Iraq Reconstruction News
29 March 2007
1. Operation Iraqi Freedom: Preliminary Observations on Iraqi Security Forces' Logistics and Command and Control Capabilities. GAO-07-503R, March 28.http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-503R
2. DoD New Briefing On Reconstruction In Iraq With Brigadier General Michael Walsh And Deputy Mayor Ibrahim Mustafa Hussain In The Pentagon Briefing Studio, Arlington, Virginia http://www.defenselink.mil:80/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=3919
3. In Iraq, an Army Officer Battles to Open a Bank -- WSJ -- BAGHDAD, Iraq -- For Lt. Col. Dale Kuehl, one of the keys to bringing some semblance of order to the restive area that his troops patrol has been a small, squat bank branch. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117513386782152797.html?mod=special_page_iraq_1
4. Iraq needs money to spend money, official says -- Reuters -- WASHINGTON — Iraq's government has left about $12.5 billion in rebuilding funds from its 2006 budget unspent because it lacks the tools and expertise to allocate the money, the State Department's Iraq coordinator, David Satterfield, said Tuesday. Satterfield argued that a recent request to Congress for an additional $4 billion in U.S. funding would help address the problem. http://www.latimes.com:80/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-spend28mar28,1,1558266.story?coll=la-headlines-world
5. Satterfield: Iraq oil law will pass -- (UPI) -- The Bush administration remains optimistic Iraq will approve a law governing its oil and natural gas despite growing opposition. Ambassador David Satterfield, senior adviser to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the State Department's Iraq coordinator, said a deal reached last month on the framework for the draft hydrocarbons law meets two of three points necessary for the military "surge" to be successful. http://www.upi.com/Energy/satterfield_iraq_oil_law_will_pass/20070328-095649-4969r/
6. Pentagon Supply Needs Help Revitalize Iraqi Economy -- AP -- WASHINGTON — In an Iraq jobs program, the Pentagon has helped reopen three factories shuttered after the 2003 invasion, seeding the ground by buying uniforms and armored vehicles from two of them. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,262108,00.html
7. Analysis: Unions could sway Iraq oil law -- WASHINGTON, March 28 (UPI) -- Iraqi parliamentarians are set to debate a law governing oil and natural gas resources, though backroom negotiations on the measure haven't concluded yet. Both the deliberation and the deal may be futile, however, if Iraq's oil unions don't give their consent. And the blessing of the more than 26,000-strong workers is far from guaranteed. http://www.upi.com/Energy/view.php?StoryID=20070328-011829-3353r
8. Analysis: Iraq oil union has storied past -- WASHINGTON, March 29 (UPI) -- Hassan Jumaa Awad wants Iraq's oil to stay under state control, and the unionists, who have long worked the rigs, to be supported in developing the national resource. But this is no request from the president of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions. It's a demand. http://www.upi.com/Energy/
9. Infrastructure Rebuild Costs Seen Over $100 Bln-General -- LONDON (Dow Jones)--The costs of rebuilding existing power plants and water treatment facilities in Iraq and constructing new infrastructure is expected to exceed $100 billion, the top U.S. official leading the reconstruction efforts in Iraq said Wednesday. Higher costs of labor and inputs such as raw materials like steel and cement are driving the around 40% rise in the figure since 2003, Brig. Gen. Michael J. Walsh of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said in an interview by telephone from Baghdad. http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidDN20070321010136/SecMain/pagHomepage
10. Foreign firms want to develop Missan oil fields, official -- March 28, 2007 -- The authorities in the southern province of Missan say they have received several requests from foreign firms to develop the province’s gigantic oil fields. The officials refused to name the firms but said the relative stability which the province currently enjoys was luring both foreign and Iraq entrepreneurs to invest. http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2007-03-28\kurd.htm
11. Fuel shortages cripple Mosul -- Azzaman -- Fuel shortages have almost brought life to a standstill in the northern city of Mosul. The severe crisis started with the suspension of fuel imports from Syria since March 22. We now receive less than 10% of the province’s fuel needs,” said the commission in charge of fuel distribution in northern Iraq in a statement. http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2007-03-26\kurd1.htm
12. FIGHTING CORRUPTION IN IRAQ - AN UPHILL BATTLE -- MSNBC -- A few months ago, the watchdog group Transparency International published its yearly Corruption Perceptions Index. Out of 163 countries surveyed in 2006, only two, Myanmar and Haiti, were found to be more corrupt than Iraq. This country was described as "one of the greatest corruption nightmares on the planet." "That has to change" was the message delivered earlier this week by Boots Poliquin, the American director of the Office of Accountability and Transparency (OAT) in Baghdad. "We want to try and develop [a] sense of accountability and transparency within the system of Iraq." http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/03/09/85910.aspx
13. Kurdistan adopts Dubai plan to boost development -- Gulf News -- A visiting Kurdish official from Iraq yesterday said the regional government of his province decided to follow Dubai's development model after evaluating a variety of plans from around the world. Othman I. Shwani, Minister of Planning in the Kurdistan Regional Government, told Gulf News that Dubai's plan was found to be the most appropriate for Kurdistan and his government will go ahead with it. "We need to modify the Dubai Strategic Plan to suit Kurdistan's requirements before putting it into force. We are convinced that the plan being adopted by the Dubai Government fits our ambitions and objectives compared to plans proposed to us from Europe or from Asia," he said. http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidGN_17032007_10111684/SecMain/pagHomepage
14. Iraq to control more of its foreign aid -- The fund representing foreign donors to Iraq will now include an Iraqi co-chairman who will help decide how to allocate aid money, an additional step towards getting Iraqis to assert more control over their own country's development, the outgoing fund chairman said Tuesday. http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3455
15. Christians, targeted and suffering, flee Iraq-- BAGHDAD — In between messages of love and faith, Mushtaq Zanbaqa, priest of the Holy Virgin Chaldean Catholic Church in east Baghdad, has a weekly plea for his Christian flock: Don't leave. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-03-22-christians-iraq_N.htm
END
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Iraq Reconstruction News 28 March 2007
Iraq Reconstruction News
28 March 2007
1. Brookings Iraq Index 26 March 2007 http://www3.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf
2. Amid security risks, China may lead way for Iraqi oil -- AP -- DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — China has sat out the Iraq war, but it could be the first to take advantage when the Iraqi government finishes a law opening up its oil fields to international companies. The Iraqi oil legislation, expected to be approved by July, will open the door for the government to sign contracts for exploration and production of the country's vast untapped reserves, a top U.S. priority. But since few Western companies are prepared to send equipment or crews into the war zone, it could take five years or more before they begin extracting big shipments of Iraqi crude. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4661852.html
3. Analysis: Unions could sway Iraq oil law -- WASHINGTON, March 28 (UPI) -- Iraqi parliamentarians are set to debate a law governing oil and natural gas resources, though backroom negotiations on the measure haven't concluded yet. Both the deliberation and the deal may be futile, however, if Iraq's oil unions don't give their consent.
And the blessing of the more than 26,000-strong workers is far from guaranteed. http://www.upi.com/Energy/analysis_unions_could_sway_iraq_oil_law/20070328-011829-3353r/
4. Iraq hopes to eliminate electricity shutoffs in 2010 -- Iraqi Minister of Electricity said that his country intends to put an end to electricity shortages by mid-2010, and talks are under way with investors, hoping to complete planned annual investments at the value of $ 2 billion. Electricity sector in Iraq needs to be rebuilt after years of war, sanctions and sabotage; electricity shuts off daily and only few areas in Baghdad gets a few hours of electricity a day. http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3488
5. Some Democrats Oppose Forcing Iraq To Accept Foreign Investment in Oil -- The wartime spending measure passed by the House last week and a related bill being taken up in the Senate put pressure on the Iraqi government to open its oil resources to foreign investment -- just what critics contend was the real purpose of the U.S. invasion. The spending bill ties continued support for the war in Iraq to specific benchmarks that the Iraqi government must meet by certain dates. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0307/3318.html
6. Iraq to supply Jordan with oil at preferential prices: Minister -- The Iraqi government has taken the necessary security precautions for supplying Jordan with crude oil at "preferential prices" in accordance with an agreement reached earlier between the two countries, a senior Iraqi official was quoted Tuesday as saying in Jordan. http://jurnalo.com/jurnalo/storyPage.do?story_id=25797
7. Iraq's Illiquid Assets -- Why is the Bush administration asking Congress for $4 billion in emergency economic assistance for Iraq? Simple. Because Baghdad doesn’t know how to spend its own money, according to a Bush administration official. http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2007/03/27/iraqs-illiquid-assets/
8. The New Iraqi Oil Law -- MEES -- Iraq today is an occupied country in a state of chaos with sectarian violence rife, hundreds of people killed and maimed daily, police and security forces infiltrated by militias and warlords’ henchmen. The infrastructure of society is destroyed; hospitals lack equipment and medicines and, indeed, doctors, as so many have fled from the everyday brutality that is Iraqi life today. In order to gain the participation of all groups in the political process it was agreed that the constitution should be amended. This has still not been done. Petrol in an oil rich country is in short supply. And in this maelstrom of unrest and violence the Iraqi government has passed a draft oil law which many Iraqis, experts in economics and the petroleum industry, look on with horror, considering it to be passing over the wealth of Iraq to foreign companies, and thus its ability for present and future generations to rebuild the country. Is it right that in such an atmosphere a law is being enacted which will affect the future livelihood of the Iraqi people for generations to come? http://www.mees.com/postedarticles/oped/v50n13-5OD01.htm
9. Sharing petroleum resources only path to Iraqi unity and stability -- London, UK (KRG.org) – At a seminar in London on Thursday, experts on Iraq and the oil industry discussed Iraq’s draft federal oil and revenue sharing laws. One of the speakers, Dr Ashti Hawrami, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) natural resources minister, said, “sharing Iraq’s oil and gas revenues fairly and transparently is the only path to a united and stable Iraq”. http://www.krg.org/articles/article_detail.asp?ArticleNr=16912&LangNr=12&LNNr=28&RNNr=70
10. Iraq to build two refineries in the north -- BAGHDAD, March 26 (UPI) -- Two 10,000-barrel-per-day refineries will be built in northern Iraq in an attempt to ease bottlenecks and address the fuel shortage. The Iraqi newspaper Azzaman reports the Iraq Oil Ministry signed contracts with state and private Iraq firms to build the refineries. The projects, worth $60 million, will be located in Irbil and Sulaimaniya. http://www.upi.com/Energy/iraq_to_build_two_refineries_in_the_north/20070326-104158-2282r/
11. Dems want GAO in Iraq to monitor funds -- Twenty-two Democratic senators yesterday petitioned the State Department to allow Government Accountability Office (GAO) employees to spend several months in Iraq analyzing how reconstruction funds are being used. “GAO’s longer-term presence in Baghdad is essential to providing Congress with direct and continuing oversight over U.S. programs and activities,” the senators wrote to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/dems-want-gao-in-iraq-to-monitor-funds-2007-03-12.html
12. Saudi company to establish electricity station http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php/article/15701
13. Kuwaiti diplomat underscores committment to Iraq's re-construction process -- ISTANBUL -- (KUNA) -- Kuwait's Ambassador to Turkey Abdullah Thuwaikh on Tuesday underscored the significance of the 5th Iraq International Conference of Donor Countries which is currently held here. Thuwaikh, who leads Kuwait's delegation to the conference, told KUNA that Kuwait was always keen on participating in such events, noting that Kuwait has presented a USD 1.5 billion of cash in support of Iraq and that there is USD 500 million more for the reconstruction of Iraq to be executed in cooperation with the Iraqi government. http://www.kuna.net.kw:80/home/story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=963552
14. Marking Up The Reconstruction: Part 1 -- One day, not so long ago, the US State Department handpicked Texas-based DynCorp for an $800-million contract to train over 100,000 Iraqi police officers, a top-priority project of the Bush administration’s effort to stabilize the war-torn country and strengthen the fragile civilian government there. But State Department wanted a contractor with strong ties in Iraq, so DynCorp obligingly teamed up in 2004 with a company known as Corporate Bank Financial Service, a Washington-based business better known as The Sandi Group. http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2054/Marking_Up_The_Reconstruction_Part_1
15. Tax on materials for domestic industry slashed -- Azzaman -- The Tax Department has slashed the tax on materials for the domestic industry by 50%. The department’s head Saib Abdulsattar said the reduction covers raw materials whether produced locally or imported from abroad. He said it includes all kinds of materials for the country’s industry. http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2007-03-16\kurd1.htm
END
28 March 2007
1. Brookings Iraq Index 26 March 2007 http://www3.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf
2. Amid security risks, China may lead way for Iraqi oil -- AP -- DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — China has sat out the Iraq war, but it could be the first to take advantage when the Iraqi government finishes a law opening up its oil fields to international companies. The Iraqi oil legislation, expected to be approved by July, will open the door for the government to sign contracts for exploration and production of the country's vast untapped reserves, a top U.S. priority. But since few Western companies are prepared to send equipment or crews into the war zone, it could take five years or more before they begin extracting big shipments of Iraqi crude. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4661852.html
3. Analysis: Unions could sway Iraq oil law -- WASHINGTON, March 28 (UPI) -- Iraqi parliamentarians are set to debate a law governing oil and natural gas resources, though backroom negotiations on the measure haven't concluded yet. Both the deliberation and the deal may be futile, however, if Iraq's oil unions don't give their consent.
