Farewell to Bush

[The Cat]

[The Cat]

[M]

Was my last message here so difficult to understand?

The missing posts are in the bin.

The next attempt to turn this thread into an Obama thread will be classified as trolling.


M.

[piggy]

.


More of the Bush administration legacy of GOOD............... i.e. freedom from tyranny for Iraq and some hope for those in all the other Arab states who have been living in fear and oppressed under tyrants without EVER really knowing freedom of speech, expression, education, women's rights, etc

Zakaria: Election rare good news out of Iraq

Editor's note: Fareed Zakaria is a foreign affairs analyst who hosts "Fareed Zakaria: GPS" on CNN at 1 and 6 p.m. ET Sundays.



Fareed Zakaria: "Last week's elections were something rare: good news out of Iraq"

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's coalition won most of the provinces in last week's local elections, and an underdog prevailed in Anbar, the largely Sunni Arab province, election officials said Thursday.

Officials unveiled the results of 90 percent of returns from Saturday's elections. The other 10 percent -- as yet uncounted -- comprise special voters, such as security forces who voted before last week's election, and contested ballots.

The vote was viewed as a test of the popularity of al-Maliki, a Shiite who has emerged as a powerful politician.

Al-Maliki's State of the Law Coalition list -- which includes members of his Dawa party -- came in first in nine of 14 provinces.

The results represent defeat for al-Maliki's rivals, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, the most powerful Shiite party in the present government, and the followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, long popular in Baghdad's slums and the Shiite heartland

World affairs expert and author Fareed Zakaria spoke to CNN about the impact of last week's election.

CNN: Did you support the US invasion of Iraq?

Zakaria: Yes, when the U.S. first invaded Iraq, I supported the idea. I supported the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime because I thought that to have a democracy in the heart of the Arab world could change the politics of that region, where there's a bad cycle.

The region is ruled by repressive dictatorships and their repression breeds extreme and religious opposition movements like al Qaeda. This was a chance to break with all that.

CNN: Do you still think that?

Zakaria: Well, foreign policy is about costs and benefits. The horror wrought by poor planning was unconscionable. Iraq fell into the grip of bloody and uncontrolled violence because of the catastrophic way the Bush administration handled the occupation. In the end the costs brought by the invasion were simply too high to justify.

But I continue to hope that an Iraq that handles its politics through debate, negotiations and participation will mark a sea change in the Arab world.

CNN: You think it is that important?

Zakaria: Yes. Think about it, of the 22 Arab countries, this is the only one to hold real elections.

CNN: So what do you think about the recent Iraqi elections?

Zakaria: Well what I want to see is whether this is a democracy or a tyranny of the majority. Remember the Shia are the largest voting bloc in Iraq.

The reason this is crucial is that the rest of the Arab world is Sunni. If they see what's going on in Iraq not as democracy but as Shiite majority rule, it's not going to be much of an example to them.

The Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, Barham Saleh also wants to be careful in noting the elections are a part of a larger democratic process: "Talking of triumph is far too early. The most important thing that Iraq's political process is consolidating, there is a democratic system that is taking root in this country and people of Iraq are having a stake in this process, are taking part in it."

There are big challenges ahead but last week there was something rare -- good news out of Iraq.

CNN: So other Arab countries are watching?

Zakaria: Yes. But whether it will affect them immediately is probably not likely. As Martin Indyk, author of "Innocent Abroad," mentions in a discussion on "GPS" this week: "There will be those small liberal voices in the Arab World who will take heart at the way in which the election process appears to be helping reconciliation between Sunnis and Shias. But I think the general response for the time being is that they'll suspend judgment at best rather than decide to embrace this approach."

CNN: What do you think will happen?

Zakaria: I'm not sure, but a lot rests on whether the current situation between the Shiites and the Sunnis is just a cease-fire -- or a genuine peace.

We will only know for sure when the American troops start leaving. The hope is that the peace will remain -- not an escalation of tensions.

Barham Saleh is very aware things are still delicate: "I can tell you the progress is undeniable, is tangible and should be recognized and should be celebrated. However, it is still fragile and it is still precarious.

Without active American engagement and support, the security gains and the political gains could unravel. This should propel us in the Iraqi leadership with the help of the United States, with the help of the United Nations to really address some of these fundamental political problems that is still affecting our society and our political system.

There are key issues of power sharing, oil, and revenue sharing, disputed territories in Kirkuk and other areas, some of these fundamental issues are yet to be resolved."

So we need to continue to wait and watch what develops. And you can keep abreast of the developments by continuing to watch "GPS."

NOTE: This is not an attempt to turn this thread into an Obama thread.

This is to demonstrate the good that has been achieved by the Bush administration in Iraq and how the present administration could undo that good, and how the military leaders support the Bush policy in Iraq.

*

Emasculating Obama
A Generals' Revolt?
By DAVE LINDORFF

If an article by Gareth Porter is correct that CentCom Commander Gen. David Petraeus and Iraq Commander Gen. Ray Odierno, backed by a group of lower-ranking generals, are planning to mount a public campaign to try and undermine President Obama’s plan for a withdrawal from Iraq in 16 months, Obama needs to act fast and nip this dangerous act of insubordination in the bud.

It was a similar act of insubordination on the part of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that effectively destroyed the Clinton administration almost from day one. Recall that one of President Clinton’s first acts following his inauguration was to make good on a campaign promise to end discrimination against gays and lesbians in the military. His initial order was to simply end the ban on homosexuality in the military. But the Joint Chiefs publicly rebelled, and Clinton caved, coming up with the ridiculous and unworkable “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, under which gays and lesbians could serve in the military, but had to hide their sexual orientation or face ouster.

When Clinton, as commander in chief of the armed forces, allowed his generals to defy his orders, and, instead of sacking them all for insubordination and stripping off their stars, left them in their offices and surrendered to their objections, he didn’t just cave in to the military. He also alerted the Republican opposition that he was a political pushover.

Obama, on a much more serious issue—the conduct of and termination of a war—is now apparently being more or less openly defied by his top generals, who after all get their glory and power by having troops in battle, and who are also worried that a collapse of the puppet regime in Iraq could leave them looking like losers. They are thus opposing a pullout from Iraq (and a hardly precipitous one at that!) out of self-interest and self-preservation.

If Commander in Chief Obama allows this insubordination and political opposition to exist among his senior generals, his presidency is toast. He will be a prisoner to a militarist policy in Iraq and Afghanistan that will drag down his presidency in the same way that Lyndon Johnson’s presidency was destroyed by the generals running the Vietnam War. Furthermore, just as Republicans in Congress saw Clinton’s weakness in his dealings with the Joint Chiefs and began dogging his every more, they, and Obama’s opponents among the Blue Dog Democrats in Congress, will see weakness and move against him.

There is only one answer to this challenge to presidential authority: President Obama must sack both Petraeus and Odierno, and any other general who tries—openly or behind the scenes--to move politically against his military strategy and orders. The model for this action is President Harry Truman—widely viewed, whatever his faults, as a forceful leader—who fired the popular Gen. Douglas McArthur when McArthur went behind his back to Republicans in Congress to push for a wider war in Korea.

This is not just a matter of salvaging an Obama presidency. It is also a profound constitutional issue. There is no greater threat to democratic freedom than a military that refuses to accept, or that actively works to undermine civilian authority. Generals and admirals certainly have a right to object to the decisions made by their commander in chief, but they cannot act in defiance or those decisions while in uniform. Admiral William Fallon took the right course of action. Opposed to Bush/Cheney administration plans to attack Iran, he chose to resign his post as CentCom Commander and to resign from the military. If Gen. Petraeus and Gen. Odierno oppose Obama’s plan for a pullout from Iraq, they should do the same and then speak out if they wish.

For the past eight years, the biggest threat to American democracy was that a president and vice president attempted to convert the office of president into a military dictatorship, with the position of commander in chief subsuming and replacing the position of president. Now the danger is that the nation’s top generals are trying to eliminate or emasculate the president’s role as commander in chief, making the generals the leaders of the nation’s military. Both dangers are equally threatening to constitutional government.

