posted February 27, 2004 03:36 PM              

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq started loading a tanker with crude oil Friday at its Persian Gulf oil terminal, an official at the country's oil-marketing agency said. If the activity can be sustained, the new export route could markedly increase Iraqi exports, which have been stymied for months by sabotage.

The terminal, called Khor al-Amaya, was badly damaged in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. It was effectively put out of commission by allied warplanes during Operation Desert Storm, though it was used by smugglers as recently as early 2003, just before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

The terminal, which was deemed unusable by U.S. engineers immediately after the invasion, initially could boost exports by some 300,000 to 400,000 barrels of oil a day, with capacity increasing to some 800,000 barrels a day over time, according to Iraqi oil officials.

An official at Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization declined to give any further details about the size of the oil tanker that was loading at Khor al-Amaya Friday or any schedules for future loadings.

It is far from certain, however, if the loading will be sustainable. Iraqi officials have targeted repairs at the terminal as a priority to relieve an export bottleneck and bring in desperately needed funds for the country's reconstruction. While the country's oil production -- halted during the invasion -- recently approached prewar levels, sabotage along a pipeline to the Mediterranean Sea has put a lid on exports.

Last week, SOMO officials said weather-related stoppages in February at its working Persian Gulf terminal will likely mean total average exports for the month will come in lower than in January. Estimates for exports in January range from about 1.5 million barrels a day to 1.7 million barrels a day.

Iraq's only other major export route -- a pipeline from the northern oil fields at Kirkuk to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan -- has yet to resume pumping on a regular basis, after being the subject of several sabotage attacks last year. The line was briefly tested over five days last week at a rate of about 400,000 to 450,000 barrels of oil per day. That oil went into storage tanks at Ceyhan, which now contain around two million barrels of crude.

posted March 04, 2004 02:39 PM              

I don't expect any Knowflake to be able to confidently answer these questions. Nor would I place enormous amounts of weight in their accuracy or inaccuracy.

posted March 04, 2004 10:12 PM              

There are the Kurds, the Sunnis, and the Shiites. Three totally differect sects, each trying to establish their Chiefs, leaders, clerics, whatever as the dominate voice in control of "Iraq."

I think its ludicrous to assume that since one despot has been usurped, and the USA says "you must form a democracy, NOW!" thats its going to happen.

There is very little in the way of education and prosperity in Iraq. Yes, we are told the schools are up and running...for how long after the US bails out? Until the next dictator backed by whichever sect comes out in power shows up?

Its hard to find out what the values of the typical Iraqi are, even with the advantages of technology. What is truth? What is propaganda? When I see reports from other countries' journalists, I read nothing but-why are we being killed? why cant we be left alone? Why all this death in the name of a democracy we never asked for? Why wont the Americans leave?

And I do hate to say, but the US reports never seem to quote an Iraqi....all I see is troops saying they are doing great good, that the Iraqis love them....
(which, hey great if its true!! Considering that 2% of all our enlisted actually speak the local languages, I am really curious how those words were interpreted.)

quote:

---

don't expect any Knowflake to be able to confidently answer these questions. Nor would I place enormous amounts of weight in their accuracy or inaccuracy.

---

We can still research and form opinions based on facts. No, I can't answer for an Iraqi, but I can certainly give a break down on the influence of Islam in Middle Eastern society. As far as the "willpower of the Iraqis to withstand another upheaval..."
why do you think they are still bombing, still fighting?

posted March 05, 2004 08:42 PM              

I stumbled upon this article, and reading it made me think maybe you would appreciate it.
At the end there are also links discussing Iraq history. I hope perhaps it gives some clarity to your questions, if that's what you are looking for......

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1162468,00.html

quote:

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It is typical of how Middle Eastern politics is rooted in past history that the date which sprang to many Shia minds after the bombs in Kerbala this week was May 1801, when Wahhabi warriors swept in from what is now Saudi Arabia and sacked the city. According to a European chronicler, the raiders converted the shrine of Imam Hussein "into a cloaca of abomination and blood".
Two centuries later that assault by the Sunni Muslims most intolerant of Shi'ism reverberates down the years, even though most of the Sunni world is far from sharing such views. What these memories underline is that intervention in Iraq has severely shaken up both Sunni and Shia society across the Middle East. On the one hand they are drawn toward embracing a common solidarity against extremism and expressing a common distaste for outside interference. On the other, their interests diverge, their religious choices still divide them and, in particular, their attitudes to the US attempt to transform Iraq are very different.

---

MK

posted March 08, 2004 09:39 AM              

Summary of Iraq's Constitution

Associated Press

The Iraqi Governing Council signed an interim constitution on Monday. The 25-page document, or Transitional Administrative Law, was published in Arabic and English. Here is a summary, which was released by the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority:

The Transitional Administrative Law will be the supreme law of Iraq during the transitional period. It will expire once a government is elected under a permanent constitution and take office. This will happen no later than December 31, 2005. The transitional period will consist of two phases:

Phase I: On 30 June 2004, an Iraqi Interim Government will be vested with full sovereignty, and the Coalition Provisional Authority will dissolve. This Iraqi government will be formed through a process of widespread consultation with the Iraqi people and will govern according to the Transitional Administrative Law and an annex to be issued before the beginning of the transitional period.

Phase II: The Iraqi Transitional Government will take office after elections for the National Assembly. These elections will take place as soon as possible, but no later than 31 January 2005.