And the blessing of the more than 26,000-strong workers is far from guaranteed. http://www.upi.com/Energy/analysis_unions_could_sway_iraq_oil_law/20070328-011829-3353r/
4. Iraq hopes to eliminate electricity shutoffs in 2010 -- Iraqi Minister of Electricity said that his country intends to put an end to electricity shortages by mid-2010, and talks are under way with investors, hoping to complete planned annual investments at the value of $ 2 billion. Electricity sector in Iraq needs to be rebuilt after years of war, sanctions and sabotage; electricity shuts off daily and only few areas in Baghdad gets a few hours of electricity a day. http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3488
5. Some Democrats Oppose Forcing Iraq To Accept Foreign Investment in Oil -- The wartime spending measure passed by the House last week and a related bill being taken up in the Senate put pressure on the Iraqi government to open its oil resources to foreign investment -- just what critics contend was the real purpose of the U.S. invasion. The spending bill ties continued support for the war in Iraq to specific benchmarks that the Iraqi government must meet by certain dates. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0307/3318.html
6. Iraq to supply Jordan with oil at preferential prices: Minister -- The Iraqi government has taken the necessary security precautions for supplying Jordan with crude oil at "preferential prices" in accordance with an agreement reached earlier between the two countries, a senior Iraqi official was quoted Tuesday as saying in Jordan. http://jurnalo.com/jurnalo/storyPage.do?story_id=25797
7. Iraq's Illiquid Assets -- Why is the Bush administration asking Congress for $4 billion in emergency economic assistance for Iraq? Simple. Because Baghdad doesn’t know how to spend its own money, according to a Bush administration official. http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2007/03/27/iraqs-illiquid-assets/
8. The New Iraqi Oil Law -- MEES -- Iraq today is an occupied country in a state of chaos with sectarian violence rife, hundreds of people killed and maimed daily, police and security forces infiltrated by militias and warlords’ henchmen. The infrastructure of society is destroyed; hospitals lack equipment and medicines and, indeed, doctors, as so many have fled from the everyday brutality that is Iraqi life today. In order to gain the participation of all groups in the political process it was agreed that the constitution should be amended. This has still not been done. Petrol in an oil rich country is in short supply. And in this maelstrom of unrest and violence the Iraqi government has passed a draft oil law which many Iraqis, experts in economics and the petroleum industry, look on with horror, considering it to be passing over the wealth of Iraq to foreign companies, and thus its ability for present and future generations to rebuild the country. Is it right that in such an atmosphere a law is being enacted which will affect the future livelihood of the Iraqi people for generations to come? http://www.mees.com/postedarticles/oped/v50n13-5OD01.htm
9. Sharing petroleum resources only path to Iraqi unity and stability -- London, UK (KRG.org) – At a seminar in London on Thursday, experts on Iraq and the oil industry discussed Iraq’s draft federal oil and revenue sharing laws. One of the speakers, Dr Ashti Hawrami, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) natural resources minister, said, “sharing Iraq’s oil and gas revenues fairly and transparently is the only path to a united and stable Iraq”. http://www.krg.org/articles/article_detail.asp?ArticleNr=16912&LangNr=12&LNNr=28&RNNr=70
10. Iraq to build two refineries in the north -- BAGHDAD, March 26 (UPI) -- Two 10,000-barrel-per-day refineries will be built in northern Iraq in an attempt to ease bottlenecks and address the fuel shortage. The Iraqi newspaper Azzaman reports the Iraq Oil Ministry signed contracts with state and private Iraq firms to build the refineries. The projects, worth $60 million, will be located in Irbil and Sulaimaniya. http://www.upi.com/Energy/iraq_to_build_two_refineries_in_the_north/20070326-104158-2282r/
11. Dems want GAO in Iraq to monitor funds -- Twenty-two Democratic senators yesterday petitioned the State Department to allow Government Accountability Office (GAO) employees to spend several months in Iraq analyzing how reconstruction funds are being used. “GAO’s longer-term presence in Baghdad is essential to providing Congress with direct and continuing oversight over U.S. programs and activities,” the senators wrote to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/dems-want-gao-in-iraq-to-monitor-funds-2007-03-12.html
12. Saudi company to establish electricity station http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php/article/15701
13. Kuwaiti diplomat underscores committment to Iraq's re-construction process -- ISTANBUL -- (KUNA) -- Kuwait's Ambassador to Turkey Abdullah Thuwaikh on Tuesday underscored the significance of the 5th Iraq International Conference of Donor Countries which is currently held here. Thuwaikh, who leads Kuwait's delegation to the conference, told KUNA that Kuwait was always keen on participating in such events, noting that Kuwait has presented a USD 1.5 billion of cash in support of Iraq and that there is USD 500 million more for the reconstruction of Iraq to be executed in cooperation with the Iraqi government. http://www.kuna.net.kw:80/home/story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=963552
14. Marking Up The Reconstruction: Part 1 -- One day, not so long ago, the US State Department handpicked Texas-based DynCorp for an $800-million contract to train over 100,000 Iraqi police officers, a top-priority project of the Bush administration’s effort to stabilize the war-torn country and strengthen the fragile civilian government there. But State Department wanted a contractor with strong ties in Iraq, so DynCorp obligingly teamed up in 2004 with a company known as Corporate Bank Financial Service, a Washington-based business better known as The Sandi Group. http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2054/Marking_Up_The_Reconstruction_Part_1
15. Tax on materials for domestic industry slashed -- Azzaman -- The Tax Department has slashed the tax on materials for the domestic industry by 50%. The department’s head Saib Abdulsattar said the reduction covers raw materials whether produced locally or imported from abroad. He said it includes all kinds of materials for the country’s industry. http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2007-03-16\kurd1.htm
END
Iraq Reconstruction News 26 March 2007
Iraq Reconstruction News
26 March 2007
1. GRD Iraq Reconstruction Weekly Update 03/20/07 https://www.rebuilding-iraq.net/pls/portal/url/ITEM/07251F2EFBCA801DE040A8C00B0741F5
2. Protecting Iraq's oil supply - The Guardian - The frigate HMS Cornwall is on patrol as the lead ship of Combined Task Force 158, whose UN-backed mission is to protect Iraq's oil platforms and exports against pirates, smugglers, and terrorists. The platforms are critical to the economic and political reconstruction of Iraq, the Ministry of Defence said yesterday. They pump out oil that accounts for 90% of the country's GDP. An attack in 2004 led to a two-day shutdown costing up to $28m (£14.2m), the MoD said. The knock-on effect was a spike on the world oil market, causing a further loss of some $6bn. http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,2041694,00.html
3. Kurdish leader demands control of Iraq oil hub -- ARBIL, Iraq (AFP) - The prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan raised fresh calls on Thursday for a referendum to decide the future of the country's crucial oil hub of Kirkuk, warning that Kurdish patience had limits. "Our people are committed to Iraq, but their patience is not unlimited. We as leaders are finding it difficult to convince our people as to why our demands are not being met," Nichirvan Barzani told dignitaries in Arbil.