DAVE LINDORFF is a Philadelphia-based journalist and columnist. His latest book is “The Case for Impeachment” (St. Martin’s Press, 2006, available now in paperback edition). His work is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net

The Bush administration was right to go into Iraq and it is right to remain there until the job is done.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Btw, this thread is supposed to be 'Farewell to Bush' ........... comments, argument and discussion on Bush's performance pro and contra would be reasonable............. but the cut 'n' paste of Bush-beat-up comic-strips without any actual input is what I call 'trolling'.


.

[The Cat]

Bushism, year 2000.

"One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures." --George W. Bush, Jan. 3, 2000.

"When I was coming up, it was a dangerous world, and you knew exactly who they were. It was us versus them, and it was clear who them was. Today we are not so sure who the they are, but we know they're there." --George W. Bush, Iowa Western Community College, Jan 21, 2000.

"If you're sick and tired of the politics of cynicism and polls and principles, come and join this campaign." --George W. Bush, Hilton Head, S.C., Feb. 16, 2000.

"It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it." --George W. Bush, Reuters, May 5, 2000.

"I think we agree, the past is over." --George W. Bush, on his meeting with John McCain, Dallas Morning News, May 10, 2000.

"I am a person who recognizes the fallacy of humans." --George W. Bush, Oprah, Sept. 19, 2000.

"One of the common denominators I have found is that expectations rise above that which is expected." --George W. Bush, Los Angeles, Sept. 27, 2000.

"It's important for us to explain to our nation that life is important. It's not only life of babies, but it's life of children living in, you know, the dark dungeons of the Internet." --George W. Bush, Arlington Heights, Ill., Oct. 24, 2000.

[piggy]

.



http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/P ... 6rockt.asp

Bush's Achievements - Ten things the president got right.
by Fred Barnes
01/19/2009, Volume 014, Issue 17

The postmortems on the presidency of George W. Bush are all wrong. The liberal line is that Bush dangerously weakened America's position in the world and rushed to the aid of the rich and powerful as income inequality worsened. That is twaddle. Conservatives--okay, not all of them--have only been a little bit kinder. They give Bush credit for the surge that saved Iraq, but not for much else.

He deserves better. His presidency was far more successful than not.

And there's an aspect of his decision-making that merits special recognition: his courage. Time and time again, Bush did what other presidents, even Ronald Reagan, would not have done and for which he was vilified and abused. That--defiantly doing the right thing--is what distinguished his presidency.

Bush had ten great achievements (and maybe more) in his eight years in the White House, starting with his decision in 2001 to jettison the Kyoto global warming treaty so loved by Al Gore, the environmental lobby, elite opinion, and Europeans. The treaty was a disaster, with India and China exempted and economic decline the certain result. Everyone knew it.

But only Bush said so and acted accordingly.

He stood athwart mounting global warming hysteria and yelled, "Stop!" He slowed the movement toward a policy blunder of worldwide impact, providing time for facts to catch up with the dubious claims of alarmists. Thanks in part to Bush, the supposed consensus of scientists on global warming has now collapsed. The skeptics, who point to global cooling over the past decade, are now heard loud and clear. And a rational approach to the theory of manmade global warming is possible.

Second, enhanced interrogation of terrorists. Along with use of secret prisons and wireless eavesdropping, this saved American lives. How many thousands of lives? We'll never know.

But, as Charles Krauthammer said recently, "Those are precisely the elements which kept us safe and which have prevented a second attack."

Crucial intelligence was obtained from captured al Qaeda leaders, including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, with the help of waterboarding. Whether this tactic--it creates a drowning sensation--is torture is a matter of debate. John McCain and many Democrats say it is. Bush and Vice President Cheney insist it isn't. In any case, it was necessary. Lincoln once made a similar point in defending his suspension of habeas corpus in direct defiance of Chief Justice Roger Taney. "Are all the laws but one to go unexecuted, and the government itself go to pieces, lest that one be violated?" Lincoln asked. Bush understood the answer in wartime had to be no.

Bush's third achievement was the rebuilding of presidential authority, badly degraded in the era of Vietnam, Watergate, and Bill Clinton. He didn't hesitate to conduct wireless surveillance of terrorists without getting a federal judge's okay. He decided on his own how to treat terrorists and where they should be imprisoned. Those were legitimate decisions for which the president, as commander in chief, should feel no need to apologize.

Defending, all the way to the Supreme Court, Cheney's refusal to disclose to Congress the names of people he'd consulted on energy policy was also enormously important. Democratic congressman Henry Waxman demanded the names, but the Court upheld Cheney, 7-2. Last week, Cheney defended his refusal, waspishly noting that Waxman "doesn't call me up and tell me who he's meeting with."

Achievement number four was Bush's unswerving support for Israel. Reagan was once deemed Israel's best friend in the White House. Now Bush can claim the title. He ostracized Yasser Arafat as an impediment to peace in the Middle East. This infuriated the anti-Israel forces in Europe, the Third World, and the United Nations, and was criticized by champions of the "peace process" here at home. Bush was right.

He was clever in his support. Bush announced that Ariel Sharon should withdraw the tanks he'd sent into the West Bank in 2002, then exerted zero pressure on Sharon to do so. And he backed the wall along Israel's eastern border without endorsing it as an official boundary, while knowing full well that it might eventually become exactly that. He was a loyal friend.

His fifth success was No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the education reform bill cosponsored by America's most prominent liberal Democratic senator Edward Kennedy. The teachers' unions, school boards, the education establishment, conservatives adamant about local control of schools--they all loathed the measure and still do. It requires two things they ardently oppose, mandatory testing and accountability.

Kennedy later turned against NCLB, saying Bush is shortchanging the program. In truth, federal education spending is at record levels. Another complaint is that it forces teachers to "teach to the test." The tests are on math and reading. They are tests worth teaching to.

Sixth, Bush declared in his second inaugural address in 2005 that American foreign policy (at least his) would henceforth focus on promoting democracy
around the world. This put him squarely in the Reagan camp, but he was lambasted as unrealistic, impractical, and a tool of wily neoconservatives. The new policy gave Bush credibility in pressing for democracy in the former Soviet republics and Middle East and in zinging various dictators and kleptocrats. It will do the same for President Obama, if he's wise enough to hang onto it.

The seventh achievement is the Medicare prescription drug benefit, enacted in 2003. It's not only wildly popular; it has cost less than expected by triggering competition among drug companies. Conservatives have deep reservations about the program. But they shouldn't have been surprised. Bush advocated the drug benefit in the 2000 campaign. And if he hadn't acted, Democrats would have, with a much less attractive result.

Then there were John Roberts and Sam Alito. In putting them on the Supreme Court and naming Roberts chief justice, Bush achieved what had eluded Richard Nixon, Reagan, and his own father. Roberts and Alito made the Court indisputably more conservative. And the good news is Roberts, 53, and Alito, 58, should be justices for decades to come.

Bush's ninth achievement has been widely ignored. He strengthened relations with east Asian democracies (Japan, South Korea, Australia) without causing a rift with China. On top of that, he forged strong ties with India. An important factor was their common enemy, Islamic jihadists. After 9/11, Bush made the most of this, and Indian leaders were receptive. His state dinner for Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh in 2006 was a lovefest.

Finally, a no-brainer: the surge. Bush prompted nearly unanimous disapproval in January 2007 when he announced he was sending more troops to Iraq and adopting a new counterinsurgency strategy. His opponents initially included the State Department, the Pentagon, most of Congress, the media, the foreign policy establishment, indeed the whole world. This makes his decision a profile in courage. Best of all, the surge worked. Iraq is now a fragile but functioning democracy.

How does Bush rank as a president? We won't know until he's judged from the perspective of two or three decades. Hindsight forced a sharp upgrading of the presidencies of Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower. Given his achievements, it may have the same effect for Bush.

--Fred Barnes, for the Editors[/quote]

Politically opportunistic and biased cartoons say nothing except to show the small mindedness of the creators (cohorts of the devious, sinister and biased MSM) and also of those lazy ones who would use them as some form of researched (not) 'discussion'.




.

[piggy]

.


http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articl ... _than.html

Bush's Achievements Larger Than Can Be Understood .............. by idiotic biased MSM cartoonists and their bash-bush brigade looneys.

