No budget surplus in 2009

Iraq is unlikly to witness a budget surplus this year and the next as oil prices are sliding, a lawmaker and a government spokesman told The Associated Press.

Abbas al-Bayati, a senior lawmaker of the United Iraqi Alliance, the largest Shiite bloc in parliament expected Friday the government to cut its budget next year by $15 billion because of falling oil prices.It was planned to stand at US$79 billion.

Al-Bayati's statement came two days after the spokesman of the Iraqi Finance Ministry, Adnan Abdul-Rahman also told The AP that his Ministry will reconsider a new average price per barrel of oil instead of the previously US$80.

But whatever the budget and the surplus will be, I'm confident that Iraqis' sufferings will not be eased and their needs will not met.

This government and its officials especially senior ones have approved that they are incapable to run this country properly by making use of its resources to put it on the track and get it out of its turmoil.

And this was clear when its Electricity Minister last month said that he would hire a British consultancy company to advice his Ministry how to implement projects !!!

And not only this. He also stated in a press conference that Iraqis should count two years from now when they will see improvement the electricity, throwing behind his back his first two years in office during which he was boasting his ambitious plans to get electricity back to normal.

This is only one of the example for the government's failure in spending this money and of course there are more and more....

kassakhoon@gmail.com

Bad luck or mismanagment?

As Iraqi Oil Minister, Hussein al-Shahristani declared last Monday his country's first oil bidding round to develop six oil fields and two gas fields, accusations of selling off more than one third of Iraq's 115-billion-barrel proven reserves to international oil companies were immediately made.

Until now, according to what was released by al-Shahristani and the Ministry's director-general of Licenses and Contracts Directorate_Natik al-Bayati_ there is no evidence that Iraq gives these companies the upper hand or offers them any production-sharing contracts, a model of contracts which is favored by oil giants.

In short, Iraq will pay them flat fee for their service under a proposed service contract.

So in light of what the two officials declared to media, I think no one has the right yet to make such accusations unless he has solid evidences and has to present them.

I don't know whether it was al-Shahristani's bad luck or mismanagement behind such accusations.

The day he kicked off the bidding round when he met with the representatives of the pre-qualified companies in London and then did a press a conference to declare Iraq's conditions was a busy day for mainstream media outlets with the approval of the bailout plan and that this issue didn't take the enough space to be explained and analyzed accurately.

Or it was the Minister's bad management as his Ministry still doesn't have an effective and clear media policy to deal accuratly with the local and international media outlets to make available their plans' details to protect him from such accusations.

For instance; few days ahead of Monday's meeting, the Ministery issued a briefed statement, saying that the Minister was heading to London too meet companies representatives.

And only today, which is Wednesday, another briefed statement was issued about the same meeting, saying that the Minister met with these companies without any details about the conditions and contract form.

Conclusion.

-I advise those who want to criticize and make their points in linking the war with oil, an idea I agree with, to have a look on all the details and then issue their statements. I urge them to read the best two coverage for Monday's meeting: the first one was for Ruba Husari of Internationl Oil Daily and Raphael G. Satter of the Associated Press. Both were in London.

-I advise Iraqi Oil Minister to make available to all media outlets, whether local or international inside or outside Iraq, all the details about these plans and update them from time to time whether by press conferences or round table meetings or detailed statements otherwise he and then the government will face a lot of such accusations as he did few months ago when Iraq was negotiating Technical Service Contracts with majors.

kassakhoon@gmail.com

The U.S. heroes

To anyone who hails the U.S. forces in Iraq as "liberators" for Iraqis or as "defenders" for their country, "the great and civilized United States of America," here is the New York Times' Paul Von Zielbauer in today's edition addresses them:

"In March or April 2007, three noncommissioned United States Army officers, including a first sergeant, a platoon sergeant and a senior medic, killed four Iraqi prisoners with pistol shots to the head as the men stood handcuffed and blindfolded beside a Baghdad canal," Zielbauer starts his article by citing a sworn statements made by two of the involved soldiers.

"After removing the blindfolds and handcuffs, the three soldiers shoved the four bodies into the canal, rejoined other members of their unit waiting in nearby vehicles and drove back to their combat outpost in southwest Baghdad," the article continues.

The bravest among the three was First Sgt. John E. Hatley, who the other soldiers said killed two of the detainees with pistol shots to the back of their heads....wow you are such a brave man Mr. Hatly!!!

Now how many dead bodies like those were found dumped in the streets, garbage and canals in past years and reported by the U.S. forces as victims for the tit-for-tat killings between Iraq's Sunni and Shiite extremists while their stories were different???

Long live America, long live its brave army !!!!

Thanks Zeilbauer!

kassakhoon@gmail.com

Off to America...

The Christian Science Monitor's Stacy Teicher Khadaroo offers today a very nice piece about 15 Iraqi students on their way to the United States to join class of 2012 at colleges and universities that have waived tuition to help them become Iraq's future architects, teachers, psychologists.

With the help of the Iraqi Student Project, which was born of two American peace activists' desire to give something back to Iraqis in the wake of violence triggered by the US invasion in 2003, the students have resurrected their ambitions after shelving their dreams as they have forced to leave to Syria due to violence.