http://fe19.news.re3.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070322/wl_mideast_afp/iraquskurdsoil_070322153131
4. What's happened to Iraq's oil? - BBC World Service - Iraq's descent into violence, coupled with paralysis and corruption in government, has stymied efforts to rebuild the infrastructure of roads, schools, hospitals and industry. In many cases, there is little to show for the billions of dollars spent on reconstruction since the American-led invasion in 2003. The oil sector is a good example of what has gone wrong. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6461581.stm
5. Japan Courts Iraq for Strategic Partnership to Secure Energy Supply - Kyodo News - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and visiting Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi agreed Friday on the importance of developing a "long-term strategic partnership" between the two countries and expressed hopes to strengthen economic as well as political relations, Abe's spokesman Hiroshige Seko said. http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=42954
6. Iraqi, Coalition Forces Partner to Protect Iraq's Economic Future: Oil -- KIRKUK -- Iraq’s economic future depends on producing, refining and selling its most valuable natural resource, oil. As such, Iraq’s most valuable human resource is arguably the Soldiers who protect that oil. The Iraqi Army’s 1st Strategic Infrastructure Brigade ensures that both crude and refined oil flows through critical pipeline infrastructure in the northern Kirkuk Province of Iraq, and military transition team Soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division’s 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment are charged with training those Iraqi Soldiers. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1790996/posts
7. U.S. narrows financial focus to aid Iraqi small businesses. Barbers, grocers, others apply for grants to expand --USA TODAY -- BAGHDAD — Mohamed Raheem saw fliers posted all over his neighborhood offering money to Iraqis who wanted to expand their small businesses. He called a phone number listed on the flier and set up an appointment with the Iraqi-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "I explained to them that I have a shop and I want to expand my work," said Raheem, 44, who owns a small grocery store in the Kadhamiya district of Baghdad. He applied for a $10,000 grant. As U.S. military and civilian officials try to help Iraq's economy rebuild, they are placing a new emphasis on small businesses like Raheem's. Through grants and loans — often for a few hundred dollars each — they're trying to stimulate job growth and eventually improve Iraq's security. http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070306/a_iraqeconomy06.art.htm
8. Iraq's Jobs-for-Peace Mirage -- As the wisdom of President Bush's proposed “surge” of US troops is debated across the US and around the world, another question about the US President's new policy to avert all-out civil war there is coming to the fore. Can using US funding to reopen Iraqi state-owned enterprises get young men to abandon the insurgency and sectarian militias? The idea sounds logical: a man with a good job that enables him to build a decent life won't want to fight Americans or his fellow Iraqis, right? http://www.rand.org/commentary/021107PS.html
9. Iraqi roads get facelift -- TIKRIT — As the decision making for construction projects fall more to the local and regional governments throughout Iraq, Provincial Reconstruction Development Committees are stepping up to the challenge. Eleven concrete road paving projects - at a cost of $3 million - were recently awarded in the Ninewa Province to 10 municipalities. These 11 projects were recommended by the local PRDC. http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10206&Itemid=128
10. Stabilizing Iraq: Factors Impeding the Development of Capable Iraqi Security Forces, by Joseph A. Christoff, director, international affairs and trade, before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, House Committee on Armed Services. GAO-07-612T, March 13.http://www2.blogger.com/ Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d07612thigh.pdf
11. Nasiriyah Drainage Pump Station turned over to Iraqi Govenrment http://www.grd.usace.army.mil/news/releases/NR07-03-05-2.pdf
12. Iraqi Women Strive To Rebuild Country Despite Obstacles - Washington – Iraqi women have made great progress in recent years, but still face obstacles while working to achieve full equality, two Iraqi women activists said March 7. Wide participation of women in the political process is something new for Iraqi society, said Sundus Abbas, executive director of the Women’s Leadership Institute in Baghdad. Iraq. "For more than 35 years Iraqi women were absent from the decision making process,” she told USINFO. “Now Iraqi women participate. In spite of this, there is suffering for Iraqi women." http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2007&m=March&x=20070307152118hmnietsua0.1575739
13. Former Iraq minister denies theft of millions -- A former Iraqi defence minister whose 10 months in office coincided with the disappearance of more than $800m (£400m) from the ministry’s coffers is living openly in Amman and London despite a warrant for his arrest. Hazem Shaalan, a small businessman in London until Saddam Hussein was ousted in 2003, rose in a year to one of the most important jobs in the interim government that ran Iraq from 2004 to 2005. He left Baghdad before the next government discovered that a fortune had been looted from his ministry’s account in what one senior investigator has called “one of the largest thefts in history”. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1497038.ece
14. Guarding Iraq's oil platforms, and its income -- IN THE PERSIAN GULF — A Ukrainian cargo ship that inadvertently sailed into protected waters around Iraqi oil platforms in the Persian Gulf ignited a rapid security crackdown Wednesday morning, displaying some of the measures coalition forces take to protect the platforms. Ships rushed to intercept the cargo vessel. http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=43972
15. Helping Baghdad's youngest residents get well http://www.grd.usace.army.mil/news/releases/NR07-03-01.pdf
16. Security, reconstruction efforts improve -- BAGHDAD — A press conference discussing the status of security and the ongoing reconstruction efforts in Iraq was held at the Combined Press Information Center in the International Zone Wednesday. Ambassador Daniel Speckhard, U.S. Embassy Baghdad charge d’affaires, and Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesperson, , talked about the progress that has been made and the continuing efforts that will make Iraq a safer country. http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10614&Itemid=128
17. Iraqi Leader Fears Ouster Over Oil Money -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki fears the Americans will torpedo his government if parliament does not pass a law to fairly divvy up the country's oil wealth among Iraqis by the end of June, close associates of the leader told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The legislature has not even taken up the draft measure, which is only one of several U.S. benchmarks that are seen by al-Maliki as key to continued American support, a crucial need for the survival of his troubled administration. http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/03/13/ap3513218.html
18. Despite danger, kebab stands keep grills going -- BAGHDAD — It's a long-held Baghdad tradition: police officers sidling up to neighborhood kebab stands and restaurants, eating lunch, leisurely sipping cups of tea and gossiping with owners. The tradition has become deadly for many of the restaurateurs. Insurgents targeting Iraqi police have repeatedly triggered devastating blasts near the sidewalk food stands. Last month, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb near a popular kebab stand in Baghdad's al-Jadriyah district, even after the owner had begged police to stop visiting the place. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-03-15-iraqweek_N.htm
END
26 March 2007
1. GRD Iraq Reconstruction Weekly Update 03/20/07 https://www.rebuilding-iraq.net/pls/portal/url/ITEM/07251F2EFBCA801DE040A8C00B0741F5
2. Protecting Iraq's oil supply - The Guardian - The frigate HMS Cornwall is on patrol as the lead ship of Combined Task Force 158, whose UN-backed mission is to protect Iraq's oil platforms and exports against pirates, smugglers, and terrorists. The platforms are critical to the economic and political reconstruction of Iraq, the Ministry of Defence said yesterday. They pump out oil that accounts for 90% of the country's GDP. An attack in 2004 led to a two-day shutdown costing up to $28m (£14.2m), the MoD said. The knock-on effect was a spike on the world oil market, causing a further loss of some $6bn. http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,2041694,00.html
3. Kurdish leader demands control of Iraq oil hub -- ARBIL, Iraq (AFP) - The prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan raised fresh calls on Thursday for a referendum to decide the future of the country's crucial oil hub of Kirkuk, warning that Kurdish patience had limits. "Our people are committed to Iraq, but their patience is not unlimited. We as leaders are finding it difficult to convince our people as to why our demands are not being met," Nichirvan Barzani told dignitaries in Arbil.
http://fe19.news.re3.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070322/wl_mideast_afp/iraquskurdsoil_070322153131
4. What's happened to Iraq's oil? - BBC World Service - Iraq's descent into violence, coupled with paralysis and corruption in government, has stymied efforts to rebuild the infrastructure of roads, schools, hospitals and industry. In many cases, there is little to show for the billions of dollars spent on reconstruction since the American-led invasion in 2003. The oil sector is a good example of what has gone wrong. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6461581.stm
5. Japan Courts Iraq for Strategic Partnership to Secure Energy Supply - Kyodo News - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and visiting Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi agreed Friday on the importance of developing a "long-term strategic partnership" between the two countries and expressed hopes to strengthen economic as well as political relations, Abe's spokesman Hiroshige Seko said. http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=42954
6. Iraqi, Coalition Forces Partner to Protect Iraq's Economic Future: Oil -- KIRKUK -- Iraq’s economic future depends on producing, refining and selling its most valuable natural resource, oil. As such, Iraq’s most valuable human resource is arguably the Soldiers who protect that oil. The Iraqi Army’s 1st Strategic Infrastructure Brigade ensures that both crude and refined oil flows through critical pipeline infrastructure in the northern Kirkuk Province of Iraq, and military transition team Soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division’s 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment are charged with training those Iraqi Soldiers. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1790996/posts
7. U.S. narrows financial focus to aid Iraqi small businesses. Barbers, grocers, others apply for grants to expand --USA TODAY -- BAGHDAD — Mohamed Raheem saw fliers posted all over his neighborhood offering money to Iraqis who wanted to expand their small businesses. He called a phone number listed on the flier and set up an appointment with the Iraqi-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "I explained to them that I have a shop and I want to expand my work," said Raheem, 44, who owns a small grocery store in the Kadhamiya district of Baghdad. He applied for a $10,000 grant. As U.S. military and civilian officials try to help Iraq's economy rebuild, they are placing a new emphasis on small businesses like Raheem's. Through grants and loans — often for a few hundred dollars each — they're trying to stimulate job growth and eventually improve Iraq's security. http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070306/a_iraqeconomy06.art.htm
8. Iraq's Jobs-for-Peace Mirage -- As the wisdom of President Bush's proposed “surge” of US troops is debated across the US and around the world, another question about the US President's new policy to avert all-out civil war there is coming to the fore. Can using US funding to reopen Iraqi state-owned enterprises get young men to abandon the insurgency and sectarian militias? The idea sounds logical: a man with a good job that enables him to build a decent life won't want to fight Americans or his fellow Iraqis, right? http://www.rand.org/commentary/021107PS.html
9. Iraqi roads get facelift -- TIKRIT — As the decision making for construction projects fall more to the local and regional governments throughout Iraq, Provincial Reconstruction Development Committees are stepping up to the challenge. Eleven concrete road paving projects - at a cost of $3 million - were recently awarded in the Ninewa Province to 10 municipalities. These 11 projects were recommended by the local PRDC. http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10206&Itemid=128
10. Stabilizing Iraq: Factors Impeding the Development of Capable Iraqi Security Forces, by Joseph A. Christoff, director, international affairs and trade, before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, House Committee on Armed Services. GAO-07-612T, March 13.http://www2.blogger.com/ Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d07612thigh.pdf
11. Nasiriyah Drainage Pump Station turned over to Iraqi Govenrment http://www.grd.usace.army.mil/news/releases/NR07-03-05-2.pdf
