Iraq Reconstruction News 12 January 2007

Iraq Reconstruction News
12 January 2007


1. Reconstruction Effort to Emphasize Iraqi Jobs. While the core of President Bush's "new strategy" for Iraq calls for the military to think big, the economic component is centered on making smaller, more incremental progress. In a speech last night, Bush said that "America will hold the Iraqi government to the benchmarks it has announced" and noted that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has pledged to devote $10 billion of his government's substantial unspent surplus to rebuilding and economic development. U.S. officials said the administration will seek an additional $1.2 billion on top of the $21 billion already sent to Iraq for reconstruction. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011002687.html

2. Rice Appoints Assistance Coordinator as Part of U.S. Iraq Plan. Number of civilian provincial reconstruction teams to expand. The Bush administration's military strategy in Iraq will be "fully supported and integrated" with civilian and diplomatic efforts, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, and she appointed retired Ambassador Timothy Carney to oversee U.S. reconstruction and development projects in the country. http://newsblaze.com/story/20070111140456tsop.nb/newsblaze/IRAQ0001/Iraq.html

3. Senators bemoan lack of Iraq oil law progress. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. senators on Thursday grilled U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice over a yet-unpublished Iraqi oil law that is expected to set terms for investment and revenue-sharing in the war-torn nation's battered hydrocarbon sector. Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on U.S. President George W. Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq, Rice tried to assure impatient U.S. lawmakers that Iraqi officials are making progress on the hydrocarbon law. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011101223.html

4. How to pay for Iraq jobs proposal? MARKETPLACE. The President is expected to propose a reconstruction package with more focus on employing Iraqis. John Dimsdale reports that there may not be enough in the budget. http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/01/10/PM200701101.html

5. Task Force helps revitalize Iraq's industries. WASHINGTON (American Forces Press Service, Jan. 5, 2007) - A team of 25 industrial leaders and business analysts is headed to Iraq today to join 35 others already there working to get almost 200 idle Iraqi factories up and running.
http://www.army.mil/-news/2007/01/08/1258-task-force-helps-revitalize-iraqs-industries/

6. Future of Iraq: The spoils of war. How the West will make a killing on Iraqi oil riches. 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.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2132569.ece

7. Iraqi Leaders Still Wrangling Over Hydrocarbon Law. (Dow Jones Newswires) Senior Iraqi officials are still wrangling over the country's oil and gas law that would set out the legal framework for the Baghdad government to sign production-sharing agreement contracts with foreign companies to develop its vast oil reserves, officials said. http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=39858

8. 27th Annual Oil & Money Conference. The End of Cheap Oil: Costs, Consequences & Opportunities. The world's most prestigious energy forum, Oil & Money, is a significant gathering of senior executives from every energy sector, and from every key country, in the international petroleum and natural gas industry for 27 years. Our objective with Oil & Money is to create an exclusive forum for top-level energy industry players to discuss market conditions and share insights about the most compelling issues in global energy markets. The conference presentations are available at http://www.energyintel.com/om/review.asp?Year=2006

9. Iraq Petroleum Stamps. http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/staff/scholle/graphics/stamps/postage/derrickstmps.html

10. The Iraq Water Project. The Iraq Water Project (IWP) is a project of Veterans for Peace, Inc. (VFP), a national veterans Peace & Justice organization based in St. Louis, Missouri. Our principal partner in IWP is Life for Relief & Development, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, and dedicated to alleviating human suffering in Iraq and many other parts of the world. http://www.iraqwaterproject.com/

11. Iraq Industries : Iraqi committee to study industry companies. http://www.portaliraq.com/news/Iraqi+committee+to+study+industry+companies__1112419.html?PHPSESSID=1bf84e9711bdd11995503103f0977c45

12. Iraq participate in the 21 session of the Ministers of Communications and Information Technology in Cairo. Iraqi National-WNA/ Cairo Office / Iraq have participated in the 21 session of the Council of Arab Ministers of Communications and Information today, Tuesday, at the headquarters of the League of Arab States in Cairo. http://www.wna-news.com/inanews/news.php?item.2594.15

13. Quick contracts for importing large quantities of wheat to meet the shortfall in Iraq. The Iraqi Ministry of Trade announced that it signed quick contracts to import large quantities of wheat to meet the shortfall suffered by Iraq in this commodity. http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=2923

14. An important meeting for the Iraqi company for bank guarantees in early 2007. The Iraqi company for bank guarantees will hold an extensive meeting involving heads of the boards of the private banks that fall under the umbrella of the company at the beginning of 2007 in the Jordanian capital, Amman. http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=2922

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