World-News

As round two of the Iraq funding debate begins, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) has launched a closely coordinated strategy aimed at capitalizing on apparent divisions between rank-and-file Republicans and the White House over benchmarks for the war.

https://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050207T.shtml



https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Harry+Reid

The Iraqi government has sent to parliament a landmark draft oil law, the oil minister said on Wednesday, a major step towards meeting one of the political benchmarks Washington has set for Baghdad.

https://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L02423451.htm



Digging In

If the U.S. government doesn't plan to occupy Iraq for any longer than necessary, why is it spending billions of dollars to build "enduring" bases?

https://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/2005/03/enduring_bases_iraq.html


From Information Clearing House

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Iraq Oil Law

Open Letter to Out of Iraq Caucus Regarding Iraq Oil Law https://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/22108

US Labor Against the War is sending every member of the Congressional Out of Iraq Caucus the letter contained in the PDF attached below.

Open the Letter: https://www.afterdowningstreet.org/sites/afterdowningstreet.org/files/oillaw.pdf


Two paragraphs buried at the bottom of a long New York Times article today (allowing the Times to later claim to have reported it):

"The draft oil law would allow regions to enter into production-sharing agreements with foreign companies, which some Iraqis and critics of the Bush administration say could lead to foreigners reaping too much of the country’s oil wealth.

"Iraqi officials say all contracts will be subjected to a fair bidding process, but there are fears that American companies could be favored. "


Informant: David Swanson

From ufpj-news

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Oil Exporters and US Beware: Writing Is on the Wall

Hossein Askari writes: "It is time to beat the drums for change. First, the US must let countries, notably Iraq, control their own energy reserves. Second, international institutions and other credible experts must persuade rulers in oil-exporting countries to take a hands-off approach and assign oil revenues to their people. Taking oil revenues away from rulers and governments of oil-exporting countries would certainly be painful for those in power, but the time has come to undertake this effort for the sake of equity, fairness and global peace."

https://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050307L.shtml

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Iraqi Blocs Opposed to Draft Oil Bill
https://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/03/932/



https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Big+Oil

Today, Generals Eaton and Batiste, who led troops in Iraq, expressed outrage at the president's veto of the US Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health and Iraq Accountability Act.

https://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050207B.shtml

According to Tenet, White House officials tried to prevent the CIA from publishing its own analysis of the relationship between Iraq and al-Qa'ida. A draft report of the CIA analysis of that relationship was sent to the White House in December 2002, resulting in "a series of calls from the White House" that asked the CIA to "revise or withdraw the paper."


https://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050207A.shtml



https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Tenet
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Matt+Renner

Sealing His Eyes And Ears

by Robert C. Byrd, TomPaine.com
https://ga3.org/ct/Cd20pgF1dXTI/

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A Veto Inked in Blood

William Rivers Pitt writes: "Four years after a humiliating strut across the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, four years after declaring major combat operations in Iraq ended and the mission accomplished, four years and more than three thousand dead American soldiers later, four long years to the day, George W. Bush delivered a veto that only ensures more wretched and bloody carnage."

https://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050207J.shtml

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Pelosi: Congress Will Not Give the President a Blank Check

Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded to President Bush's veto of the Iraq supplemental bill: "Earlier today, the leader and I sent to the president a bill that made a strong commitment to support our men and women in uniform, and a strong commitment to honor our promises to our veterans. This was a bill that was worthy of the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform. It was a bill that honored and respected the wishes of the American people to have benchmarks, to have guidelines, to have standards for what is happening in Iraq.... The president vetoed the bill outright and, frankly, misrepresented what this legislation does."

https://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050207K.shtml



https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Pelosi
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Robert+C.+Byrd
https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=William+Rivers+Pitt

Rocky Mountain News
by Paul Campos

05/01/07

Whatever one thought of the original decision to invade Iraq, the political question the nation now faces could not be clearer: Should we ask our troops to continue to fight this war, and our children to pay for it through future tax increases? (The option of paying for it ourselves would require some sacrifice on the part of the average voter, so it never seems to have been considered seriously). The American people have already answered that question, and their answer is ‘No.’ The Republicans lost 30 Congressional seats in last fall’s election, while the Democrats lost none, largely because the American people were voting against the war. Every opinion poll shows that, by large majorities, Americans support the efforts of Democrats to force President Bush to begin withdrawing our troops. … That pressure will only grow. As increasingly panicky Republicans are all too aware, this is still a democracy, which means America will begin to withdraw from Iraq no later than January of 2009, even if bringing this about requires an electoral rout of the Republican Party in November of next year...

https://tinyurl.com/2sgkqg


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Hawaii Reporter
by US Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)

04/30/07

This week, Congress finalized the controversial $124 billion Iraq emergency supplemental spending bill, with the House and Senate both voting in favor of final passage. The majority of my Republican colleagues and I voted against this measure, and the president has vowed to veto the legislation. In this final version, the House leadership retained billions of dollars in pork meant to attract skeptical votes, retained a watered-down version of the problematic ‘benchmarks’ that seek to micromanage the war effort, and continued to play politics with the funding of critical veterans medical and other assistance. In other words, this final version was even worse than the original in almost all respects...

https://tinyurl.com/29x9ea


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ron+Paul

"'Mohammed' (not his real name) brought his family to Amman to find medical care for his son, and a life removed from the violence of Baghdad. In his prior life, he earned a living as a truck driver, but here in the city he and his four children live out their time inside the dimly lit room so they won't be arrested as illegal refugees," says Charlie Jackson.

https://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050107S.shtml

Defying veto threats, Democratic Congressional leaders on Tuesday sent President Bush legislation setting timetables for US troop withdrawals from Iraq. Tuesday was the fourth anniversary of his "Mission Accomplished" speech on the war. "The president has put our troops in the middle of a civil war. A change of course is needed," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

https://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050107R.shtml



https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Harry+Reid

According to a recent poll, one in four Iraqis has personally experienced or witnessed the murder of a family member as a result of violence since the US-led invasion.

https://snipurl.com/1izf6



Baghdad up close and personal

Pepe Escobar, is back in Iraq and in the Red Zone - that is, outside "Fortress USA", the Green Zone. This is the first of his unembedded, non-Kevlar-protected, bodyguardless reports.

https://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IE02Ak01.html



Everywoman: Iraqi women

Video explores the lives of 4 Iraqi women living under U.S. occupation.
https://snipurl.com/1izf8



Few Iraqi refugees allowed into U.S.

The United States admitted 68 Iraqi refugees in the six months through March, a tiny percentage of those fleeing their homes because of the war, State Department figures show.

https://snipurl.com/1izfl


From Information Clearing House



https://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Pepe+Escobar