12. Iraqi Women Strive To Rebuild Country Despite Obstacles - Washington – Iraqi women have made great progress in recent years, but still face obstacles while working to achieve full equality, two Iraqi women activists said March 7. Wide participation of women in the political process is something new for Iraqi society, said Sundus Abbas, executive director of the Women’s Leadership Institute in Baghdad. Iraq. "For more than 35 years Iraqi women were absent from the decision making process,” she told USINFO. “Now Iraqi women participate. In spite of this, there is suffering for Iraqi women." http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2007&m=March&x=20070307152118hmnietsua0.1575739
13. Former Iraq minister denies theft of millions -- A former Iraqi defence minister whose 10 months in office coincided with the disappearance of more than $800m (£400m) from the ministry’s coffers is living openly in Amman and London despite a warrant for his arrest. Hazem Shaalan, a small businessman in London until Saddam Hussein was ousted in 2003, rose in a year to one of the most important jobs in the interim government that ran Iraq from 2004 to 2005. He left Baghdad before the next government discovered that a fortune had been looted from his ministry’s account in what one senior investigator has called “one of the largest thefts in history”. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1497038.ece
14. Guarding Iraq's oil platforms, and its income -- IN THE PERSIAN GULF — A Ukrainian cargo ship that inadvertently sailed into protected waters around Iraqi oil platforms in the Persian Gulf ignited a rapid security crackdown Wednesday morning, displaying some of the measures coalition forces take to protect the platforms. Ships rushed to intercept the cargo vessel. http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=43972
15. Helping Baghdad's youngest residents get well http://www.grd.usace.army.mil/news/releases/NR07-03-01.pdf
16. Security, reconstruction efforts improve -- BAGHDAD — A press conference discussing the status of security and the ongoing reconstruction efforts in Iraq was held at the Combined Press Information Center in the International Zone Wednesday. Ambassador Daniel Speckhard, U.S. Embassy Baghdad charge d’affaires, and Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesperson, , talked about the progress that has been made and the continuing efforts that will make Iraq a safer country. http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10614&Itemid=128
17. Iraqi Leader Fears Ouster Over Oil Money -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki fears the Americans will torpedo his government if parliament does not pass a law to fairly divvy up the country's oil wealth among Iraqis by the end of June, close associates of the leader told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The legislature has not even taken up the draft measure, which is only one of several U.S. benchmarks that are seen by al-Maliki as key to continued American support, a crucial need for the survival of his troubled administration. http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/03/13/ap3513218.html
18. Despite danger, kebab stands keep grills going -- BAGHDAD — It's a long-held Baghdad tradition: police officers sidling up to neighborhood kebab stands and restaurants, eating lunch, leisurely sipping cups of tea and gossiping with owners. The tradition has become deadly for many of the restaurateurs. Insurgents targeting Iraqi police have repeatedly triggered devastating blasts near the sidewalk food stands. Last month, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb near a popular kebab stand in Baghdad's al-Jadriyah district, even after the owner had begged police to stop visiting the place. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-03-15-iraqweek_N.htm
END
Iraq Reconstruction News 25 March 2007
Iraq Reconstruction News
25 March 2007
1. World Bank Iraq Data Sheet March 2007 http://siteresources.worldbank.org/IRFFI/64168382-1092419012421/21250509/DATASHEETIRAQFeb2007Final.pdf
2. Opportunities and Challenges for Economic Growth in Iraq -- CSIS hosted Frank Lavin, United States Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, on March 1. Under Secretary Lavin gave a speech entitled "Opportunities and Challenges for Economic Growth in Iraq" and shared with the CSIS audience the presentation he gave in Erbil to Iraqi Government officials and private sector leaders to launch the U.S.-Iraq Business Dialogue. http://www.csis.org/component/option,com_csis_events/task,view/id,1218/
3. KRG Transport Ministry Plans Rail Links Between Kurdish Provinces -- Kurdistan, (KTV), PNA. Companies from Poland and the Netherlands are currently on a visit to Kurdistan to examine various key projects including rail links and oil refineries. http://kurdistanobserver.servehttp.com/Mar-2007/12-3-07-krg-rail-links.html
4. Iran Playing a Growing Role in Iraq's Economy - TEHRAN (Fars News Agency) - While the Bush administration works to stop Iran from having any constructive role in Iraq, Iranian air-conditioners fill Iraqi appliance stores, Iranian tomatoes ripen on the windowsills of kitchens here and legions of white Iranian-made Peugeots sit in Iraqi driveways. http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8512260206
5. LIFE Partners with UNICEF to Rehabilitate Schools in Iraq -- For more than a quarter century, Iraqi society has suffered through wars and a severe economic embargo, which in turn have caused a serious education crisis in the country. Along with the destroyed and dilapidated schools, the violent and chaotic security situation in Iraq is greatly hindering the repair and re-construction efforts. http://www.arabamericannews.com/newsarticle.php?articleid=7930
6. Licenses to export Iraqi products and import goods from abroad http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3379
7. Maliki's Most Potent Weapon - TCS contributor Peter Schaefer served in Vietnam as an American military intelligence officer, then in the mid-1970s became deeply involved in economic development analysis and property right issues. A former adviser to Peruvian economist Hernando De Soto, Schaefer is now working on a business project that involves "commercial scale" property registration in the developing world. Austin Bay explains why this work matters for Iraq. http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=030707C
8. Iraqi Navy Sunk By Corruption -- The Iraqi navy is trying once more to build up its navy. It hasn't been easy, Corruption and bureaucracy have made life difficult. Not that the old, Saddam era, navy was anything to boast about. http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htworld/articles/20070320.aspx
9. Iraq Navy on Its Way to Independence -- The Iraqi Navy will soon add 21 vessels to its fleet, putting it another step closer to being operationally independent, officials said during a Baghdad news conference Sunday. With a contract on the verge of completion, the Iraqi Navy is the first of the Iraq's forces to use the Ministry of Defense's procurement process with Iraqi money in purchasing major capital programs from foreign governments and commercial ventures. http://newsblaze.com/story/20070320122519tsop.nb/newsblaze/IRAQ0001/Iraq.html
10. Sailors pump up Iraq oil terminal -- ABOARD AL BASRA OIL TERMINAL — Much of Iraq’s financial hope for the future rests on a $59 million coalition-funded upgrade. Buoyed some 60 miles south of the war-torn nation in the Persian Gulf sits an oil platform that provides Iraq with an estimated 85 percent of the struggling country’s revenue. http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=44002
11. VeriSign launches PrePayIN service In Iraq -- (MENAFN) The Chairman of the Iraq-based Al-Mazaya Telecommunications said that the company will launch a new repay service, PrePayIN, supported by VeriSign Inc. in the first half of this year, Portal Iraq reported. http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?storyid=1093144329
12. My Iraq: Basra business trainer -- Najah trains women at a business development centre in Basra. The kind of NGO I work for didn't exist under Saddam Hussein's rule. helped establish an association for women's education. We encourage them to set up small businesses.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/6451199.stm
END
25 March 2007
1. World Bank Iraq Data Sheet March 2007 http://siteresources.worldbank.org/IRFFI/64168382-1092419012421/21250509/DATASHEETIRAQFeb2007Final.pdf
2. Opportunities and Challenges for Economic Growth in Iraq -- CSIS hosted Frank Lavin, United States Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, on March 1. Under Secretary Lavin gave a speech entitled "Opportunities and Challenges for Economic Growth in Iraq" and shared with the CSIS audience the presentation he gave in Erbil to Iraqi Government officials and private sector leaders to launch the U.S.-Iraq Business Dialogue. http://www.csis.org/component/option,com_csis_events/task,view/id,1218/
3. KRG Transport Ministry Plans Rail Links Between Kurdish Provinces -- Kurdistan, (KTV), PNA. Companies from Poland and the Netherlands are currently on a visit to Kurdistan to examine various key projects including rail links and oil refineries. http://kurdistanobserver.servehttp.com/Mar-2007/12-3-07-krg-rail-links.html
4. Iran Playing a Growing Role in Iraq's Economy - TEHRAN (Fars News Agency) - While the Bush administration works to stop Iran from having any constructive role in Iraq, Iranian air-conditioners fill Iraqi appliance stores, Iranian tomatoes ripen on the windowsills of kitchens here and legions of white Iranian-made Peugeots sit in Iraqi driveways. http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8512260206
5. LIFE Partners with UNICEF to Rehabilitate Schools in Iraq -- For more than a quarter century, Iraqi society has suffered through wars and a severe economic embargo, which in turn have caused a serious education crisis in the country. Along with the destroyed and dilapidated schools, the violent and chaotic security situation in Iraq is greatly hindering the repair and re-construction efforts. http://www.arabamericannews.com/newsarticle.php?articleid=7930
6. Licenses to export Iraqi products and import goods from abroad http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3379
7. Maliki's Most Potent Weapon - TCS contributor Peter Schaefer served in Vietnam as an American military intelligence officer, then in the mid-1970s became deeply involved in economic development analysis and property right issues. A former adviser to Peruvian economist Hernando De Soto, Schaefer is now working on a business project that involves "commercial scale" property registration in the developing world. Austin Bay explains why this work matters for Iraq. http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=030707C
8. Iraqi Navy Sunk By Corruption -- The Iraqi navy is trying once more to build up its navy. It hasn't been easy, Corruption and bureaucracy have made life difficult. Not that the old, Saddam era, navy was anything to boast about. http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htworld/articles/20070320.aspx
9. Iraq Navy on Its Way to Independence -- The Iraqi Navy will soon add 21 vessels to its fleet, putting it another step closer to being operationally independent, officials said during a Baghdad news conference Sunday. With a contract on the verge of completion, the Iraqi Navy is the first of the Iraq's forces to use the Ministry of Defense's procurement process with Iraqi money in purchasing major capital programs from foreign governments and commercial ventures. http://newsblaze.com/story/20070320122519tsop.nb/newsblaze/IRAQ0001/Iraq.html
10. Sailors pump up Iraq oil terminal -- ABOARD AL BASRA OIL TERMINAL — Much of Iraq’s financial hope for the future rests on a $59 million coalition-funded upgrade. Buoyed some 60 miles south of the war-torn nation in the Persian Gulf sits an oil platform that provides Iraq with an estimated 85 percent of the struggling country’s revenue. http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=44002
11. VeriSign launches PrePayIN service In Iraq -- (MENAFN) The Chairman of the Iraq-based Al-Mazaya Telecommunications said that the company will launch a new repay service, PrePayIN, supported by VeriSign Inc. in the first half of this year, Portal Iraq reported. http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?storyid=1093144329
12. My Iraq: Basra business trainer -- Najah trains women at a business development centre in Basra. The kind of NGO I work for didn't exist under Saddam Hussein's rule. helped establish an association for women's education. We encourage them to set up small businesses.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/6451199.stm
END
Iraq Reconstruction News 24 March 2007
Iraq Reconstruction News
24 March 2007
1. No sign of oil in repairing Iraq economy -- WASHINGTON, March 23 (UPI) -- The role oil could play in reviving Iraq's economy was conspicuously absent in a presentation by a Bush administration official Friday. Although more than 93 percent of Iraq's government revenue last year came from oil sales, the U.S. Commerce Department's undersecretary for international trade did not say specifically how the petroleum industry could rebuild Iraq's shattered economy. Franklin Lavin was part of a U.S. delegation to advise the Iraqi government on how to jump-start its economy, and added that Iraqi exports have steadily increased between 2004 and 2006, largely on the back of higher oil prices worldwide in recent years. http://www.upi.com/InternationalIntelligence/view.php?StoryID=20070323-040523-2243r
2. Kurdish oil move could start Iraqi energy rush --
A scramble for Kurdish oil licenses is expected this summer after Ashti Hawrami, the oil minister for Iraq's Kurdish republic, said on Thursday that he wants to achieve a production goal of one million barrels a day by 2012. Kurdistan's move signals that Iraq is poised to open its doors to foreign oil investment. Speaking in London, Dr Hawrami said that Kurdistan aied to be the "hub" for Iraq's future oil industry and would look to sign up to ten exploration contracts by the end of the year.