January 30, 2008
Bush's Achievements Larger Than Can Be Understood .............. by idiotic biased MSM cartoonists and their bash-bush brigade looneys.
By Michael Gerson

WASHINGTON -- When President Bush took his final walk to the rostrum of the House chamber, his speech and manner conveyed little nostalgia. He views both meditation on the past and speculation about his legacy with equal suspicion, preferring to live in the urgency of the now. So his last State of the Union address had no Reagan-like, misty-eyed wistfulness. It was the most matter-of-fact of his congressional addresses: a clear theme -- trusting the people -- developed at a brisk pace, with modest proposals and an edge of impatience at congressional loitering. He seemed to be saying: "With a year to go, sentiment be damned."

But there is no law to prevent me from waxing nostalgic. Watching the speech, I recalled meeting Gov. Bush of Texas in the spring of 1999, before he was a declared candidate. He talked with rushed intensity about being a "different kind of Republican," dedicated to racial healing and helping the poor and determined to provide moral leadership as a contrast and corrective to the Clinton years. Because I believed him, I left journalism and joined his campaign.

It is conventional wisdom that Bush's idealism is either a fraud or has been pushed aside completely by the priorities of war. Slate Editor Jacob Weisberg argues that his claim to be a compassionate conservative is "largely fictional." A liberal organization called Americans United for Change recently promised to spend $8.5 million on political attack ads against the non-candidate Bush, out of fear that Bush hatred in America might mellow during his final year as president.

But historical legacies are not determined by the same advertising techniques that sell toothpaste. And history's unhurried judgments are sometimes surprising -- few would have elevated Harry Truman to the first rank of presidents on the day Dwight Eisenhower took office.

My goal is a humbler assessment: Did President Bush, in the course of seven years, cast aside compassion and become the "same kind of Republican"?

The answer is "no." Proposals such as No Child Left Behind, the AIDS and malaria initiatives, and the addition of a prescription drug benefit to Medicare would simply not have come from a traditional conservative politician. They became the agenda of a Republican administration precisely because of Bush's persistent, passionate advocacy. To put it bluntly, these would not have been the priorities of a Cheney administration.

This leaves critics of the Bush administration with a "besides" problem. Bush is a heartless and callous conservative, "besides" the 1.4 million men, women and children who are alive because of AIDS treatment ... "besides" the unquestioned gains of African-American and Hispanic students in math and reading ... "besides" 32 million seniors getting help to afford prescription drugs, including 10 million low-income seniors who get their medicine pretty much for free. Iraq may have overshadowed these achievements; it does not eliminate them.

The Bush administration, in my view, should have devoted more resources and creativity to its faith-based initiatives. It should not have vetoed the State Children's Health Insurance Program expansion. The president's budget and economic teams have not been populated with enthusiastic compassionate conservatives, and sometimes this has shown. But by any fair historical measure, Bush's achievements on social justice at least rank equal to those of Bill Clinton, who increased the earned-income tax credit, pushed for children's health coverage and reformed welfare to encourage work.

Bush has received little attention or thanks for his compassionate reforms. This is less a reflection on him than on the political challenge of compassionate conservatism. The conservative movement gives the president no credit because they view all these priorities -- foreign assistance, a federal role in education, the expansion of an entitlement -- as heresies, worthy of the stake. Liberals and Democrats offer no praise because a desire to help dying Africans, minority students and low-income seniors does not fit the image of Bush's cruelty they wish to cultivate.

Compassionate conservatism is thus a cause without a constituency -- except for the large-hearted man I first met in 1999 and who, on Monday night, proposed to double global AIDS spending once again.

But it was only a hint of his former boldness. On policy, this State of the Union was the least ambitious effort of an ambitious presidency. Given the short calendar and a hostile Congress, there was no other option. The time for boldness has passed. But in his speech he seemed his same, confident self. And one source of his confidence should be this: His achievements are larger than his critics understand.
michaelgerson@cfr.org

.

[The Cat]

[piggy]

.



https://www.rebuilding-iraq.net/portal/ ... ema=PORTAL


https://www.rebuilding-iraq.net/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/PCO_CONTENT/HOME/DOWNLOADS/HBP_IRAQ_EDUCATION.PDF

Improving the infrastructure of Iraq is an
ongoing process. Every day construction
continues means the children of Iraq receive
greater access to educational facilities
that are healthy and stable structures.
Although there is still more work and improvements
to be done in Iraqi schools,
the construction of new facilities and improvements
to existing ones have been
overwhelmingly successful projects that
could not have been accomplished without
collaboration between the Iraqi government,
parents, educators, donors, contractors
and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

In addition, government and nongovernmental
agencies as well as Coalition
forces’ programs have undertaken school
improvement projects and acquired
school supplies and equipment. Many
Coalition forces have collaborated with
schools to equip them with desks, chalkboards
and other supplies.
Countless other individual and group efforts
have connected schoolchildren in
the United States with schoolchildren in
Iraq. Their efforts resulted in donations of
thousands of boxes of school supplies
and backpacks shipped to students in
Iraq.

The State of Iraq’s Schools
Obtaining a comprehensive education in a
safe and healthy environment is a challenge
for many of Iraq’s young people. By
2003, the great majority of Iraq’s schools
had fallen into disrepair as a result of
years of neglect.
The Ministry of Education and local Iraqi
leaders identified the improvements and
construction needs of primary and secondary
schools as one of the immediate
needs to be addressed in the education
portion of the Facilities Sector.

Primary and Secondary School Conditions
Education is extremely important for
the future of Iraq. Unfortunately, in
some areas, officials have had to turn
away potential students due to space
limitations.
In outdated, overcrowded schools, it is
common practice for classrooms to
have three children to a desk. School
supplies such as textbooks, crayons,
markers, workbooks and colored paper
are scarce. In many classrooms,
blackboards are barely readable because
they are so worn down.
To accommodate the volume of students,
some schools are forced to offer
“double shifts” resulting in students attending
either morning or afternoon
sessions. Older students are usually
divided into male and female classes.

Mud School - Newly Constructed School
Many primary and secondary schools
are also considered environmentally
unsafe. In rural areas of southern Iraq
many schools are constructed from
dried mud bricks, reeds and straw, relying
on discarded beams or drive shafts
for structural support. Woven mats and
reeds, covered by mud or sod, often
serve as roofs and ceilings.
The lack of quality construction and
limited building materials in the past led
to a surplus of sub-standard “mud
schools” in southern Iraq. Fortunately,
the ongoing construction of Iraq’s facilities
and infrastructure by Iraqi and U.S.
personnel has resulted in more than
800 schools being built or improved
across Iraq, including new schools to
replace those made of mud.

Successful Collaborations
Many of the primary and secondary
school projects are built by local Iraqi
contractors who have a vested interest in
providing quality schools to their own
community. The use of Iraqi businesses
keeps overhead and security costs
down, provides employment and training
for local workers and boosts the local
economy while improving education for
local children.

.

[piggy]

.


http://www.fas.usda.gov/icd/iraq/iraq.asp

Rebuilding Agriculture and Food Security in Iraq


For most of its history, Iraq has maintained a strong agricultural heritage. Unfortunately, during the previous regime, investments and resources were diverted away from farming and food production. Rebuilding Iraq's agricultural infrastructure is now a major priority.

FAS is working in close partnership with other agencies in the U.S. government to assure the food security of the people of Iraq right now and for the future.

In 2006, FAS placed its first agricultural advisors on provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) in Iraq.

The FAS personnel on PRTs work actively with other U.S. agencies, the U.S. military, aid organizations and the Iraqi government to help Iraq harness its economic potential to recreate jobs and other opportunities for its people. FAS is working to support Iraq's agricultural sector by assessing needs, sharing technical expertise, and developing projects.

