THE US, THE UN AND IRAQ, ELEVENTH THREAD

c. i. : your post is a " Another positive sign of progress " - will the world never learn ? afraid not
hbg

I am certainly glad that the US was a country before the Internet was created. I doubt we'd have been successful if it had.

It was a good thing the US was created before George W Bush; he's been successful at destroying over 50 percent of it in seven years!

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraq on Monday will award oil contracts to dozens of foreign companies in a bid to boost production that could also give multinationals a foothold in the country's huge but underdeveloped oil fields.

The oil ministry is to hold a press conference to announce the deals which include five technical support agreements with companies such as Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Total and BHP Billiton, ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said.

The ministry also plans to sign contracts with 41 other foreign companies for extracting oil, Jihad had told AFP last week. These are expected to be short-term arrangements.

The contracts do not allow investments by the foreign companies in the oil sector but do pave the way for global energy giants to return to Iraq 36 years after executed dictator Saddam Hussein chased them out.

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Ha, They are just helping out the Iraqis with technical and legal details of contracts out of the goodness of their own little hearts with no interest at all in any of the negotiations and contract deals.

New Information about Administration Knowledge of Hunt Oil's Kurdish Contract

Documents provided to the Oversight Committee show that Administration officials knew about Hunt Oil's interest in the Kurdish region months in advance, contradicting claims that Administration officials were caught off-guard and opposed Hunt Oil's actions. In a letter sent to Secretary Rice, Chairman Waxman requested information about the U.S. role in the efforts of other oil companies to obtain Iraqi contracts.

In this area everyone knows the Hunts. Dallas billionaire Ray L. Hunt and his relatives are one of the wealthiest oil and gas dynasties in the world. Hunt, a close friend of President George W. Bush, recently donated $35 million to Southern Methodist University to help build Bush's presidential library. In 2001, Bush made him a member of the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, where Hunt received a security clearance and access to classified intelligence.

Q You recently spoke just earlier about the importance of oil revenue sharing in Iraq. Recently a company called Hunt Oil, run by one of your long-time supporters, Ray Hunt, signed a deal with a Kurdish regional government to drill for oil up there. That deal has come under intense criticism from the national government in Baghdad. They say it undermines the discussions about oil legislation. What's you're opinion of that kind of deal and how it impacts this long-stalled legislation?

THE PRESIDENT: Our embassy also expressed concern about it. I knew nothing about the deal. I need to know exactly how it happened. To the extent that it does undermine the ability for the government to come up with an oil revenue sharing plan that unifies the country, obviously if it undermines it I'm concerned.

The documents that the Committee has received tell a different story about the role of Administration officials. Ray Hunt, the head of Hunt Oil, personally informed advisors to President Bush of meetings he and other Hunt Oil officials planned with representatives of the Kurdish government. Other Hunt Oil officials kept State Department officials informed about the company's intentions. An e-mail from Hunt Oil's general manager states: "There was no communication to me or in my presence made by any of the 9 state department officials with whom I met ... that Hunt should not pursue our course of action leading to a contract. In fact, there was ample opportunity to do so, but it did not happen." A Commerce Department official who met with Hunt Oil officials in Kurdistan offered them further support and wished them "a fruitful visit to Kurdistan." Five days after the announcement of the Hunt Oil contract, a State Department official contacted Hunt Oil to describe another "good opportunity for Hunt" in Iraq, prompting a Hunt Oil official to write Ray Hunt: "This is really good for us. ... I find it a huge compliment that he is 'tipping' us off about this.... This is a lucky break."

Mullen: Afghanistan "is gonna be a pretty tough fight''

"I'm deeply troubled" at the trend of increasing violence in Afghanistan, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon this morning.

"We need more troops there," Mullen said. "I don't have the troops I can reach for.''

Mullen said he is hopeful that if current trends continue in Iraq, with significantly reduced violence, that some troops can be shifted into Afghanistan. He said he could not say when that could happen.

"We've seen the Taliban revert to the kind of violence that is tied to IEDs and suicide bombings and I think we can expect more of that" in the coming months, Mullen said. "I think it's gonna be a pretty tough fight for a while."

He cited the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines as having "a tremendous impact'' in southern Afghanistan.

"But we don't have enough troops there to hold (territory), and that is the key," he said. There is no plan to replace the two Marine units, which are expected to finish their deployment early this fall.

"It's a very complex problem, and it's tied to the drug trade a faltering economy and, as I've said many times, the porous border region with Pakistan. There's no easy solution, and there will be no quick fix," Mullen said.