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=106329
3. New fraud task force set up in Iraq -- WASHINGTON, March 23 (UPI) -- U.S. law and anti-corruption agencies are launching a task force to fight contracting fraud and crime in Iraq. The International Contract Corruption Task Force will comprise the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, the Defense Criminal Investigation Service, the Army Criminal Investigation Division" Major Procurement Fraud unit, the State Department inspector general, USAID IG, and the FBI, according to Thomas Gimble, the Pentagon IG, pf which DCIS is a part. http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/new_fraud_task_force_set_up_in_iraq/20070323-115341-6643r/
4. Kurds set to boost Iraq oil output -- LONDON: Iraq's Kurdish regional government expects to sign deals with at least 10 foreign oil firms by the end of the year, it said yesterday, as it strives to increase output by 1 million barrels per day over five years. Ashti Hawrami, minister of natural resources in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, said five production sharing agreements have already been signed with the details to be released in the next few weeks. http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=173902&Sn=BUSI&IssueID=30003
5. Mystery of the Missing Meters: Accounting for Iraq's Oil Revenue -- The line of ships at the Al Basra Oil Terminal (ABOT) stretches south to the horizon, patiently waiting in the searing heat of the Northern Arabian Gulf as four giant supertankers load up. Close by, two more tankers fill up at the smaller Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT). Guarding both terminals are dozens of heavily-armed U.S. Navy troops and Iraqi Marines who live on the platforms. These two offshore terminals, a maze of pipes and precarious metal walkways, deliver some 1.6 million barrels of crude oil, at least 85 percent of Iraq's output, to buyers from all over the world. If the southern oil fields are the heart of Iraq's economy, its main arteries are three 40-plus inch pipelines that stretch some 52 miles from Iraq's wells to the ports. http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14427&printsafe=1
6. Paging Hernando de Soto, Paging Hernando de Soto... -- Call it an economic and political victory for "New Iraq" -- and an indication that we may see more in the future. This past Monday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's cabinet finally agreed to a reformed "oil law." The cabinet will forward the legislative package to the Iraqi parliament for action later this spring. The "oil reform" program in Iraq is long overdue, but the Iraqi government also deserves kudos for the effort. Democracy is often a slow, muddled and tedious operation (look at the U.S. Congress). http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=030107B
7. Education ministry plans to open three schools for gifted Iraqis -- Baghdad, March 11, (VOI) – Iraq's education ministry is about to open up three schools for the gifted, the ministry's media director said on Sunday. http://www.aswataliraq.info/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=39178&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
8. Iraq's Agriculture Bounces Back after Years of Neglect http://www.grd.usace.army.mil/news/releases/NR07-03-12-2.PDF
9. Electronic methods for calculating tax estimation -- The general manager of the Taxes General Office, Talib Jabir Abu Jueila, said that the Office is about to implement the latest programs and most modern methods in calculating the tax estimate of the taxpayer, in addition to introducing a very modern automatic system that maintains thousands of information concerning the taxpayers. http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3238
10. Official: Israelis Should Invest in Iraq -- DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A U.S. defense official on Thursday encouraged Israelis to pump investments into Iraq's devastated economy. Paul Brinkley, U.S. deputy undersecretary of defense for business transformation, told a business conference here that Israelis were welcome in a country crying out for investment. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4634381.html
11. Czech exports to Iraq grow -- Czech exports to Iraq have been growing since 2003 when the main military operations ended in this Arab country, and Czech companies have recently gained the first large orders, for example for technology for local industrial companies. However, experts say that Czech companies took only a small part in Iraq's post-war renewal which in the last four years was financed mainly by the USA and Great Britain. http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3448
12. War News Radio: Children of War http://warnewsradio.org/
END
24 March 2007
1. No sign of oil in repairing Iraq economy -- WASHINGTON, March 23 (UPI) -- The role oil could play in reviving Iraq's economy was conspicuously absent in a presentation by a Bush administration official Friday. Although more than 93 percent of Iraq's government revenue last year came from oil sales, the U.S. Commerce Department's undersecretary for international trade did not say specifically how the petroleum industry could rebuild Iraq's shattered economy. Franklin Lavin was part of a U.S. delegation to advise the Iraqi government on how to jump-start its economy, and added that Iraqi exports have steadily increased between 2004 and 2006, largely on the back of higher oil prices worldwide in recent years. http://www.upi.com/InternationalIntelligence/view.php?StoryID=20070323-040523-2243r
2. Kurdish oil move could start Iraqi energy rush --
A scramble for Kurdish oil licenses is expected this summer after Ashti Hawrami, the oil minister for Iraq's Kurdish republic, said on Thursday that he wants to achieve a production goal of one million barrels a day by 2012. Kurdistan's move signals that Iraq is poised to open its doors to foreign oil investment. Speaking in London, Dr Hawrami said that Kurdistan aied to be the "hub" for Iraq's future oil industry and would look to sign up to ten exploration contracts by the end of the year.
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=106329
3. New fraud task force set up in Iraq -- WASHINGTON, March 23 (UPI) -- U.S. law and anti-corruption agencies are launching a task force to fight contracting fraud and crime in Iraq. The International Contract Corruption Task Force will comprise the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, the Defense Criminal Investigation Service, the Army Criminal Investigation Division" Major Procurement Fraud unit, the State Department inspector general, USAID IG, and the FBI, according to Thomas Gimble, the Pentagon IG, pf which DCIS is a part. http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/new_fraud_task_force_set_up_in_iraq/20070323-115341-6643r/
4. Kurds set to boost Iraq oil output -- LONDON: Iraq's Kurdish regional government expects to sign deals with at least 10 foreign oil firms by the end of the year, it said yesterday, as it strives to increase output by 1 million barrels per day over five years. Ashti Hawrami, minister of natural resources in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, said five production sharing agreements have already been signed with the details to be released in the next few weeks. http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=173902&Sn=BUSI&IssueID=30003
5. Mystery of the Missing Meters: Accounting for Iraq's Oil Revenue -- The line of ships at the Al Basra Oil Terminal (ABOT) stretches south to the horizon, patiently waiting in the searing heat of the Northern Arabian Gulf as four giant supertankers load up. Close by, two more tankers fill up at the smaller Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT). Guarding both terminals are dozens of heavily-armed U.S. Navy troops and Iraqi Marines who live on the platforms. These two offshore terminals, a maze of pipes and precarious metal walkways, deliver some 1.6 million barrels of crude oil, at least 85 percent of Iraq's output, to buyers from all over the world. If the southern oil fields are the heart of Iraq's economy, its main arteries are three 40-plus inch pipelines that stretch some 52 miles from Iraq's wells to the ports. http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14427&printsafe=1
6. Paging Hernando de Soto, Paging Hernando de Soto... -- Call it an economic and political victory for "New Iraq" -- and an indication that we may see more in the future. This past Monday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's cabinet finally agreed to a reformed "oil law." The cabinet will forward the legislative package to the Iraqi parliament for action later this spring. The "oil reform" program in Iraq is long overdue, but the Iraqi government also deserves kudos for the effort. Democracy is often a slow, muddled and tedious operation (look at the U.S. Congress). http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=030107B
7. Education ministry plans to open three schools for gifted Iraqis -- Baghdad, March 11, (VOI) – Iraq's education ministry is about to open up three schools for the gifted, the ministry's media director said on Sunday. http://www.aswataliraq.info/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=39178&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
8. Iraq's Agriculture Bounces Back after Years of Neglect http://www.grd.usace.army.mil/news/releases/NR07-03-12-2.PDF
9. Electronic methods for calculating tax estimation -- The general manager of the Taxes General Office, Talib Jabir Abu Jueila, said that the Office is about to implement the latest programs and most modern methods in calculating the tax estimate of the taxpayer, in addition to introducing a very modern automatic system that maintains thousands of information concerning the taxpayers. http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3238
10. Official: Israelis Should Invest in Iraq -- DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A U.S. defense official on Thursday encouraged Israelis to pump investments into Iraq's devastated economy. Paul Brinkley, U.S. deputy undersecretary of defense for business transformation, told a business conference here that Israelis were welcome in a country crying out for investment. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4634381.html
11. Czech exports to Iraq grow -- Czech exports to Iraq have been growing since 2003 when the main military operations ended in this Arab country, and Czech companies have recently gained the first large orders, for example for technology for local industrial companies. However, experts say that Czech companies took only a small part in Iraq's post-war renewal which in the last four years was financed mainly by the USA and Great Britain. http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3448
12. War News Radio: Children of War http://warnewsradio.org/
END
Iraq Reconstruction News 23 March 2007
Iraq Reconstruction News
23 March 2007
1. Pres. Bush Meeting on Iraq Reconstruction - 22 March 2007 -
http://switchboard.real.com/player/email.html?PV=6.0.12&&title=Pres.%20Bush%20Meeting%20on%20Iraq%20Reconstruction&link=rtsp%3A%2F%2Fvideo.c%2Dspan.org%2Fproject%2Firaq%2Firaq032207%5Fbush.rm
2. Brookings Iraq Index 22 March 2007 http://www3.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf
3. Iraq Weekly Status Report 21 March 2007 http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/82192.pdf
4. Stabilizing Iraq: Preliminary Observations on Budget and Management Challenges of Iraq's Security Ministries, by Joseph A. Christoff, Director, International Affairs and Trade, before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, House Committee on Armed Services. GAO-07-637T, March 22.http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-637T Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d07637thigh.pdf
5. Iraqi Defense Ministry Seeks to Buy U.S. Rifles All Things Considered, March 22, 2007 · Iraq's government has spent little of its own money on reconstruction projects — a fact that has drawn criticism from U.S. inspectors. But in one of its first major spending decisions, the Iraqi defense ministry is buying tens of thousands of U.S.-made assault rifles. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9083510
6. Two key Iraq parties oppose oil law -- BAGHDAD, (UPI) -- Two Iraqi political parties, including one of the former prime minister, said the draft hydrocarbons law should be tabled until the security situation improves. "We believe that the time is not right for dealing with this issue. We should, above all, deal with security matters before debating this draft," said Hussein al-Falluji, a member of Parliament representing the Iraqi Accordance Front, a Sunni party. http://www.upi.com/Energy/two_key_iraq_parties_oppose_oil_law/20070313-011332-2256r/
7. Iraq’s Kurds to go it alone on oil deals -- The Kurdistan regional government plans to triple the number of foreign oil companies operating in its region by the end of the year regardless of whether Iraq’s parliament passes a politically sensitive hydrocarbon law. In an interview, Ashti Hawrami, the Kurdish energy minister, said Kurdistan would become a hub for energy companies that were not ready to invest in the rest of Iraq because of security concerns. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/ad355e82-d895-11db-a759-000b5df10621,dwp_uuid=17aab8bc-6e47-11da-9544-0000779e2340.html
8. New dates confirmed for Iraq Oil, Gas, Petrochemical and Electricity Summit -- The Iraq Oil, Gas, Petrochemical and Electricity Summ it has been planned to take place in Amman, Jordan on May 28 to 30. The summit will welcome representation from the Iraqi Ministries of Oil, Industry and Minerals, and Electricity, as well as the Iraq Energy Council, Investment Promotion Agency and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry for Natural Resources. It will also host many of the state companies operating under the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and senior representatives from the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office (IRMO). http://www.portaliraq.com/news/New+dates+confirmed+for+Iraq+Oil,+Gas,+Petrochemical+and+Electricity+Summit__1112489.html
9. Calibre Waiting on Equipment for Northern Iraq Well Test - Calibre Energy, Inc. on Thursday said that the Bina-Bawi 1 exploration well, located in Iraqi Kurdistan, was waiting on material and testing equipment for the planned testing of the well. As previously announced, the Bina-Bawi 1 reached a total depth of 3,355 meters (11,007 feet) and awaits the commencement of testing to determine the productive and commercial potential of at least three zones intersected by the well.