U.S. Working To Rebuild Iraq's Agriculture
— Detail Assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan for USDA Employees
— Detail Assignments in Iraq or Afghanistan for qualified individuals outside USDA
— Fact Sheet (March 2008)
— Iraq Agriculture and Irrigation Overview (July 2008; .pdf)

Latest news about the PRTs in Iraq

* News About Iraqi Agricultural Reconstruction
o Efforts Continue To Boost Iraq's Agriculture (USDA Radio News; 12/04/08 - wma, real, mp3)
o U.S. Ag Exports to Iraq Have Grown Rapidly (USDA Radio News; 12/04/08 - wma, real, mp3)
o U.S.–Iraq Agricultural Extension Revitalization Project (Fact Sheet; December 2008)
o Iraq: New Remote Sensing Processes Help Predict the Agricultural Outlook in Countries Where the Food Supply Is a Key Political Issue (10/24/08)
o Expert Help Being Given To Strengthen Iraqi Agriculture (USDA Radio News; 10/21/08 - real, mp3, wave)
o USDA Advisors Help Rebuild Iraqi Irrigation
(USDA Video; 09/24/08)
o USDA Advisors Help Iraqi Farmers (USDA Video: 09/08/08)
o Capacity Building in Iraq (USDA Radio News; 09/04/08 - real, mp3, wave)
o

Helping Iraqi Poultry Producers (USDA Video; 08/25/08)
o

Challenges of Rebuilding Iraqi Agriculture (USDA Video)
o

Iraqi Farmers Begin to Chart Own Destinies (08/19/08)

* Archived News About Iraqi Agricultural Reconstruction (2003–Present)

* Recent USDA Reports
o

FAS: Iraq Agriculture and Irrigation Overview (July 2008; .pdf)
o FAS: U.S. Trade Reports
o FAS: Iraq: Current Remote Imaging for Weather and Crop Data
o FSIS: Export Requirements for Iraq

* Trade How-To's for U.S. Exporters
o Trade.gov: Iraq
+ Market Information (overview)
+ Business Opportunities
+ Primer on Exporting U.S. Goods to Iraq (June 2007)
+ U.S. Government Procurement and Contracts
+ Quick Start Contracting Guide (2007; in English and Arabic)
+

Active Tenders
+ Events
+ Useful Links
+ Register for Iraq Reconstruction Alert (emails)
o BuyUSA.gov: Iraq
+ Find a Business Provider
+ Services for U.S. Companies
o Baghdad Business Center
o Export–Import Bank: Iraq
o Iraq Project and Contracting Office (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; procurement oversight)
o Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction
o Summary of U.S. Export Controls on Iraq (U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security)
o U.S. Department of State: Iraq Travel Information
o U.S. Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Asset Control
+ Iraq Sanctions

* Country Analysis
o U.S. Census Bureau Foreign Trade Statistics:
+ U.S. Exports to Iraq (2003–2007)
+ U.S. Trade (Imports, Exports and Trade Balance) with Iraq (1992–Present)
o CIA Fact Book: Iraq
o FAO: General Information about Iraq
+ Iraq: Agriculture Sector
+ Iraq's Water and Agriculture
+ FAO News
o U.S. Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration
+ Iraq Country Analysis Brief
o Library of Congress
+ Country Study: Iraq
+ Portals to the World: Iraq
+ Law Library of Congress: Iraq
+ Congressional Research Service: Iraq
o National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
+ Unique Imagery for Iraq (2003–2004)
+ Iraq Weather Maps
o National Technical Information Service Products (search)

* Background on Foreign Policy With Iraq
o White House (Renewal in Iraq)
+ Fact Sheet: The Way Forward in Iraq (04/10/08)
+ Fact Sheet: Achieving Political and Economic Progress in Iraq (03/27/08)
+ Fact Sheet: U.S.-Iraq Declaration of Principles for Friendship and Cooperation (11/26/07)
+ Benchmark Assessment Report on Iraq (09/14/07)
+ National Strategy for Victory in Iraq (11/30/05)
o Coalition Provisional Authority (Archived)
o U.S. Department of State: Iraq
+ Background Note
+ Consular Information Sheet
+ U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq
+ Fact Sheets
+ Human Rights Practices (2005; issued 03/08/06)
+ Iraq Update (International Information Service)
# Iraq Update Archive
+ Iraq Weekly Status Report
+ Rebuilding Iraq: U.S. Achievements Through the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund (February 2006)
+ Reconstruction Contracts (U.S. Government)
+ Section 2207 Report on Iraq Relief and Reconstruction (quarterly)
+ Broadcast Services Archive: Rebuilding Iraq
o United Nations News Focus: Iraq

* Partners in Humanitarian Assistance
o U.S. Agency for International Development: Assistance for Iraq (USAID)
+ Accomplishments: Agriculture
+ Accomplishments: Food Security
+ Acquisition and Assistance Activities
+ Biweekly Updates
+ Economic Governance
+ Humanitarian Assistance
+ Humanitarian and Reconstruction Assistance Reports Archive
+ A Year in Iraq: Restoring Services (May 2004)
+ USAID Sectoral Consultations (Archived)
o International Advisory and Monitoring Board for the Development Fund for Iraq
o International Monetary Fund
o International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (Joint United Nations and World Bank)
+ Joint Iraq Needs Assessment (October 2003)
o World Food Program (WFP)

.

[piggy]

.


http://www.trade.gov/iraq/

Iraq Investment and Reconstruction Task Force

This site is maintained by the Iraq Investment and Reconstruction Task Force (IIRTF) of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The IIRTF provides information and counseling to companies pursuing business opportunities in Iraq. [MORE]

U.S. – Iraq Business Dialogue Closes Recruitment for New Membership

As of January 21, 2009, the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, closed the application period for applications to fill four vacant positions on the U.S. - Iraq Business Dialogue, a bilateral forum to facilitate private sector business growth in Iraq and to strengthen trade and investment ties between the United States and Iraq.

The Federal Register Notice includes eligibility and requirement information. [http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-59.htm]

Senior U.S. Government Officials Attend the Dialogue on Business & Investment Climate Conference

On November 1, 2008, the Government of Iraq hosted senior U.S. and Iraqi Government officials to convene the Dialogue on Business & Investment Climate (DBIC). This high- level conference, which also drew attendance by private sector companies engaged in the Iraq market, enabled officials to discuss constructive views on Iraq’s commercial environment and private sector development. Deputy Secretary of Treasury Robert Kimmet led the American delegation, which also included Commerce Deputy Secretary John Sullivan, Ambassador Ryan Crocker, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Mike Delaney, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Paul Brinkley, and George Laudato, Special Assistant on Middle East to USAID Administrator Ford. On the Iraqi Government side, Vice President Abdul Mahdi was joined by Deputy Prime Minister Rafae Issawi, Minister of Finance Bayan Jabr, Minister of Industry and Minerals Fawzi Hariri, Minister of Planning Ali Baban, Central Bank of Iraq Governor Dr. Sinan Shabibi, and former Oil Minister Thamir Ghadban. The Heads of the Finance and Economic Committees in the Council of Representatives were also in the attendance.

The Government of Iraq has strengthened governance significantly, which has led to greater stability in security and allowed the opportunity to further develop its private sector. The presence of senior U.S. and Iraqi government officials at the conference confirmed these gains, and signaled the importance of increased U.S. private sector engagement solidify these achievements and enhance development.

Deputy Commerce Secretary John Sullivan chaired a private sector panel that enabled representatives to engage senior Iraqi and U.S. government officials on some of the challenges companies face in Iraq. The discussion also focused on business opportunities, the commercial legal environment, and potential actions to attract additional U.S. investment. This multinational company delegation, which represented a variety of industries, included: BAE Systems, C3 Investments, Marshall Fund, Daimler-Mercedes, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The Dialogue’s participants agreed that foreign investment is critical to achieving Iraq’s goals of rapidly developing and diversifying its economy. Participants agreed on the benefits of stimulating increased American investment in Iraq to achieve these goals. The dialogue also produced a consensus amongst Iraqi officials on the need to improve the investment climate and remove existing obstacles, such as unclear regulations and business licensing difficulties, which impede foreign companies from doing more business and investing in Iraq.

For additional information on this conference, please visit the U.S. Embassy-Baghdad’s website at: http://iraq.usembassy.gov/rm_11012008.html

Commerce Deputy Secretary Brings American Companies to Northern Iraq

Deputy Secretary John J. Sullivan recently led a business delegation comprised of nine U.S. companies to Erbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The nine companies represented a cross-section of the economy and included agri-business, franchising, financial, medical, construction, logistics and engineering sectors. The business delegation had opportunities to be briefed by senior officials of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and participate in discussions with Iraqi business leaders eager for collaboration with American companies.

Deputy Secretary Sullivan engaged KRG Deputy Prime Minister Omer Fattah Hussain, encouraging him to continue to work to attract an increased U.S. commercial presence to Iraq. The Department of Commerce delegation also held discussions with other KRG senior officials, and private sector representatives to discuss ways to help the Iraqi economy grow, boost jobs and become more integrated into the global economy. U.S. companies and their partners have already planned more than $600 million in commercial investments in the Kurdistan Region in sectors as diverse as education, housing, and industrial goods.

