, youth
and professionals to the U.S. each year. Seven university linkages have been
finalized and are actively promoting academic collaboration. Opportunities to
learn English in Iraq are increasing, with the establishment of an Iraqi chapter
of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) in November 2011.
Vital work to preserve the ancient site of Babylon continues through a major
U.S. grant to the World Monuments Fund as well as support to education programs
at the Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage, and
bring a group of Iraqi graduate students to Washington, DC in the summer of
2012.
The U.S. side agreed to augment its student advising activities,
including through EducationUSA college fairs modeled on the one held in Erbil in
October 2011. These fairs support the Iraqi Government's goal of having at least
25 percent of the Iraqis studying abroad enroll in U.S. colleges and
universities.
The delegations stressed the importance of ongoing consultation and
information exchange at all levels, and pledged to reconvene the JCC again this
year to assess progress on its shared priorities.
My own first encounter with Iraqi art was five years ago, at the
opening of an experimental exhibition in The Hague. I was, from the moment I
arrived until the museum lights went dark, mesmerized, at once shaken and
enchanted by the poignancy, the tenderness, the anger, the poetry, the
melancholic dreams of these Iraqi visions: burned pages out of books from a
bombed-out library in Baghdad; videos of children repeating words of hatred and
of war; the remains of a car that had been blown up.
All of these reactions swept over me, too, the first time I saw the
works of Ayad Alkadhi, an Iraqi
artist now living in New York, whose first solo show runs through this week at
Leila Heller Gallery's
downtown (Chelsea) location.
I have known Ayad a while, and written of him
before. His eloquence stretches beyond his canvases and
his words into the very process of his toughts and understanding of the world in
which he has made his place -- an Iraqi having escaped a war, a man who has
spent his adult life in a culture far from the one to which he was born and
raised: first in New Zealand and now in the USA. And from that process, too, he
forms his paintings.
War. Wars. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The drumbeat for war in
Iran.
"There is a tsunami coming to the United States," says Rep. Walter
Jones, R-N.C., consisting of the trillions of dollars of debt and veterans'
health care obligations for wars we cannot win and a military machine we cannot
afford.
So Jones, no liberal and a lonely voice in the Republican Party
(with his favored presidential candidate, Ron Paul), asks one simple question of
Americans: "Where is the outrage?"
P. Solomon Banda
(AP) reports US Senator Mark Udall declared ahead of a national
security forum in Denver today that one of the biggest national security threats
the US faces is the national debt -- to which the Iraq War has contributed so
much. Brian Anderson (Digital Journal)
adds, "Unless I'm living in some kind of community that is freakishly
ignorant of these wars -- as an undergraduate surrounded by drunken fools, it is
a real possibility -- there exists an eerie apathy that falls beautifully in
line with Obama's coveted ' doctrine of silence.' I
hope to remind all of these numerous wars we're in, lest we forget they're on
our dollar, but, for now, we'll concentrate on Iraq and Afghanistan." Anderson
observes of Iraq:
Two
years later we saw no change from the neoconservatives' blueprint. Misleading
notifications on the
morning of August 19th, 2010 shouted that Operation Iraqi Freedom had ended and
that combat soldiers were finally leaving Baghdad. Many people assumed we were
finally leaving Iraq. The truth was that the Obama administration was still
keeping around 50,000 troops in the country, and, as usual, it didn't even count
government contractors. The Congressional Research
Service estimated to have almost 10,000 troops less than
that number anyway, so was difficult to imagine Obama keeping his newer promise
through a 90% reduction by the end of 2011. But he managed to pull off appealing
headlines in time for the up-coming election.
"The Iraq War is
Officially Over," announced the newspapers two months ago.
Obviously not the first time it 'ended,' individuals were correct to be
skeptical. The removal of troops from Iraq had nothing to do with the current
president fulfilling a promise to end the occupation; it was a result of a deal
cut by the Bush
administration. So, in a way, no progress had been made
at all since that deal three years ago. In fact, just the opposite had
been occurring. Glenn Greenwald explains that the Obama
administration had long lobbied to keep several thousand troops in the country,
but the Iraqi government rejected demands to provide American soldiers with
legal immunity and therefore a continued US presence became a non-option. A
non-official presence is another story.
Spencer Ackerman, senior
reporter for Wired, stated in a recent
interview that, in addition to 150-person training office
for Iraqi soldiers who will be operating American-made weapon systems, the State
Department "is going to leave behind the largest embassy that it has on the
planet. All told, there are going to be 18,000 people who work for this
embassy." There will be 3,500 to 5,500 armed private security contractors, too;
I assume they'll be busy escorting useless diplomats around the country, but
violence between Iraqis and Americans will be an inevitable consequence of an
occupation gone awry to hell and back. And, more likely than not, the US
military's acquisition of
biometric data on three million Iraqis will be utilized
throughout the next inevitable consequence: Iran swooping into a new
anti-American Iraq in order to affect political influence.
Cindy Sheehan is someone who doesn't
have the luxury of ignoring the costs of war, her son Casey died serving in
Iraq. Meghan Keneally (Daily
Mail) notes that since her son died in 2004, she has practiced tax
resistance "and now the Internal Revenue Service is suing her for the fnancial
records, which is the first step to claiming back taxes" and quotes Cindy
stating to Sacremento's Channel 10 News, "I feel like I gave my son to this
country in an illegal and immoral war and I'll never get him back. If they can
give me my son back then I'll pay my taxes and that's not going to happen." At her website, Cindy
notes she hasn't made her tax resistance a secret but was surprised to learn
from Channel 10 News -- and not the US government -- that the IRS has filed
against her in federal court:
I consider that my debt to this country was paid in full when my
son, Casey, was recklessly with no regard for his safety (remember the rush to
war with the "Army you have" which was not properly trained or equipped?)
murdered for the lies of a regime whose members (Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld,
Yoo, Wolfowitz, Perle, etc.) roam around the world free and unfettered by
threatening prosecutions or persecutions after committing war crimes, crimes
against humanity, crimes against the peace, and high crimes and misdemeanors
against our own Constitution.
After the interview with Cornell was over, he said to me, "you
appear so calm, most people would be freaking out if the US Attorney filed a
lawsuit against them." I replied, "Cornell, what are they going to do to me?
Kill another one of my children (god forbid)? I had the worst thing happen to me
that could happen to any mother and I am still standing."
Of the lawsuit, she notes, "I would say, 'Bring it on,' but I am not about
to quote the barely functioning killer [Bush] that murdered my son and so many
more and who is also being protected by the very same agency that is persecuting
me -- Obama's DOJ."
Blogger/Blogspot was acting up this morning. I said in an entry that I'd
note Wally and Cedric's joint-posts if they went up. They did and they
are:
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