http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=42905
10. Audit: US Must Learn From Iraq Mistakes - The U.S. government must learn from its multi-million-dollar mistakes of poor contract oversight and bad planning in its Iraq reconstruction effort or risk repeating them there and elsewhere, investigators say. The audit released Thursday by Stuart Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, is the first to list in one place the series of mistakes, delays and missed opportunities in a four-year-old Iraq war and reconstruction effort that has cost taxpayers nearly $400 billion. http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/03/22/ap3542087.html
11. Najaf Factory to Make Garments for U.S., International Retailers - Blackanthem Military News, WASHINGTON, D.C. – A garment factory in Najaf, Iraq, will start supplying clothes to U.S. and international retailers in a few months, a senior U.S. official said in Baghdad yesterday. The Najaf facility is "one of the most state-of-the-art clothing factories I've seen," Paul A. Brinkley, deputy undersecretary of defense for business transformation, told reporters at a Baghdad news conference. "It will be providing garments to American and international retail beginning this summer." http://www.blackanthem.com/News/International_21/Najaf_Factory_to_Make_Garments_for_U_S_International_Retailers5180.shtml
12. Expanding Provincial Reconstruction Teams To Achieve Iraqi Self Reliance -- Under The President's New Way Forward For Iraq, The Number Of Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) Will Increase. PRTs are joint civilian-military units that support local leaders and empower provincial authorities by working closely with the communities they serve. The expansion is a joint Department of State-Department of Defense mission that will employ both civilian and military resources toward a common strategic plan. The Number Of PRTs Will Increase To 20 And In Personnel From 290 To Over 600. The Ten New PRTs Will Be Embedded In U.S. Brigade Combat Teams In Baghdad, Anbar, And North Babil Provinces. http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070322005724&newsLang=en
13. Inspector General Details Failures of Iraq Reconstruction -- The U.S. government was unprepared for the extensive nation-building required after it invaded Iraq, and at each juncture where it could have adjusted its efforts, it failed even to understand the problems it faced, according to the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. In a stinging, wide-ranging assessment of U.S. reconstruction efforts, Stuart W. Bowen Jr. said that in the days after the invasion, the Defense Department had no strategy for restoring either government institutions or infrastructure. And in the years since, other agencies joined the effort without an overall plan and without a structure in place to organize and execute a task of such magnitude. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032102418.html?sub=AR
14. Reconstruction Audit Shows Need For Better U.S. Oversight in Iraq -- WASHINGTON -- The leaders of a Senate panel said Thursday that the Defense and State departments must work more closely together to avoid repeating multimillion dollar mistakes in the reconstruction of Iraq. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, and Sen. Susan Collins(R., Maine) said they were considering legislation to create a commission to help fix problems after investigators found confusion and disarray in the four-year-old reconstruction effort.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117457342617045479.html?mod=special_page_iraq_1 The audit report is at http://online.wsj.com/documents/sigirMarch21.pdf
15. Iraqi Minister of Finance authorized to sign agreements of reorganizing Iraq's debts -- The government’s official spokesman, Ali Addabagh, said that the Cabinet decided to ratify the Convention of debt reduction signed with Paris Club during its tenth regular session. http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3365
16. Crippled, Iraq leans on longtime enemy Iran for trade -- NAJAF, Iraq: While the Bush administration works to stop Iran from meddling in Iraq, Iranian air conditioners fill Iraqi appliance stores, Iranian tomatoes ripen on the window sills of kitchens here and white Iranian-made Peugeots sit in Iraqi driveways. Some Iraqi cities, including the oil- producing enclave of Basra, buy electricity from Iran. The Iraqi government is relying on Iranian companies to bring gasoline from Turkmenistan to alleviate a severe shortage. Iraqi officials are reviewing an application by Iran to open a branch of an Iranian national bank in Baghdad, and Iran has offered Iraq $1 billion in soft loans. http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/03/13/news/baghdad.php
17. Gulf investors invited to implement "Iraq Great Port" project -- Governor of Basrah, Muhammad Misbih Alwaeli, invited Arab (especially Gulf) and international companies to present designs concerning “Iraq Great Port” project which is intended to be set up at the mouth of Shatt al-Arab in the city of Faw, (100 km south of Basrah). Alwaeli stressed that “the project of the port is a first step in establishing a broad Iraqi investment base starting from Basrah, explaining that it would be built in a 100% safe area, located outside the city, and isolated from any political or party activity, as well as being protected by Iraqi forces, which will help inviting investors to examine it”. http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3375
18. Halliburton retreats from Iraq logistics work -- Halliburton Inc. has recently taken steps to back away from its prominent role in federal contracting in the Middle East, with a late February announcement that it would sell its subsidiary KBR Inc. and a notice this weekend that it would move its corporate headquarters to the United Arab Emirates. Halliburton will move its headquarters from Houston to Dubai to focus greater attention on its Eastern Hemisphere operations, according to a Sunday announcement. The company, which was led by Vice President Dick Cheney before he took office, also recently announced that it would sell its controlling stake in KBR, a subsidiary that has been a conduit for criticism of the administration's military operations and reconstruction effort in Iraq. A federal contracting expert who asked not to be named said Halliburton's moves likely would help the company's image. "In the public mind, Cheney is linked with Halliburton … so it can't but help that they're moving out of government contracting," the expert noted. http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=36334&dcn=e_gvet
19. Iraq: Rebuilding combines high risk with rich rewards -- Like many of the tens of thousands of private contractors who descended on Iraq to grab a slice of the reconstruction pie, David, a US contractor who is reluctant to give out more than a first name, is tired. “I want out of Iraq”, he says as he arrives for another six-month stint in a country he has grown to love and to loathe, depending, he says, on the time of day. Clearly used to the security at Baghdad’s international airport, he saunters through the customs lines with his knapsack, ignoring demands by officials that he present himself for a baggage inspection. “If you keep walking, they often don’t bother to call you back”, he says, as he’s greeted outside by a team of South Africans who will provide him with a private security escort.
http://www.mmorning.com/ArticleC.asp?Article=4522&CategoryID=6
20. Violence taking a toll on Iraqi men's love lives -- BAGHDAD — Nashwan Habeeb quietly shouldered the stress of Baghdad's violence for more than two years. But when the anxiety crept into his bedroom and began affecting his performance with his wife, Habeeb sought help. He went to a nearby pharmacist and bought several pills — little blue knockoffs of the popular American drug Viagra. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-03-08-iraqweek_N.htm
END
23 March 2007
1. Pres. Bush Meeting on Iraq Reconstruction - 22 March 2007 -
http://switchboard.real.com/player/email.html?PV=6.0.12&&title=Pres.%20Bush%20Meeting%20on%20Iraq%20Reconstruction&link=rtsp%3A%2F%2Fvideo.c%2Dspan.org%2Fproject%2Firaq%2Firaq032207%5Fbush.rm
2. Brookings Iraq Index 22 March 2007 http://www3.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf
3. Iraq Weekly Status Report 21 March 2007 http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/82192.pdf
4. Stabilizing Iraq: Preliminary Observations on Budget and Management Challenges of Iraq's Security Ministries, by Joseph A. Christoff, Director, International Affairs and Trade, before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, House Committee on Armed Services. GAO-07-637T, March 22.http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-637T Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d07637thigh.pdf
5. Iraqi Defense Ministry Seeks to Buy U.S. Rifles All Things Considered, March 22, 2007 · Iraq's government has spent little of its own money on reconstruction projects — a fact that has drawn criticism from U.S. inspectors. But in one of its first major spending decisions, the Iraqi defense ministry is buying tens of thousands of U.S.-made assault rifles. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9083510
6. Two key Iraq parties oppose oil law -- BAGHDAD, (UPI) -- Two Iraqi political parties, including one of the former prime minister, said the draft hydrocarbons law should be tabled until the security situation improves. "We believe that the time is not right for dealing with this issue. We should, above all, deal with security matters before debating this draft," said Hussein al-Falluji, a member of Parliament representing the Iraqi Accordance Front, a Sunni party. http://www.upi.com/Energy/two_key_iraq_parties_oppose_oil_law/20070313-011332-2256r/
7. Iraq’s Kurds to go it alone on oil deals -- The Kurdistan regional government plans to triple the number of foreign oil companies operating in its region by the end of the year regardless of whether Iraq’s parliament passes a politically sensitive hydrocarbon law. In an interview, Ashti Hawrami, the Kurdish energy minister, said Kurdistan would become a hub for energy companies that were not ready to invest in the rest of Iraq because of security concerns. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/ad355e82-d895-11db-a759-000b5df10621,dwp_uuid=17aab8bc-6e47-11da-9544-0000779e2340.html
8. New dates confirmed for Iraq Oil, Gas, Petrochemical and Electricity Summit -- The Iraq Oil, Gas, Petrochemical and Electricity Summ it has been planned to take place in Amman, Jordan on May 28 to 30. The summit will welcome representation from the Iraqi Ministries of Oil, Industry and Minerals, and Electricity, as well as the Iraq Energy Council, Investment Promotion Agency and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry for Natural Resources. It will also host many of the state companies operating under the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and senior representatives from the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office (IRMO). http://www.portaliraq.com/news/New+dates+confirmed+for+Iraq+Oil,+Gas,+Petrochemical+and+Electricity+Summit__1112489.html
9. Calibre Waiting on Equipment for Northern Iraq Well Test - Calibre Energy, Inc. on Thursday said that the Bina-Bawi 1 exploration well, located in Iraqi Kurdistan, was waiting on material and testing equipment for the planned testing of the well. As previously announced, the Bina-Bawi 1 reached a total depth of 3,355 meters (11,007 feet) and awaits the commencement of testing to determine the productive and commercial potential of at least three zones intersected by the well.