Aside from the official meetings, Deputy Secretary Sullivan also toured the Hawler Citadel, dating from the 6th millennium BC, and visited a local Ford dealership.

This was the first U.S. government trade mission to Iraq in 20 years and the first official mission to the Kurdistan Region.

Investing in Iraq’s Industrial Sectors

The Government of Iraq, led by the Iraqi Ministry of Industry and Minerals (MIM) is currently in the process of evaluating investor proposals to enter into joint venture partnerships between many of Iraq’s lucrative State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and international companies. These partnerships will permit investors to acquire production output from Iraq’s productive factories in exchange for investment of expertise and capital to improve and rehabilitate these assets. This initiative is part of a larger process to transition and modernize key industries through 2012. Minister of Industry and Minerals Fawzi Hariri has publicly confirmed that companies taking up these early ventures will have the right of first refusal on eventual privatization. The government has also established an investment board to oversee foreign direct investment in Iraq and the development of SOEs.

From April 19-20, 2008 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Dubai, UAE, Iraq’s Ministry of Industry and Minerals convened to meet with foreign investors to discuss these deals. The two day summit, was attended by over 150 company executives from every corner of the globe who were met by an Iraqi delegation of 85 individuals, including senior officials from the Iraqi Ministry of Industry & Minerals and director generals from over 45 SOEs-the largest delegation seen at any commercial event on Iraq, according to event organizers.

Minister Hariri concluded the summit with a prestigious signing ceremony for two private-public partnerships: Kirkuk Cement Company and Al Qaim Cement. Iterating the successes of the summit, Minister Hariri said, “We have signed two very important contracts today for the cement industry, whereas in fact following the meetings of the past two days, I could have signed ten other similar deals.”

On May 8, 2008, MIM announced a further expansion of the SOEs eligible for such partnerships. These companies, many of which have long track records of success in the lucrative Iraqi market, come from various sectors, including engineering, cement, construction, petrochemicals, food processing, project management, services, and manufacturing. More information on these SOEs can be found online through the resources below or by contacting the U.S. Commerce Department’s Iraq Investment and Reconstruction Task Force toll-free at: (866) 352-IRAQ or IraqInfo@mail.doc.gov.

Detailed company summaries on the individual SOEs and factories. (PDF)

May 8, 2008 announcement on additional SOEs available for partnership. (PDF)

For additional information, from Iraq’s Ministry of Industry and Minerals.

Compendium of resources on MIM SOEs.



Historic Erbil Citadel Seeks U.S. Archaeological Support

The Erbil Citadel lies in the middle of the Greater City of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Northern Iraq. The Erbil Citadel, also known as the Hawler Citadel (Hawler is the Kurdish word for Erbil, which is Arabic) is between 7,000 to 10,000 years old, making it one of the longest continuously inhabited sites on Earth. The existence of a plentiful supply of ground water sustained the Citadel's inhabitants throughout its long history. This ancient citadel witnessed the rule of many historical nations, like the Sumarians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Achaemenid Persians, Greeks, Iranian Parthians, Persian Sassanids, Ottomans, and the Muslim Caliphate. It’s rich history can be found along the winding, breezy alleyways of the town, the ornate dusty mosaics, old mosques, public baths, mixed architecture, and other historical intrigues.

Today it remains an oasis in the middle of modern Erbil, rising 38 meters (≈125 feet) above the heart of the busy central commercial district. Residents of the Citadel were relocated in 2007 to preserve the historical nature of the site, although a single family does remain. UNESCO has developed a project to rehabilitate a single site in the citadel and provide it with necessary supplies and equipment to serve as a focal point for the rehabilitation of the citadel and as a hosting place for cultural activities. The UNESCO restoration project provided a strategy to enforce local capacities in the field of conservation and restoration techniques, undertake study for urgent remedial works to prevent further damages and establish a Conservation Master Plan. It is hoped that after conservation and restoration, that the real age and origin of the citadel are discovered. A better understanding of the ancient Erbil Citadel requires systematic and scientific archaeological excavations to maintain the historical site.

The Citadel site director, Mr. Dara Al-Yaqubi, has expressed a strong desire to cooperate with U.S. universities, non-profits, or other organizations with historical, excavation, archaeological, and engineering support interested in becoming a part of the long, rich history of this truly special piece of our global heritage. For more information on the Citadel, visit, www.erbilcitadel.org, or contact Mr. Dara Al-Yaqubi at: dara.alyaqubi[at]erbilcitadel.org.



Boeing Signs $5 Billion Commercial Aircraft Deal with Government of Iraq

On May 5, 2008, Prime Minister of Iraq, Al Maliki hosted a ceremonial signing with Boeing representatives to announce the Government of Iraq's purchase of thirty 737 and ten 787 commercial aircraft. In collaboration with Embassy Baghdad, including the Senior Commercial Officer, the Transportation Attaché, and the Iraqi Ministry of Planning's Procurement Action Center, Boeing concluded negotiations with the Iraqi Minister of Finance on March 24th, with the signing of the Boeing agreement. On May 5th, Boeing representatives traveled to Baghdad at the invitation of the Prime Minister to attend the ceremonial signing and official announcement of the aircraft purchase. Guests included Ambassador Crocker, GEN David Petraeus, Minister of Finance Jabr Al-Zubaydi and Ahmed Al Saadawi, DG of Iraqi Airways. This agreement marks the single largest purchase ever made by the GOI.



Iraqi Businesses Optimistic on Economy and Security for 2008

February 29, 2008 – Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE)
A recent survey shows that an overwhelming majority of Iraqi businesses are open to international trade and are optimistic for further economic growth and improvements in security for 2008. Business owners who participated in this survey were selected randomly from the registers of various Iraqi chambers of commerce and the Iraqi Businessmen Union. 78% of those business owners expect the economy to significantly grow over the next two years and the majority of business leaders (84%) believe security is better now than the previous year. Over 70% of Iraqi companies are open to working with international companies, expressing the belief that international trade and economic openness would improve their businesses and Iraq’s economy in general.
2008 Iraq Business Survey Presentation
Survey Results of the 2008 Iraq Business Survey
Previous Iraqi Business Surveys:
2005 - available in English and Arabic
2004 - available in English and Arabic
Read more about CIPE's work in Iraq



Commerce Secretary Gutierrez Travels to Baghdad to Promote Private Sector Growth and Participate in 2nd Meeting of the U.S.-Iraq Business Dialogue

Baghdad (Feb. 9)—U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez met with Iraqi and U.S. business leaders to collaborate on ways to strengthen Iraq’s economy and to build upon recent security gains that have resulted from the U.S. troop surge. “There is no better time than now for economic liberalization and the growth of the Iraqi private sector,” Gutierrez said. “We are committed to working with our Iraqi counterparts to attract private investment into the country because an economically prosperous Iraq will advance hope and peace in Iraq.” (Release) (Remarks)

In Baghdad, Secretary Gutierrez participated in the second meeting of the U.S.-Iraq Business Dialogue (USIBD). The creation of the Dialogue was one of the objectives Secretary Gutierrez outlined with Iraqi Minister of Trade Abd Al-Falah Al-Sudani during his 2006 visit to Baghdad. The USIBD is a bilateral council of private sector leaders from the United States and Iraq charged with advising the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and Iraqi Minister of Trade on private sector views, needs, and concerns about Iraqi private sector growth and the expansion of U.S.-Iraq commercial relations. In Baghdad, the USIBD presented its first formal recommendations, including improving transparency in public procurement and the creation of a joint U.S.-Iraq initiative to restart dormant private Iraqi industry. Copies of the recommendations can be found here in English and Arabic.



Iraq’s Minister of Electricity Urges U.S. Companies to Bid on Iraq Projects

Washington, DC – December 10, 2007

Iraq’s Minister of Electricity, Dr. Karim W. Hasan, is urging U.S. companies to participate in the reconstruction of Iraq’s electricity sector by bidding on Ministry of Electricity projects. “We have the money, the manpower, and the fuel, but we need the material and the supervision”, Minister Karim said today at the U.S. Energy Association’s offices in Washington, DC. “I am here to urge U.S. companies to participate in Iraqi reconstruction”, said Minister Karim. The Ministry of Electricity plans to spend $27 billion from now to 2016 to build new generation and transmission capacity, as well as rehabilitate existing plants and equipment, in order to fill the 4,000 MW gap between current capacity and projected demand. In 2009 alone, the Ministry is seeking participation in projects for 2,260 MW of new generation capacity, and the rehabilitation of an additional 960 MW. Iraq also has bigger plans for its electrical system and is working with the Gulf Cooperation Council on long-term plans to serve as a conduit for off-season (winter) export of excess power to European markets (via Turkey) and with the World Bank on a new regulatory scheme that would permit the move from an exclusively publicly-owned system, to a privately owned system.

