Clipmarks | BobbyDelray's 'iraq' clips

Where is Iraq's oil money going?

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 18:55:58 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Two senators are asking congressional investigators to look at Iraq's oil revenues and see if the war-ravaged nation can pay for its own reconstruction, an effort that has been bankrolled to this point mostly by U.S. taxpayers.

Government Accountability Office that Iraq has "tremendous resources" in banks worldwide but is doing little to improve security and reconstruction efforts.

We believe that it has been overwhelmingly U.S. taxpayer money that has funded Iraq reconstruction over the last five years, despite Iraq earning billions of dollars in oil revenue

Using numbers from the U.S. State Department and Iraqi Oil Ministry, the senators said Iraq hopes to produce 2.2 million barrels of oil a day this year. Weekly averages suggest that the number has climbed as high as 2.51 million barrels a day.

That kind of oil production could earn Iraq a projected $56.4 billion this year

we believe that Iraq will accrue at least $100.0 billion in oil revenues in 2007 and 2008

Tags: oil, iraq, revenue, reconstruction

Estimates on Iraq-War Costs

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 02:46:01 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Clip Source: blogs.wsj.com

How much has the war in Iraq cost the U.S.?

The most-basic estimate covers only spending to date, and is limited to budgetary items of military and diplomatic operations in Iraq. The Congressional Budget Office put those costs at about $400 billion in testimony last month before a House panel.

But start projecting forward 10 years

and you get a wide range of figures, all the way up to $3.5 trillion.

The latest estimate came this week from Congressional Democrats. The Joint Economic Committee’s majority staff released a report estimating the costs incurred so far in Iraq and Afghanistan at $1.6 trillion, and pegs costs through 2017 at $3.5 trillion. The report received widespread press coverage, including on CNN and in the Washington Post.

Republicans responded by criticizing the report for “errors and poor methodology,” but didn’t offer their own estimate.

The CBO

estimated total budget costs through 2017

between $1.2 trillion and $1.7 trillion

interest costs between $600 and $700 billion

Tags: iraq, war, costs, budget

Americans getting 'heads blown off for the president's amusement'

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:05:10 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Clip Source: blogs.usatoday.com

Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., has added another item to our catalogue of the sort of discourse that now defines so much of American politics.

Stark took to the House floor yesterday to speak in favor of overriding President Bush's veto of legislation that would have expanded a children's health insurance program. He somehow veered into Iraq, saying that young Americans are getting their "heads blown off for the president's amusement."

"The truth is, Bush just likes to blow things up in Iraq, in the United States and in Congress," Stark says.

What do you think about what he said and how he said it?

Tags: president, bush, pete stark, children's health insurance program, iraq, war

Iraq Death Toll Rivals Rwanda Genocide, Cambodian Killing Fields

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 14:21:09 GMT

clipped by: Rasmus

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

According to a new study, 1.2 million Iraqis have met violent deaths since the 2003 invasion, the highest estimate of war-related fatalities yet. The study was done by the British polling firm ORB, which conducted face-to-face interviews with a sample of over 1,700 Iraqi adults in 15 of Iraq's 18 provinces. Two provinces -- al-Anbar and Karbala -- were too dangerous to canvas, and officials in a third, Irbil, didn't give the researchers a permit to do their work. The study's margin of error was plus-minus 2.4 percent.

The poll's findings are in line with the rolling estimate maintained on the Just Foreign Policy website, based on the Johns Hopkins' data, that stands at just over 1 million Iraqis killed as of this writing.

These numbers suggest that the invasion and occupation of Iraq rivals the great crimes of the last century

800,000 to 900,000 believed killed in the Rwandan genocide in 1994

(1.7 million) who died in Cambodia's infamous "Killing Fields" during the Khmer Rouge era

Tags: iraq, usa, war, war on iraq

Turks to Invade Norther Iraq?

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:11:12 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray
clipper's remarks: This iis scary. Where there is smoke there is fire.

Clip Source: blogs.usatoday.com

The Turkish Parliament has approved a proposal to send troops across the Iraqi border in pursuit of Kurdish separatists who are accused of mounting attacks inside Turkey, the Associated Press reports.

Tags: turkish parliament, kurdish separatists, turkey, iraq

Military Declares Victory over Al Qaeda in Iraq

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:01:46 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Clip Source: blogs.usatoday.com

Some U.S. military commanders are declaring victory over al-Qaeda in Iraq after coalition forces "dealt devastating and perhaps irreversible blows" to the terrorist group, according to The Washington Post.

"There is widespread agreement that AQI has suffered major blows over the past three months," the Post reports. "Among the indicators cited is a sharp drop in suicide bombings, the group's signature attack, from more than 60 in January to around 30 a month since July. Captures and interrogations of AQI leaders over the summer had what a senior military intelligence official called a "cascade effect," leading to other killings and captures. The flow of foreign fighters through Syria into Iraq has also diminished, although officials are unsure of the reason and are concerned that the broader al-Qaeda network may be diverting new recruits to Afghanistan and elsewhere."