http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=42905
10. Audit: US Must Learn From Iraq Mistakes - The U.S. government must learn from its multi-million-dollar mistakes of poor contract oversight and bad planning in its Iraq reconstruction effort or risk repeating them there and elsewhere, investigators say. The audit released Thursday by Stuart Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, is the first to list in one place the series of mistakes, delays and missed opportunities in a four-year-old Iraq war and reconstruction effort that has cost taxpayers nearly $400 billion. http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/03/22/ap3542087.html
11. Najaf Factory to Make Garments for U.S., International Retailers - Blackanthem Military News, WASHINGTON, D.C. – A garment factory in Najaf, Iraq, will start supplying clothes to U.S. and international retailers in a few months, a senior U.S. official said in Baghdad yesterday. The Najaf facility is "one of the most state-of-the-art clothing factories I've seen," Paul A. Brinkley, deputy undersecretary of defense for business transformation, told reporters at a Baghdad news conference. "It will be providing garments to American and international retail beginning this summer." http://www.blackanthem.com/News/International_21/Najaf_Factory_to_Make_Garments_for_U_S_International_Retailers5180.shtml
12. Expanding Provincial Reconstruction Teams To Achieve Iraqi Self Reliance -- Under The President's New Way Forward For Iraq, The Number Of Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) Will Increase. PRTs are joint civilian-military units that support local leaders and empower provincial authorities by working closely with the communities they serve. The expansion is a joint Department of State-Department of Defense mission that will employ both civilian and military resources toward a common strategic plan. The Number Of PRTs Will Increase To 20 And In Personnel From 290 To Over 600. The Ten New PRTs Will Be Embedded In U.S. Brigade Combat Teams In Baghdad, Anbar, And North Babil Provinces. http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070322005724&newsLang=en
13. Inspector General Details Failures of Iraq Reconstruction -- The U.S. government was unprepared for the extensive nation-building required after it invaded Iraq, and at each juncture where it could have adjusted its efforts, it failed even to understand the problems it faced, according to the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. In a stinging, wide-ranging assessment of U.S. reconstruction efforts, Stuart W. Bowen Jr. said that in the days after the invasion, the Defense Department had no strategy for restoring either government institutions or infrastructure. And in the years since, other agencies joined the effort without an overall plan and without a structure in place to organize and execute a task of such magnitude. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032102418.html?sub=AR
14. Reconstruction Audit Shows Need For Better U.S. Oversight in Iraq -- WASHINGTON -- The leaders of a Senate panel said Thursday that the Defense and State departments must work more closely together to avoid repeating multimillion dollar mistakes in the reconstruction of Iraq. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, and Sen. Susan Collins(R., Maine) said they were considering legislation to create a commission to help fix problems after investigators found confusion and disarray in the four-year-old reconstruction effort.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117457342617045479.html?mod=special_page_iraq_1 The audit report is at http://online.wsj.com/documents/sigirMarch21.pdf
15. Iraqi Minister of Finance authorized to sign agreements of reorganizing Iraq's debts -- The government’s official spokesman, Ali Addabagh, said that the Cabinet decided to ratify the Convention of debt reduction signed with Paris Club during its tenth regular session. http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3365
16. Crippled, Iraq leans on longtime enemy Iran for trade -- NAJAF, Iraq: While the Bush administration works to stop Iran from meddling in Iraq, Iranian air conditioners fill Iraqi appliance stores, Iranian tomatoes ripen on the window sills of kitchens here and white Iranian-made Peugeots sit in Iraqi driveways. Some Iraqi cities, including the oil- producing enclave of Basra, buy electricity from Iran. The Iraqi government is relying on Iranian companies to bring gasoline from Turkmenistan to alleviate a severe shortage. Iraqi officials are reviewing an application by Iran to open a branch of an Iranian national bank in Baghdad, and Iran has offered Iraq $1 billion in soft loans. http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/03/13/news/baghdad.php
17. Gulf investors invited to implement "Iraq Great Port" project -- Governor of Basrah, Muhammad Misbih Alwaeli, invited Arab (especially Gulf) and international companies to present designs concerning “Iraq Great Port” project which is intended to be set up at the mouth of Shatt al-Arab in the city of Faw, (100 km south of Basrah). Alwaeli stressed that “the project of the port is a first step in establishing a broad Iraqi investment base starting from Basrah, explaining that it would be built in a 100% safe area, located outside the city, and isolated from any political or party activity, as well as being protected by Iraqi forces, which will help inviting investors to examine it”. http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3375
18. Halliburton retreats from Iraq logistics work -- Halliburton Inc. has recently taken steps to back away from its prominent role in federal contracting in the Middle East, with a late February announcement that it would sell its subsidiary KBR Inc. and a notice this weekend that it would move its corporate headquarters to the United Arab Emirates. Halliburton will move its headquarters from Houston to Dubai to focus greater attention on its Eastern Hemisphere operations, according to a Sunday announcement. The company, which was led by Vice President Dick Cheney before he took office, also recently announced that it would sell its controlling stake in KBR, a subsidiary that has been a conduit for criticism of the administration's military operations and reconstruction effort in Iraq. A federal contracting expert who asked not to be named said Halliburton's moves likely would help the company's image. "In the public mind, Cheney is linked with Halliburton … so it can't but help that they're moving out of government contracting," the expert noted. http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=36334&dcn=e_gvet
19. Iraq: Rebuilding combines high risk with rich rewards -- Like many of the tens of thousands of private contractors who descended on Iraq to grab a slice of the reconstruction pie, David, a US contractor who is reluctant to give out more than a first name, is tired. “I want out of Iraq”, he says as he arrives for another six-month stint in a country he has grown to love and to loathe, depending, he says, on the time of day. Clearly used to the security at Baghdad’s international airport, he saunters through the customs lines with his knapsack, ignoring demands by officials that he present himself for a baggage inspection. “If you keep walking, they often don’t bother to call you back”, he says, as he’s greeted outside by a team of South Africans who will provide him with a private security escort.
http://www.mmorning.com/ArticleC.asp?Article=4522&CategoryID=6
20. Violence taking a toll on Iraqi men's love lives -- BAGHDAD — Nashwan Habeeb quietly shouldered the stress of Baghdad's violence for more than two years. But when the anxiety crept into his bedroom and began affecting his performance with his wife, Habeeb sought help. He went to a nearby pharmacist and bought several pills — little blue knockoffs of the popular American drug Viagra. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-03-08-iraqweek_N.htm
END
Iraq Reconstruction News 21 March 2007
Iraq Reconstruction News
21 March 2007
1. Brookings Iraq Index 19 March 2007 http://www3.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf
2. Iraq Weekly Status Report 14 March 2007 http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/81911.pdf
3. GRD Iraq Reconstruction Report 20 march 2007 http://www.grd.usace.army.mil/news/releases/20070320.pdf
4. Inspectors general probe fraud, profiteering in Iraq -- CongressDaily -- The special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction told a Senate panel Tuesday that corruption is widespread in the Iraq government and among U.S. contractors. "First, corruption in Iraq has been -- and is -- a problem of great enormity within Iraq's government," Stuart Bowen told the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Commissioner of Public Integrity, the Iraqi equivalent of the FBI, has reported to Bowen that it is investigating 2,000 cases involving Iraqi officials and $8 billion in missing funds. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0307/032007cdpm1.htm
5. Defense vows crackdown on fraud in Iraq -- WASHINGTON - Defense Department investigators said Tuesday they are going to be more aggressive suspending or barring companies from doing U.S. contract work in Iraq if they are involved in war profiteering there. Stuart Bowen, special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, said taking such action is an effective tool, particularly when auditors are struggling to come up with enough detailed evidence for criminal prosecutions.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070321/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq_fraud_7;_ylt=AlOZA8WcgVE_CcLWqU8SpKNX6GMA
6. Addax, Genel Enerji to Spend $120M on Iraq Oilfield Plans -- Addax Petroleum Corp.,(AXC.T) a Toronto Stock Exchange-listed oil company, and its Turkish joint venture partner Genel Enerji A.S. will spend as much as $120 million on exploring and developing an onshore oilfield in Iraqi Kurdistan that could produce 200,000 barrels a day of crude oil by 2009, a company official said Tuesday. Addax and Genel Enerji, which have set up a 45:55 joint venture called Taq Taq Operating Co., or TTOPCO, to operate in Iraq, will complete drilling of a third appraisal well in the Taq Taq development area in the country's north by early April, Addax asset manager Pradeep Kabra told Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of a Dubai conference. http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=42772
7. Moscow Hopes Iraq Oil Law Will Let Russian Firms In - 19/03/2007 - MOSCOW, (Reuters) - Russia, worried its firms may be frozen out of oil deals in Iraq, said on Monday it hoped a draft law regulating how Iraq's oil wealth is distributed will ensure Russian companies do not suffer discrimination. Moscow opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. It is concerned that when the Iraqi government starts handing out new concessions, Russian companies will lose out to firms from countries that backed the military operation. http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=6&id=8361
8. Mutual benefit should unite Turkey with N. Iraq -- ARBIL – Turkish Daily News -- It is impossible to establish a strategic partnership between Turkey and the Kurds without basing the relations on mutual benefit and a common future, not on reciprocal nationalist slogans that poison relations. When considered from this angle, oil becomes a crucial ingredient. http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=68649
9. Iraq invites foreign firms to take part in oil tender - Azzaman - Iraq has issued a tender to drill 50 new oil wells in the southern Province of Missan. The director of the province’s oil fields, Ali al-Bahadli, said 13 foreign firms have been invited to take part in the tender aimed at boosting output by an additional 100,000 barrels a day. The Province of Missan is home to some of the largest hitherto unexplored Iraqi oil fields. http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news%5C2007-03-18%5Ckurd1.htm
10. Iraq aims to produce 3.5 million barrel a day in 2011 -- Iraq says it wants to increase its production of crude oil to 3.5 million barrels per day by the year 2011, according to a reconstruction plan broadcasted in the United Nations on Friday. According to the plan, this will increase, by almost three times, Iraq’s proceeds from the export of crude oil to about $ 50 billion. http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3453
11. Oil output still hovering at 2 million barrels daily -- Azzaman -- Iraq is currently producing about 2 million barrels of oil a day but hopes to increase output to nearly 3 million in the future. A statement on the website of Government Information Department said Iraqi engineering and technical corps had ‘ambitious plans’ to substantially boost oil production. The statement gave no details of these plans nor said when the country would manage to raise production by another million barrels. http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2007-03-17\kurd.htm
12. Syria and Iraq sign Memo of Understanding on Electrical Power -- DAMASCUS, (SANA)-Syrian and Iraqi electricity ministries on Sunday signed a memo of understanding on a number of joint issues in the field of electrical power investment, distribution and connection. The memo states that both ministries study executive programs of electrical power linkage between the two countries' nets within the septet linkage system, it is expected that power linkage between Syria and Iraq be implemented next year. http://www.sana.org/eng/24/2007/03/18/108485.htm
13. Iraqi Planning Minister Courts Arab-American Investment - Washington – Iraqi Planning Minister Ali Baban urged Arab-American business leaders to seek economic opportunities in Iraq and said his government is working to make the country a stable environment for investment. “Any commercial or economic operation depends on stability, and this is the focus of the Iraqi government right now,” Baban told members of the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce in Washington March 15. http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2007&m=March&x=20070315164115ndyblehs0.149914
14. INTERNATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION FUND FACILITY MOVES FORWARD FOLLOWING PRODUCTIVE DONOR COMMITTEE MEETING -- ISTANBUL, Turkey, March 20, 2007—The International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI) Donor Committee Meeting concluded successfully today, with strong resolve from the international donor community, the United Nations and the World Bank to continue advancing Iraqi leadership on reconstruction efforts. They reaffirmed their support for IRFFI, which should remain an important vehicle for donors to support the implementation of the International Compact with Iraq. http://uniraq.org/
15. Business as 'Normal' in Baghdad's Markets - Weekend Edition Saturday, March 17, 2007 · Ken Stern, NPR's chief executive officer, visited Iraq this month to check on NPR's Baghdad bureau. Following is an entry from his Reporter's Notebook.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8957798
16. CEC starts third year of Rebuild Iraq Recruitment Program (RIRP) - The third year after the beginning of the RIRP program shows that, the need for European companies to position themselves in the competitive environment in Iraq is more important than ever.
