STRATFOR week of 8/19

Iraq: Guerrillas Shift Tactics To Tie U.S. Forces Down
August 19, 2003

The bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Iraq illustrates a shift in the Iraqi guerrillas' tactics. The resistance fighters now appear to be aiming to put the U.S. military on the defensive and thus seize the initiative in the ongoing war.

Iraq: Pipeline Sabotage and Reconstruction Concerns
August 18, 2003

In the latest setback to reconstruction efforts in Iraq, the northern crude pipeline will be offline for at least two to four weeks following an Aug. 15 explosion. The implications of the situation extend far beyond a loss of Iraqi oil exports.

New York Unplugged -- and Cleveland and Ottawa and Albany....
August 15, 2003

A massive power outage cascaded over a huge swathe of the northeast United States and Canada this week -- knocking some oil refining capacity off-line and pushing up gasoline futures -- while across the world in Russia, a different kind of energy crisis simmers. The one bright spot in the week is that the blackout did not happen a month ago at the height of the summer driving season.

Iraqi Oil: Southern Frustrations
August 14, 2003

Frequent power outages are slowing loadings of crude oil at Iraq's Mina al Bakr export terminal. The outages could throw the country's oil exports off schedule and undermine attempts to rapidly expand exports and sign additional term contracts.