In the near-term, however, the Minister emphasized the urgent need for U.S. companies to bid on current projects. The Ministry is posting these projects on its website: http://www.moelc.gov.iq/ (click on “Tenders” on the right side). Minister Karim also emphasized the readiness of his staff to engage with companies who have questions about these projects: “Companies will have no difficulties in finding out any specifications of any tender,” Minister Karim promised. Email addresses at the relevant directorates are almost always included in Ministry of Electricity tender announcements. The Ministry is also working with its partners at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad to further streamline and improve the tendering process. Minister Karim subsequently spoke at the PowerGen show in New Orleans on Thursday, December 13. Refer to Minister Karim’s powerpoint presentation, “Conquering Disaster: Iraq’s Electricity Story” for more information.

U.S. companies interested in bidding on Ministry of Electricity tenders must first either register their company directly with Iraq’s Ministry of Trade (http://www.br-iraq.com/) or partner with a local firm for their bidding. For help on either process, or to find out more about doing business in Iraq in general and with the Ministry of Electricity in particular, information is available on this webiste and at http://www.buyusa.gov/iraq or contact us directly at: IraqInfo@mail.doc.gov or 1-866-352-IRAQ.



Trade Bank of Iraq President meets with Department of Commerce Officials

Washington, DC – November 27, 2007

The President and Chairman of the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI), Mr. Hussein Al-Uzri, met with Department of Commerce officials to increase awareness of TBI’s activities and the opportunities it holds for U.S. investors.

TBI was created in November 2003 and entered into contact with a consortium of global financial institutions led by JPMorgan Chase. During its four years of operation TBI has issued 4,600 Letters of Credit (LCs) worth more than US$20 billion, providing reliable financial services needed for trade facilitation in the reconstruction process. TBI serves primarily as the financial baker of Iraqi government procurements offered by Iraqi government ministries and state-owned enterprises, providing bidding companies with the financial security that comes with 100% backing by the world's leading financial institutions.

Furthermore, Mr. Al-Uzri’s mission as TBI’s president and chairman is to develop the most up-to-date mechanism and automation of trade financing operations in line with Iraq’s transition to an open market economy and uphold the principles of good corporate governance. TBI is currently working with the private sector banks in distributing LCs through private Iraqi banks. Next year TBI plans to increase its domestic branch network and its international presence, including representative offices and branches in leading financial centers in Europe and the Middle East. The bank has already recruited top bankers to enhance its governance and procedures, which it will be implementing this year. TBI also plans to further enhance its role in project finance in the coming months and years. Already this year it has supported the first private power plant in Iraq, which is being built in the northern part of the country.

U.S. Department of Commerce officials expressed their continued support of TBI's efforts. For more information about TBI, please visit http://www.tbiraq.com/ to learn more.

.

[piggy]

.


http://content.scholastic.com/browse/ar ... sp?id=5994

Citizens of Iraq See a Bright Future

By Christopher Allbritton

Happy Baghdad residents.

Iraq is a country flat on its back.

Thirty-five years of misrule by Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party have left it broken. Rivalries between ethnic groups could boil over if things aren't handled just right. Religious splits between the two main branches of Islam, the Sunnis and the Shi'ites, also could rip the country in two, especially if neighboring countries such as Iran and Syria start stirring up trouble.

But for all of the challenges facing Iraq after the war, many of its citizens are remarkably optimistic about the future.

"Everything will be OK," said Wuria Ahmed Ameen, a Kurdish translator and professor in the northern Iraq city of Arbil. "There is still certain resistance, but even those that belonged to the Ba'ath Party [Saddam Hussein's party] are very, very happy about the situation." The only reason Saddam's supporters backed him, he said, was because they feared him. Now that he's gone, "They will accept what happened....even the Arabs will realize how oppressed they were."

Hoshang Sadraddin, 22, a laborer in Arbil, said Kurds in general were happy. "We want a democratic government, a future," he said. "And all the people to live together in peace. All can live together and it can be peaceful."

Himdad Omer, also 22 and a laborer with Sadraddin, said he looked forward to the "end of dictatorship and the establishment of a democratic government."

Jasim Khidhir, 18, a student, said, "My hope is to travel abroad for tourism," something the Iraqi people have been unable to do for almost 13 years, thanks to sanctions imposed by the United Nations when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. "I want to visit Germany and study. I want to be a teacher."

When he attains his dream of teaching a new generation, he said he would tell his students about this time. "I will teach them that there was a dictatorship and America came and ended it. And then we became free."

But as optimistic as many Iraqis are, some admit to uncertainty. "I can't think about anything because the economic situation is so bad and no one can think past the evening," said Freydoon Kamal Hussein, 28, a driver.

"Jobs are the priority," said Hemin Sultan, 28, a translator. "All the people are poor and hungry. They need a house, a home. They need to travel, to get a passport, to get a job somewhere. We choose jobs, not democracy."

And Delshad Fattah, a computer engineer, worried about the coming political battles.

"I can't be optimistic about the future of Iraq, yet not too melancholic," he said. "Just a few days after the liberation of Baghdad, new political parties emerged. This tells me that there is fierce political competition ahead! This political race might lead to a long-lasting fight, chaos, or even a kind of civil war....the heavy heritage of more than three decades of dictatorship and oppression will need many, many years to be overcome and for Iraqis to get an understanding of what is freedom and its limits, and if the Americans keep their current role of being observers standing aside, then things can't get better!!

"We are all looking forward for a fast start to rebuilding the country and have a decent free life," he continued. "That can console us that things may work fine, like a ray of light in this darkness."

But perhaps Wuria Ameen said it best. He wants to go back to teaching and continue his studies in either the United States or England, to take a summer holiday, he said. "I'm 36 years old and have never been abroad," he said. "I've not been alive. With Saddam gone, I will live from now on as if I were born today."

.

[piggy]

.


http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/ph ... 19295.html

February 4, 2009
Rebuilding a famous book market in Iraq

As the sixth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Baghdad nears, there are ample signs that the city is settling back into some regular rhythms. The U.S. military says attacks nationwide are down more than 70 percent from a year ago. Thousands crowd public and amusement parks on weekends. Stores in Baghdad remain open well into the night and attendance at schools and colleges is at its highest levels since the war began in 2003.
In the city's storied Mutanabi street book market area, devastated by a March 2007 bombing, buildings have been renovated and the street resurfaced with tiles where sellers can display their books on flattened cardboard boxes. (15 images)


Men gather in front of a window at the Mutanabi street book market Feb. 4, in Baghdad, Iraq. The book market, named after a legendary 10th-century poet, was devastated by a March 2007 bombing which killed scores and closed the area down. Now, after a renovation, and with Baghdad's improved security, the book market has re-opened for business. Getty Images / Chris Hondros



Patrons mill about at the Mutanabi street book market Feb. 4, in Baghdad, Iraq. The storied book market, named after a legendary 10th-century poet, was devastated by a March 2007 bombing which killed scores and closed the area down. Now, after a renovation and with Baghdad's improved security, the book market has re-opened for business. Getty Images / Chris Hondros


A bookseller shelves books at a shop in the Mutanabi street book market Feb. 4, in Baghdad, Iraq. Getty Images / Chris Hondros


An Iraqi family looks over books and DVDs at the Mutanabi street book market Feb. 4, in Baghdad, Iraq. Getty Images / Chris Hondros


A man looks over seletions from a bargain-book pile at the Mutanabi street book market Feb. 4, in Baghdad, Iraq. Getty Images / Chris Hondros


A bookbinder uses a drill to bore holes in paper in preparation for binding at the Mutanabi street book market Feb. 4, in Baghdad, Iraq. The storied book market, named after a legendary 10th-century poet, was devastated by a March 2007 bombing which killed scores and closed the area down. Now, after a renovation and with Baghdad's improved security, the book market has re-opened for business. Getty Images / Chris Hondros