http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3332
17. "Iraqi List" Deputy Bashes Draft Oil Law. Opposition MP Warns Against Passage until Occupation Ends -- The draft oil and gas law could lead to the “partition of Iraq” and the dissipation of its wealth, said Usama al-Najifi, former minister of industry and current member of parliament in the opposition Iraqi National List. Najifi said, “The oil law project in the form as sent to parliament is very dangerous, and in it is the partition of Iraq and the dissipation of its riches” http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/1900/Iraqi_List_Deputy_Bashes_Draft_Oil_Law
18. Rice: Number of provincial construction teams in Iraq will be doubled -- WASHINGTON — State Department officials will double the number of provincial reconstruction teams in Iraq and recruit more than 300 civilians to help man them in an effort to help stabilize that country, the secretary of state announced Tuesday. “We are transitioning our role,” Condoleezza Rice told members of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “This is to help Iraqis build their own democratic institutions and lead their own economic development at the provincial and local levels.” http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=43947
19. Iraq, Syria to sign economical accord http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093146195
20. Price Check: Baghdad Green Zone Burger King http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/topic/58
END
21 March 2007
1. Brookings Iraq Index 19 March 2007 http://www3.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf
2. Iraq Weekly Status Report 14 March 2007 http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/81911.pdf
3. GRD Iraq Reconstruction Report 20 march 2007 http://www.grd.usace.army.mil/news/releases/20070320.pdf
4. Inspectors general probe fraud, profiteering in Iraq -- CongressDaily -- The special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction told a Senate panel Tuesday that corruption is widespread in the Iraq government and among U.S. contractors. "First, corruption in Iraq has been -- and is -- a problem of great enormity within Iraq's government," Stuart Bowen told the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Commissioner of Public Integrity, the Iraqi equivalent of the FBI, has reported to Bowen that it is investigating 2,000 cases involving Iraqi officials and $8 billion in missing funds. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0307/032007cdpm1.htm
5. Defense vows crackdown on fraud in Iraq -- WASHINGTON - Defense Department investigators said Tuesday they are going to be more aggressive suspending or barring companies from doing U.S. contract work in Iraq if they are involved in war profiteering there. Stuart Bowen, special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, said taking such action is an effective tool, particularly when auditors are struggling to come up with enough detailed evidence for criminal prosecutions.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070321/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq_fraud_7;_ylt=AlOZA8WcgVE_CcLWqU8SpKNX6GMA
6. Addax, Genel Enerji to Spend $120M on Iraq Oilfield Plans -- Addax Petroleum Corp.,(AXC.T) a Toronto Stock Exchange-listed oil company, and its Turkish joint venture partner Genel Enerji A.S. will spend as much as $120 million on exploring and developing an onshore oilfield in Iraqi Kurdistan that could produce 200,000 barrels a day of crude oil by 2009, a company official said Tuesday. Addax and Genel Enerji, which have set up a 45:55 joint venture called Taq Taq Operating Co., or TTOPCO, to operate in Iraq, will complete drilling of a third appraisal well in the Taq Taq development area in the country's north by early April, Addax asset manager Pradeep Kabra told Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of a Dubai conference. http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=42772
7. Moscow Hopes Iraq Oil Law Will Let Russian Firms In - 19/03/2007 - MOSCOW, (Reuters) - Russia, worried its firms may be frozen out of oil deals in Iraq, said on Monday it hoped a draft law regulating how Iraq's oil wealth is distributed will ensure Russian companies do not suffer discrimination. Moscow opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. It is concerned that when the Iraqi government starts handing out new concessions, Russian companies will lose out to firms from countries that backed the military operation. http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=6&id=8361
8. Mutual benefit should unite Turkey with N. Iraq -- ARBIL – Turkish Daily News -- It is impossible to establish a strategic partnership between Turkey and the Kurds without basing the relations on mutual benefit and a common future, not on reciprocal nationalist slogans that poison relations. When considered from this angle, oil becomes a crucial ingredient. http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=68649
9. Iraq invites foreign firms to take part in oil tender - Azzaman - Iraq has issued a tender to drill 50 new oil wells in the southern Province of Missan. The director of the province’s oil fields, Ali al-Bahadli, said 13 foreign firms have been invited to take part in the tender aimed at boosting output by an additional 100,000 barrels a day. The Province of Missan is home to some of the largest hitherto unexplored Iraqi oil fields. http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news%5C2007-03-18%5Ckurd1.htm
10. Iraq aims to produce 3.5 million barrel a day in 2011 -- Iraq says it wants to increase its production of crude oil to 3.5 million barrels per day by the year 2011, according to a reconstruction plan broadcasted in the United Nations on Friday. According to the plan, this will increase, by almost three times, Iraq’s proceeds from the export of crude oil to about $ 50 billion. http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3453
11. Oil output still hovering at 2 million barrels daily -- Azzaman -- Iraq is currently producing about 2 million barrels of oil a day but hopes to increase output to nearly 3 million in the future. A statement on the website of Government Information Department said Iraqi engineering and technical corps had ‘ambitious plans’ to substantially boost oil production. The statement gave no details of these plans nor said when the country would manage to raise production by another million barrels. http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2007-03-17\kurd.htm
12. Syria and Iraq sign Memo of Understanding on Electrical Power -- DAMASCUS, (SANA)-Syrian and Iraqi electricity ministries on Sunday signed a memo of understanding on a number of joint issues in the field of electrical power investment, distribution and connection. The memo states that both ministries study executive programs of electrical power linkage between the two countries' nets within the septet linkage system, it is expected that power linkage between Syria and Iraq be implemented next year. http://www.sana.org/eng/24/2007/03/18/108485.htm
13. Iraqi Planning Minister Courts Arab-American Investment - Washington – Iraqi Planning Minister Ali Baban urged Arab-American business leaders to seek economic opportunities in Iraq and said his government is working to make the country a stable environment for investment. “Any commercial or economic operation depends on stability, and this is the focus of the Iraqi government right now,” Baban told members of the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce in Washington March 15. http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2007&m=March&x=20070315164115ndyblehs0.149914
14. INTERNATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION FUND FACILITY MOVES FORWARD FOLLOWING PRODUCTIVE DONOR COMMITTEE MEETING -- ISTANBUL, Turkey, March 20, 2007—The International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI) Donor Committee Meeting concluded successfully today, with strong resolve from the international donor community, the United Nations and the World Bank to continue advancing Iraqi leadership on reconstruction efforts. They reaffirmed their support for IRFFI, which should remain an important vehicle for donors to support the implementation of the International Compact with Iraq. http://uniraq.org/
15. Business as 'Normal' in Baghdad's Markets - Weekend Edition Saturday, March 17, 2007 · Ken Stern, NPR's chief executive officer, visited Iraq this month to check on NPR's Baghdad bureau. Following is an entry from his Reporter's Notebook.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8957798
16. CEC starts third year of Rebuild Iraq Recruitment Program (RIRP) - The third year after the beginning of the RIRP program shows that, the need for European companies to position themselves in the competitive environment in Iraq is more important than ever.
http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3332
17. "Iraqi List" Deputy Bashes Draft Oil Law. Opposition MP Warns Against Passage until Occupation Ends -- The draft oil and gas law could lead to the “partition of Iraq” and the dissipation of its wealth, said Usama al-Najifi, former minister of industry and current member of parliament in the opposition Iraqi National List. Najifi said, “The oil law project in the form as sent to parliament is very dangerous, and in it is the partition of Iraq and the dissipation of its riches” http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/1900/Iraqi_List_Deputy_Bashes_Draft_Oil_Law
18. Rice: Number of provincial construction teams in Iraq will be doubled -- WASHINGTON — State Department officials will double the number of provincial reconstruction teams in Iraq and recruit more than 300 civilians to help man them in an effort to help stabilize that country, the secretary of state announced Tuesday. “We are transitioning our role,” Condoleezza Rice told members of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “This is to help Iraqis build their own democratic institutions and lead their own economic development at the provincial and local levels.” http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=43947
19. Iraq, Syria to sign economical accord http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093146195
20. Price Check: Baghdad Green Zone Burger King http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/topic/58
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