Tags: military, declares, victory, over, al, qaeda, in, iraq

95% of Troops in Iraq Americans

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:12:26 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Clip Source: blogs.usatoday.com

CNN's top story summarizes an essay about Burma by Laura Bush. MSNBC uses its front page to report on the "crumbling coalition" in Iraq, pointing readers to a report that says American forces will soon account for 95% of the troops on the front lines. Fox News sends a message to Fred Thompson, the former senator who participated in his first GOP presidential debate: "Welcome To the Show."

Tags: iraq, war, bush, troops

World War III?

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 18:41:03 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray
clipper's remarks: This is how things get started. What would we do in this circumstance?

Clip Source: blogs.usatoday.com

Turkey is preparing for what the Associated Press describes as a "possible cross-border operation into Iraq."

The defense minister tells Reuters that the parliament must OK any large-scale invasion, but the premier's office can authorize limited incursions known as "hot pursuit" operations inside Iraq.

Turkey claims that Kurdish militants have attacked Turkish territory from bases in northern Iraq.

Tags: war, iraq, turkey

Deadly outbreaks of disease in Iraq

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:24:38 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Clip Source: blogs.usatoday.com

Cholera in Iraq: Reuters reports that 2,116 people have been infected with cholera in the last month. Despite the number of bacterial infections, only 11 people -- about 0.52% of those infected -- have died.

About 30,000 Iraqis have been diagnosed with watery diarrhea in the past month, Reuters says. BBC News just reported that the first death associated with a confirmed case of the disease has occurred in Baghdad.

Tags: iraq, cholera

Clinton: I won't fund Iraq war without withdrawal plan

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 04:30:23 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton said Sunday she won't vote for any more money to support the four-year-old war in Iraq without a plan to start bringing U.S. troops home.

"I've reached the conclusion that the best way to support our troops is begin bringing them home," the New York senator and former first lady told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer."

"I don't believe we should continue to vote for funding that has an open-ended commitment, that has no pressure on the Iraqi government to make the tough political decisions they have to make, or which really gives any urgency to the Bush administration's diplomatic efforts."

Tags: clinton, hillary, war, iraq, funding

Poll finds solid support for Iraq withdrawal, more political pressure

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 03:29:42 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray
clipper's remarks: Should be get out immediately or schedule a withdrawal?

Clip Source: blogs.usatoday.com

The latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds that 59% of Americans support setting a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq and sticking to it regardless of conditions over there.

But Gen. David Petraeus' appearances before Congress last week did not change fundamental attitudes toward the war, writes USA TODAY's Susan Page.

found essentially no shift in views on whether U.S. forces are likely to win the war — two-thirds predict they won't — and if the United States should set a firm timetable to remove troops.

Here are the complete results.

Tags: iraq, war, poll, withdrawal

Soldiers who wrote NY Times opinion piece critical of Pentagon die in Iraq

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 19:15:15 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray
clipper's remarks: Were they murdered?

Clip Source: www.iht.com

TEXAS CITY, Texas: The mother of an Army sergeant who died in a Baghdad vehicle accident weeks after writing a New York Times opinion piece critical of the Pentagon said Wednesday she wants the Army to explain his death.

"I want to know all the details of how he died. I want to know the truth," said Olga Capetillo, whose 28-year-old son, Sgt. Omar Mora, died Monday. "I don't understand how so many people could die in that accident. How could it be so bad?"

Capetillo feared that the article, which ran Aug. 19 in the New York Times, could damage her son's military career or cause him other problems. She said that in the weeks since writing the piece with six other active duty U.S. soldiers, Mora had seemed increasingly depressed and withdrawn.

Tags: iraq, soldiers, pentagon, army, capetillo, omar mora

Petraeus: "I don't know" if war is making us safer

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 19:59:05 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Commanding General does not know if war helps US security.

Clip Source: blog.beliefnet.com

But the most stunning exchange of the day came on a question from Republican John Warner, one of the Senate's elder statesmen on military matters. The Chicago Tribune reported:

Warner concluded with a question: "Are you able to say at this time, if we continue what you have laid before the Congress here as a strategy, do you feel that that is making America safer?"

Petraeus said the strategy was the best course for achieving U.S. objectives in Iraq.

"Does that make America safer?" pushed Warner.

Said Petraeus, "Sir, I don't know, actually. I have not sat down and sorted it out in my own mind."

Petraeus' response to one of the most fundamental questions for the American people about the war in Iraq—does this war make us safer—was "I don't know." Every day, young Americans are being asked to risk and give their lives for a policy that the commanding general can't say is making America safer. Extraordinary.

Tags: petraeus, john warner, iraq, terrorism, war on terror