Old books sit on a shelf at the Mutanabi street book market Feb. 4, in Baghdad, Iraq. Getty Images / Chris Hondros


A stock boy loads up paper and office supplies at the Mutanabi street book market Feb. 4, in Baghdad, Iraq. Getty Images / Chris Hondros


A stack of paper and other office supplies sit for sale at the Mutanabi street book market Feb. 4, in Baghdad, Iraq. . Getty Images / Chris Hondros


An Iraqi man inspects an address book at the Mutanabi street book market Feb. 4, in Baghdad, Iraq. Getty Images / Chris Hondros


An art-supply vendor tends to a man looking over fountain pens at the Mutanabi street book market Feb. 4, in Baghdad, Iraq. The storied book market, named after a legendary 10th-century poet, was devastated by a March 2007 bombing which killed scores and closed the area down. Now, after a renovation and with Baghdad's improved security, the book market has re-opened for business. Getty Images / Chris Hondros


People mill about al-Rasheed street near the entrance to the Mutanabi street book market Feb. 4, in Baghdad, Iraq.Getty Images / Chris Hondros


An old Ottoman-era street leading to the entrance to the Mutanabi street book market is seen Feb. 4, in Baghdad, Iraq. Getty Images / Chris Hondros


A man walks through the rubble just after a suicide car bomb exploded in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, March 5, 2007. A suicide car bomber struck near the well-known Mutanabi book market in central Baghdad, killing at least 26 people and injuring more than 50, in a first major blast in the city in several days, police said. AP / Khalid Mohammed

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/ph ... _mkt16.jpg
A firefighter pours water on books on Monday, March 6, 2007, at Baghdad's oldest book market ripped by a car bomb attack the day before, killing 30 people, setting shops ablaze and leaving body parts scattered across the symbolic heart of Iraq's intellectual life. At least 65 people were also wounded in the powerful blast on Mutanabi Street, an ancient centre of learning and culture and a rare pleasure for the capital's war-weary citizens. AFP / Getty Images / Sabah Arar

Posted by Tim Reese, Assistant Director of Multimedia

[piggy]

.


http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/features/ ... page=0%2C2

Rebuilding science in Iraq
27 January 2009

by Brendan O'Malley

SciDev.net

Iraq is rebuilding its science base, but fear of attack means refugee academics are slow to return.

Situation improving: An Iraqi policeman inspects the remains of a car bomb in the Jadriya district of Baghdad in December 2008. It was detonated to target a convoy of Iraq's Ministry of Science and Technology, injuring two people. But officials insist violence has dropped 80 per cent since 2007 and are using financial incentives to tempt academics back to the country.

Two years ago many of Iraq's scientists would have feared the consequences of a U.S. presidential election won on a platform of the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

A campaign of assassinations had seen 340 academics murdered between 2005 and 2007. The concerted attempt to liquidate the country's intellectual elite, particularly its leading scientists and medical experts, drove thousands of researchers and practitioners abroad.

Bombings at universities pushed student attendance down to 30 per cent in many departments. In one incident at Baghdad's Mustansiriya University in January 2007, 70 students were killed and 170 injured.

A UNESCO study warned that targeted violence had brought the university system to the brink of collapse.

How times have changed. Violence has dropped 80 per cent since early 2007, according to U.S. estimates. Confident that the situation is stabilising, the U.S. has agreed to pull out combat troops by May 2010; the British will pull out by July 2009.

And Iraq's scientists are being urged to lead the country's redevelopment.

Raising scientific capacity

"The situation is much better now. Most of the country is safe," says Salam Khoshnaw, deputy minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. "Of course we can't predict what will happen tomorrow or the day after. But many scientists have returned and, compared with two or three years ago, at each university I have found thousands of lecturers working without any problem."

The race is now on to pull Iraq out of the scientific backwater it has become through two decades of war, U.N. sanctions and dictatorship. In the 1970s and 1980s its higher education system was the envy of the Arab world. But since then it has been starved of resources and isolated from the rest of the world.

Khoshnaw says most academics in Iraq today have never visited foreign institutions. Now the government is trying to send as many scientists abroad as possible, in the hope of improving research capacity.

"This is our mission," says Khoshnaw. "Under Saddam Hussein's regime nobody could go anywhere to do research, but now we are opening the gates."

For a country that has lost so many experts to exile it might seem a high-risk strategy: last year the government sent 1,500 lecturers and students abroad at a cost of US$10 million.

Now there are plans to send 10,000 lecturers and students abroad over the next four years for research or to obtain masters or PhD degrees. Next year research scholarships will be given out in medicine, engineering and other scientific disciplines.

"We will support anyone — lecturers or students — who would like to conduct research abroad," Khoshnaw says. "But even any students or lecturers who would like to conduct research inside Iraq at Iraqi universities, we will support them, all the expenses and everything."

The danger of exacerbating the brain drain might be offset by another bold policy: raising academic salaries in Iraq.

Education on the agenda

The battle to upgrade the status of lecturers and teachers was led in the Iraqi parliament by the lively president of the Parliamentary Education Committee, Alaa Makki, a former haematologist at Baghdad Medical College.

He began by demanding better protection for "Iraqi scientists, Iraqi brains and Iraqi teachers," and won backing for a law to double university teachers' salaries and triple those of teachers with PhDs. This makes rates competitive with those of Jordan and Syria. A lecturer in Iraq during Saddam's regime used to take home just US$50 monthly.

"Now the salary is more than US$2,000 a month," says Khoshnaw. There are also proposals to offer returning academics land or accommodation that they can buy over 10 to 15 years.

But Makki is under no illusion that pay alone will help science and technology research spearhead Iraq's development.

His committee is pressing for action on four objectives: raising standards in education and research; matching research to social and economic needs; enhancing the sense of belonging to Iraq among students and academics; and updating the curriculum, teaching methods and laboratories nationwide.

Barriers to progress

This is a tall order in a country starved of resources for more than two decades, where researchers have had to travel to neighbouring countries to conduct experiments.

Obay Al-Dewachi, president of the University of Mosul, says: "From 1990 up to the recent war, we got no equipment, nothing. Then when the American troops entered the city many of the departments in the college of science were destroyed [by looters]: the departments of biology, physics, geology; also the colleges of medicine, agriculture and pharmacy".

Re-equipping has been a long, slow process and is hindered when supplies come from abroad by the reluctance of drivers to enter the region.

At Al-Dewachi's university, which has 8,000 lecturers and 126 science departments, electricity is available for only four hours a day.

"The problem is absence of materials and equipment," he says. "For example, if you need to do a chemical experiment, the absence of equipment will force you to travel to other Iraqi universities or to Jordan or Syria."

Makki, who served two years in Abu Ghraib prison and was sentenced to death under Saddam Hussein's regime, has also been battling to double the education budget.

Even if a higher budget is secured, Khoshnaw concedes that there is "hesitation" to entrust funds to universities to buy resources. "Corruption is still a problem, we would like to take it very slowly," he says.

Nor is everyone convinced that the occupying powers will follow up their military intervention with adequate capacity-building.

There have been some positive developments, however. Al-Dewachi says this month American publishers sent more than 14,000 free scientific books to his university, in addition to a previous gift of some 15,000.

But he is bitter about Britain's level of support for research scholarships given its historic ties — it controlled Iraq for four decades before the 1958 revolution under a League of Nations mandate.

"Do you know how many scholarships they offer us from across all the British universities? Twenty. We feel disappointment. We used to pay £200 a year to attend British universities, now it costs £17,000 — and students sometimes have to spend two months in Jordan or Syria just to get a visa to go there."

In fact, according to the U.K.'s Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, the number of known U.K. scholarships for Iraq has been cut from 20 in 2007–8 to 14 in 2008–9.

Consequently, students are sent to cheaper destinations such as Armenia, Malaysia, Turkey and Ukraine, whose degrees are not held in the same regard.

One test of whether the new policies on scholarships and salaries are working would be the return en masse of refugee academics, scientists and doctors. But the signs are not encouraging.

Fear of attack

Although Khoshnaw denies there are trustworthy figures, a spokeswoman from his own ministry told the Los Angeles Times newspaper in October 2008 that 6,700 professors have fled Iraq since 2003, while only 150 have returned.

