Iraq Reconstruction News 11 January 2007

Iraq Reconstruction News
11 January 2007


1. Military justice code now covers some contractors. www.GovExec.com A little-noticed, last-minute change to a spending bill signed into law last year applies the military justice system to Defense contractors working in Iraq and Afghanistan -- and potentially, during national emergencies, to those working on U.S. soil. The change, which consists of just six words inserted into the Uniform Code of Military Justice, extends the military's strict rules of conduct to contractors not only during declared wars, but during so-called contingency operations. These include the current ones in the Middle East, as well as declared national emergencies in which the armed services are called upon, such as the response to last year's Hurricane Katrina. Under the military justice code, soldiers and now contractors can be disciplined not just for felony crimes like murder that exist in the general justice system, but for offenses such as talking back to an officer, viewing pornography in a country where it is forbidden or even wearing a uniform incorrectly, according to people familiar with the code. http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=35830&dcn=e_gvet

2. Bleeding Iraq's Rich Dry. Kidnappers Take All From Their Victims. Kirkuk's once wealthy Turkmen are being stripped of their savings by gangs of kidnappers. Here Omer from Kirkuk recounts two examples of the loss of that city's moneyed class. ttp://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/topic/58

3. Petroleum and Iraq's Future: Fiscal Options and Challenges. http://www.iticnet.org/publications/Iraq-book.pdf

4. Pentagon helping restart old Iraq government factories in jobs program. WASHINGTON. As President George W. Bush ponders how to salvage the Iraq military campaign, business minds at the Pentagon are moving ahead with a part of the equation — fighting Iraq's unemployment and trying to boost its economy. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/04/america/NA_GEN_US_Iraq_Economy.php

5. Travel chaos seen as sign of progress at Baghdad airport. USA TODAY. BAGHDAD — At the chaotic Baghdad International Airport, hundreds of passengers are jammed up at the only security checkpoint. Western contractors carrying green duffel bags and Iraqi families with carts of luggage shout at unfazed security guards. To Kifah Hussein Jabbar, director of Iraqi Airways, it's music to his ears. "We are making progress and achieving good results," says Jabbar, director of Iraq's national carrier. "In 2005, we were flying three or four flights a day and maximum 300 passengers a day. Today, we operate 10 to 12 flights per day and carry 1,500 passengers daily." http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-01-04-iraq-air-travel_x.htm

6. Kurdish football prospers in new Iraq. With a backdrop of the dusty red mountains that were once the hiding place of Kurdish guerrillas fighting for freedom, the players of Suleimaniya Sports Club train in preparation for the new season. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_football/6174667.stm

7. Jordan to facilitate commercial exchanges, border procedures for Iraqis. http://www.portaliraq.com/news/Jordan+to+facilitate+commercial+exchanges%2C+border+procedures+for+Iraqis__1112418.html

8. The Iraqi dinar and floating the dollar in the structure of the national economy. Thus the rolling Iraqi Monetary (nominal value) specified by the law has become a criterion for exchange transactions, withdrawal and the international circulation according to system Gold rule; although, it was related to the British pound before the revolution of July 14th, 1958, especially in terms of credit and foreign transfers, as it has a metal cover coupled with stability. After the liberation of Iraq from the ring of the (sterling Pound), the Iraqi dinar remained as a cash unit (with real value) standing on its own compared to international rates. http://www.edinarfinancial.net/news/?quer=&nm=&ny=&nn=474

9. Discussion on Iraq’s Economy with Rick Barton, CSIS, & Iraqi Citizen Interviews. http://switchboard.real.com/player/email.html?PV=6.0.12&&title=Discussion%20on%20Iraq%92s%20Economy%20with%20Rick%20Barton%2C%20CSIS%2C%20%26%20Iraqi%20Citizen%20Interviews&link=rtsp%3A%2F%2Fvideo.c%2Dspan.org%2Fproject%2Firaq%2Firaq010507%5Finterviews2.rm

10. Iraq Army to receive 16 helicopters and 4,000 armored vehicles. Azzaman, January 8, 2007. Iraq has signed contracts for the purchase of armored vehicles and other weapons with European and U.S. weapons companies, a statement by the Defense Ministry said. http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2007-01-08\kurd1.htm

11. Bush to Propose Restoring Iraqi Factories to Create Jobs. BAGHDAD, Jan. 9 — A new effort to revitalize Iraqi factories that make vegetable oil, fertilizer, road signs and sulfuric acid — among the world’s most outdated and decrepit — is expected to be at the center of the plan for the nation that President Bush will present Wednesday. Several Iraqi leaders were skeptical of the job plan. Mehdi Hafedh, a former planning minister, called the idea “ridiculous.” But even before the measures are announced, Iraqi political and business leaders have been expressing skepticism that any effort to transform a system of state-owned enterprises that has fallen so far into dysfunction could become an engine for job creation in Iraq. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/world/middleeast/10jobs.html?_r=1&n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fIraq&oref=slogin

12. U.S. Pares Reconstruction Effort in Iraq. WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration's new Iraq strategy calls for modest, relatively inexpensive efforts to spur job creation and economic growth, a marked shift from the large-scale reconstruction projects and free-market dogmatism of earlier White House efforts. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116839421506072166.html?mod=special_page_iraq_1

13. Analysis: Rebuilding Iraq's economy. World Peace Herald. When then-viceroy Paul Bremer took over the civilian administration of Iraq in 2003, he had an intricate plan to transform the state-owned socialist economy into a beacon of free enterprise in the heart of the Middle East. Central to his plan was the sale of some 200 state-owned enterprises to the highest bidder to bring in fresh capital, streamline operations and boost profits. That in turn would drive the rest of the economy. http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=2914

14. The Oil Sector - The Iraq Study Group Report. http://www.gulfoilandgas.com/webpro1/MAIN/Mainnews.asp?id=3900

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