The Fundamental Principles of the Law include the following:

The system of government in Iraq will be republican, federal, democratic, and pluralistic. Federalism will be based on geography, history, and the separation of powers and not on ethnicity or sect.

The Iraqi Armed Forces will fall under the control of Iraq's civilian political leadership.

Islam will be the official religion of the State and will be considered a source of legislation. The Law will respect the Islamic identity of the majority of the Iraqi people and guarantee the freedom of religious belief and practice.

Arabic and Kurdish will be the official languages of Iraq.

The people of Iraq are sovereign and free. All Iraqis are equal in their rights and without regard to gender, nationality, religion, or ethnic origin and they are equal before the law. Those unjustly deprived of their citizenship by previous Iraqi regimes will have the right to reclaim their citizenship. The government will respect the rights of the people, including the rights:

• To freedom of thought, conscience, and expression;

• To assemble peaceably and to associate and organize freely;

• To justice; to a fair, speedy, and open trial and to the presumption of innocence;

• To vote, according to law, in free, fair, competitive and periodic elections;

• To file grievances against officials when these rights have been violated.

The Transitional Iraqi Government will contain checks, balances, and the separation of powers. The federal government will have the exclusive right to exercise sovereign power in a number of critical areas, including the management and control of the following:

• National security policy; independent militias shall be prohibited,

• Foreign policy, diplomatic representation, and border control,

• National fiscal, monetary and commercial policy,

• National resources; revenues from which must be spent on the needs of all of Iraq's regions in an equitable manner.

The Transitional Legislative Authority will be vested in a National Assembly, which will pass laws and help select and oversee the work of the executive authority. The National Assembly will be freely elected by the people of Iraq, under an electoral system designed to achieve representation of women of at least one-quarter of its members, as well as fair representation of all of Iraq's communities.

The Transitional Executive Authority will consist of the Presidency and the Council of Ministers, including the Prime Minister.

The Presidency Council will consist of the President and two Deputy Presidents, and will be elected by the National Assembly as a group. The Presidency Council will represent the sovereignty of Iraq, may veto laws, and make appointments. All decisions of the Presidency Council will be taken unanimously.

The Presidency Council will nominate the Prime Minister and, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, will also nominate the Council of Ministers. All ministers will need to be confirmed in a vote of confidence by the National Assembly.

The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers will oversee the day-to-day management of the government.

The Federal Judicial Authority will be independent. A Federal Supreme Court will be created to hear judicial appeals and to ensure that all laws in Iraq are consistent with the Transitional Administrative Law. It will consist of nine members, who will be appointed by the Presidency Council upon the recommendation of an impartial Higher Juridical Council.

Federalism and local government will ensure a unified Iraq and prevent the concentration of power in the central government that enabled decades of tyranny and oppression. This will encourage the exercise of local authority in which all citizens are able to participate actively in political life.

The Kurdistan Regional Government will be recognized as an official regional government within a unified Iraq, and will continue to exercise many of the functions it currently exercises. Groups of governorates elsewhere in Iraq will be permitted to form regions, and take on additional authorities.

The governorates will have Governors and Governorate Councils, in addition to municipal, local, and city councils as appropriate.

All authorities not reserved to the Federal Government may be exercised as appropriate by the governorates and the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Elections for Governorate Councils throughout Iraq, and also for the Kurdistan National Assembly will be held at the same time as elections for the National Assembly, no later than 31 January 2005.

Iraq's security will be defended by Iraqi Armed Forces, working together with the Coalition. Consistent with Iraq's sovereign status, the Iraqi Armed Forces will play a leading role as a partner in the multinational force helping to bring security to Iraq in the transitional period. The Iraqi Transitional Government will also have the authority to negotiate a security agreement with Coalition forces.

The National Assembly will be responsible for drafting the permanent constitution.

After consulting with the Iraqi people and completing a draft, the proposed constitution will be submitted to the public in a referendum, which will occur no later than 15 October 2005. If the constitution is adopted, elections for a new government under the constitution will be held, and the new government will take office no later than 31 December 2005.

Copyright © 2004 Associated Press

posted March 09, 2004 02:01 PM              

The U.S. is trying to find and return to Iraq money the Saddam Hussein regime had squirreled away around the globe. Here is how the U.S. thinks funds hidden abroad were accumulated:

The methods

-- Black-market oil sales outside the United Nations oil-for-food program, with shipments sent out by pipeline, tanker truck and barges

-- Skimming and kickbacks on oil legitimately sold through the OFF program, including demanding surcharges deposited to separate accounts

-- Kickbacks and surcharges on humanitarian purchases under the OFF program and other schemes

The results

-- In May 2002 the General Accounting Office "conservatively" estimated the regime had amassed $6.6 billion in illegal revenue from oil smuggling and skimming on U.N.-sanctioned oil sales from 1997 to 2001.

-- Estimates of the money that the Saddam Hussein family had amassed range from $2 billion to $40 billion, but may be proving inflated.

posted March 11, 2004 09:58 AM              

Here is an article by a Woman Who Cares, and she will be remembered as a courageous soul for many months of March to come:

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0310-09.htm

and how the Women of Iraq or doing, which you should care more about than where some stupid paper is hidden:

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0308-01.htm

Medea's group is based right under your nose...ever heard of them, or her?

posted March 12, 2004 01:36 PM            

I like this thread too.