The most likely reason is fears over safety. Although security has significantly improved, with attacks on civilians in Baghdad down 90 per cent from 2006 levels, academics and education officials are still occasionally being murdered.

For instance, in February 2008 there was an assassination attempt on the deputy dean of Baghdad University's School of Medicine. In March, Khalid Nasir al-Miyahi, the only neurosurgeon in Basra and a professor at the city's university, was kidnapped and murdered, his body left on the streets. In December the dean of the University of Mosul's School of Medicine was wounded by gunmen. And on 15 January the minister of higher education escaped injury when a roadside bomb exploded near his convoy in Baghdad.

At a conference hosted in Paris by UNESCO and the Sheikha of Qatar in November, 200 Iraqi ministers, MPs, university presidents and academics demanded urgent action to provide protection against, and an end to impunity, for such targeted attacks. They called on the government to enforce international human rights law by ensuring such crimes are investigated and urged the UN to monitor such efforts.

"The situation is not 100 per cent settled," Makki concedes. "There are still assassinations of academics and people are anxious about being killed or kidnapped. And that makes our friends who live abroad uncomfortable about returning to Iraq."

Nevertheless, it is a measure of progress that protection of academics was only part of the focus at the Paris conference. As much attention was devoted to two other pressing concerns: how to ensure that Iraqi refugees and internally displaced Iraqis have access to education, and how to rebuild the country's universities.

Brendan O'Malley is author of Education Under Attack: A global study on targeted political and military violence against education staff, students, teachers, union and government officials and institutions. This article was first published on SciDev.net.

.

[The Cat]

The American Deficit:
$4,926,063,634,548.60 US Debt added under Republican President George W. Bush ($4.93 TRILLION)
Republican President George W. Bush was sworn in on Sunday, January 20th, 2001.
On the following Monday, January 22nd, 2001 the US Debt was: $5,728,195,796,181.57

As of 2008/09/25 The Debt To the Penny: $10,654,259,430,730.17
US Debt divided by 304.8 Million American Citizens: $32,635.99

































http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt

Foreign ownership
A traditional defense of the national debt is that Americans "owe the debt to themselves", but that is becoming increasingly less accurate. The US debt in the hands of foreign governments was 25% of the total in 2007, virtually double the 1988 figure of 13%. Despite the declining willingness of foreign investors to continue investing in US-dollar–denominated instruments as the US Dollar has fallen in 2007, the U.S. Treasury statistics indicate that, at the end of 2006, foreigners held 44% of federal debt held by the public. About 66% of that 44% was held by the central banks of other countries, in particular the central banks of Japan and China. In total, lenders from Japan and China held 47% of the foreign-owned debt. This exposure to potential financial or political risk should foreign banks stop buying Treasury securities or start selling them heavily was addressed in a recent report issued by the Bank of International Settlements which stated, "'Foreign investors in U.S. dollar assets have seen big losses measured in dollars, and still bigger ones measured in their own currency. While unlikely, indeed highly improbable for public sector investors, a sudden rush for the exits cannot be ruled out completely."

In 2006, the central banks of Italy, Russia, Sweden, and the United Arab Emirates announced they would reduce their dollar holdings slightly, with Sweden moving from a 90% dollar-based foreign reserve to 85%. On May 20, 2007, Kuwait discontinued pegging its currency exclusively to the dollar, preferring to use the dollar in a basket of currencies. Syria made a similar announcement on June 4, 2007. (...)

Risks to the U.S. dollar
By definition, international trade is the exchange of goods and services across national borders. Historically the currencies of nations involved were backed by precious metals (typically using some form of Gold Standard), which would cause a nation operating under a trade imbalance to send precious metals (economic goods in and of themselves) to correct any trade imbalances. In the current scheme of fiat money, the U.S. government is free to print all the money it wants. Consequently, the government cannot technically go bankrupt as any debtor nation can just issue more money through a practice known as seigniorage.

If there is a gross imbalance between the amount of new money being brought into circulation and the amount of economic goods that are represented by an economy, then there is an unstable situation that can lead to hyperinflation. This has been observed in smaller nations such as Argentina in 1989; the International Monetary Fund and World Bank try to end such crises by working with the problem country to institute sound economic policies and restore faith in the international community that the country can again service its debt with a stable currency.

The interest rate offered on new bond issues is the one that clears the market. On December 13, 2006, the U.S. 30-year treasury note had a rate of 5.375%. Were investors to become concerned about the future value of the US Dollar, they would demand a higher interest rate on US bonds to compensate them for the risk they are assuming

[The Cat]

Bushism, year 2001.

"I think it's very important for world leaders to understand that when a new administration comes in, the new administration will be running the foreign policy." -George W. Bush, interview with USA Today, Jan. 12, 2001.

''I know there is a lot of ambition in Washington, obviously. But I hope the ambitious realize that they are more likely to succeed with success as opposed to failure." -George W. Bush, Jan. 18, 2001.

''I, in the state of Texas, had heard a lot of discussion about a faith-based initiative eroding the important bridge between church and state." -George W. Bush, speaking to reporters, Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 2001.

"We're concerned about AIDS inside our White House - make no mistake about it." -George W. Bush, Feb. 7, 2001.

"My plan reduces the national debt, and fast. So fast, in fact, that economists worry that we're going to run out of debt to retire." -George W. Bush, radio address, Feb. 24, 2001.

"We'll be a great country where the fabrics are made up of groups and loving centers." -George W. Bush, Kalamazoo, Michigan, March 27, 2001.

"I've coined new words, like, misunderstanding and Hispanically." -George W. Bush, speaking at the Radio & Television Correspondents dinner, March 29, 2001.

"It is time to set aside the old partisan bickering and finger-pointing and name-calling that comes from freeing parents to make different choices for their children." -George W. Bush, on "parental empowerment in education," April 12, 2001.

"It's very important for folks to understand that when there's more trade, there's more commerce." -George W. Bush, at the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, April 21, 2001.

"He married, like me, above his head." -George W. Bush, on U.S. ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci, Quebec City, April 22, 2001.

"First, we would not accept a treaty that would not have been ratified, nor a treaty that I thought made sense for the country." -George W. Bush, on the Kyoto accord, April 24, 2001.

"But I also made it clear to (Vladimir Putin) that it's important to think beyond the old days of when we had the concept that if we blew each other up, the world would be safe." -George W. Bush, May 1, 2001.

"It's amazing I won. I was running against peace, prosperity, and incumbency." -George W. Bush, June 14, 2001, speaking to Swedish Prime Minister Goran Perrson, unaware that a live television camera was still rolling.

''Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease." -George W. Bush, at a news conference in Europe, June 14, 2001.

"I'm sure you can imagine it's an unimaginable honor to live here." -George W. Bush, addressing agricultural leaders at the White House, June 18, 2001.

"You know, sometimes when you study history, you get stuck in the past." -George W. Bush, on what he told Russian president Vladimir Putin, as quoted in the Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2001.

"My administration has been calling upon all the leaders in the - in the Middle East to do everything they can to stop the violence, to tell the different parties involved that peace will never happen." -George W. Bush, Crawford, Texas, Aug, 13, 2001.

"We are fully committed to working with both sides to bring the level of terror down to an acceptable level for both." -George W. Bush, after a meeting with congressional leaders, Washington, D.C., Oct. 2, 2001.

[ixolite]

Hey, wait a minute! I get pm-ed, because I dared to post something that is not to the Obama-thread police's a certain persons liking, but the same person posts heaps of Iraq-articles in this thread?

On a side note, it's funny how a non-american can be so obsessed with US politics.

[The Cat]

[The Cat]

A stock boy loads up paper and office supplies at the Mutanabi street book market Feb. 4, in Baghdad, Iraq. Getty Images / Chris Hondros

3 trillions of American dollars in Iraq so they can have book and office supplies from... Indonesia! How's that...

[Pragmatist]

In their stupidity they are trying to heap all this blame on Bush but they have short and memories and that is a blessing for Democrats. How CONVENIENTLY they forget or try and deny that it was DEMOCRATIC legislation under Clitman that FORCED Financial Institutions to make loans to people who were beyond being risks they were LIABILITIES and THIS is what has caused the problem. But don't worry the Government has the solution it is not only going to CONTINUE with this stupid policy it is going to INCREASE it. Now you know what you are dealing with and who is REALLY to blame and they are all in place again to continue the meltdown of the USA