It is really something nice to find such Americans trying to fix what their country's army and policy have done to this country and its people and hope all Americans try to do the same.

One of these students, Ali Abdul Majeed, who is packing up for Fairfield University in Connecticut hopes to eventually to return to Iraq to treat children.

Well Majeed I wish you the best in your study but hope to honor your promise and go back to Iraq to treat its children not like other students who promised such things but they didn't make it to Iraq...but yet no one can blame them...

kassakhoon@gmail.com

Oil negotiations rported stalled

Negotiations between Iraqi Oil Ministry and oil majors over Technical Support Agreements, TSAs, have been stalled and one of these has been terminated, the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswire reported.


Hassan Hafidh of the Dow Jones Newswire reports that negotiations with an Anadarko Petroleum Corp. -led consortium for a short-term oil service contract to develop a major oil field in southern Iraq, have been terminated by the Iraqi Oil Ministry.

While Gina Chon of the Wall Street Journal says negotiations are going through hard path and are not likely to go through.

Haffidh also reported that Iraq has hired the U.K.-based Gaffney, Cline & Associates Ltd. to provide consultancy for the Oil Ministry on the first round of tenders to develop eight oil and gas fields.

"The company provides consultancy on contract models, how to submit tenders, which company should bid for this or that oil or gas field, and other suggestions," a sourace told Dow Jones Newswires.

The sources for these stories are Iraqi oil industry sources close to the Oil Ministry ( a reference which is mainly used to refer to former Iraqi oil officials) and a U.S. diplomat in Baghdad and I don't know why Iraqi Oil Ministry keeps mum on these negotiations as long as it is doing something correct...

kassakhoon@gmail.com

Resettlement Fever

A resettlement fever has spread recently in Iraq among Iraqis with U.S. affiliations as all of them are now eligible to apply directly from Baghdad to be refugees in the U.S. with less restrictions and they need only a recommendation letter from their employer and few other documents.

What a generosity from uncle Sam!!!

Early June, the American Embassy in Baghdad met with bureau managers of the U.S.-based companies who work in Iraq and have Iraqi employees, especially the media outlets, to tell them about the new resettlement program.

Some of these managers didn't tell their employers about this program, fearing their offices will be empty, while others did. And of course, like any city in world news spread quickly to reach those who don't know.

Now the majority of the Iraqi employers are applying for this program whatever they are from drivers to guards to cooks and senior employers while others are still reluctant including me as I fear to end up as a taxi driver or worker at a fuel station or vendor at a store...but still mulling it.

This fever is really frightenning some American companies especially those who depend a lot on Iraqis and that has forced some of these managers to spread rumors in their offices that the one who applies for this program will be eligible to be dismissed when they find an alternative for him because his company will no longer count on him....do you believe that???

I have the names of these companies but didn't publish them...

kassakhoon@gmail.com

A score for Muqtada al-Sadr

Iraq's anti-American radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr scores today when his followers killed four Americans including two soldiers and two U.S. government civilian employees, Sinan Salaheddin reports for the Associated Press.

The bomb struck a municipal council building in Baghdad's Shiite Sadr City district where the Americans gathered inside to attend an election event for a new head for the local council, The AP reports.

Now let's see what will happen next...will the Americans score?

kassakhoon@gmail.com

Conclusion: Saddam is better than you all

Iraq's May oil crud exports hit 2.11 million barrels a day, recording the highest export level since the U.S.-led invasion to this country in March 2003, an increase on the 1.90 million barrels a day exported in April, Hassan Hafidh reports for Dow Jones Newswire.

And that revenues from oil sales in May are expected to be more than April's figures, which reached $5.922 billion, bringing total oil revenues obtained during the first four months of this year to $21.416 billion, Dow Jones Newswire added added.

AND SO WHAT!!!!

We are still have no electricity, no clean drinking water, no public services, no appropriate medical care, no education to our children, lines on fuel stations have returned, dirty food ration its items not fit even to animals and....and....and....

In the past, all the world was blaming Saddam Hussein for spending Iraq's oil money to fuel his wars and fill his pockets but we had all the above mentioned things and more.

And now we have our oil in our hands, as our respected officials say, and we sale it at least three folds more than Saddam's era prices but our life is not like the one which other human beings enjoy on this planet.

Conclusion: Saddam is better than you all.

kassakhoon@gmail.com

Baghdad before and after

The BBC's Caroline Wyatt returns to Baghdad after a 10-year absence and is looking for a shoulder to cry on in this war-torn city.

"The Baghdad I remembered was a sprawling city, a place of honking horns and barely-controlled anarchy on the roads," Wyatt starts the story.

"Amid the narrow, uneven pavements of the gold market, I jostled for space with shoppers peering closely at the gold necklaces given to brides at their wedding," Wyatt says.

"As a Westerner, I felt safe."

Alas!!!

kassakhoon@gmail.com

Russia's Lokoil struggles to revive oil deal

Russia's Lokoil oil firm delegation came back to Baghdad and held Wednesday a meeting with Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, to revive a Saddam-era oil deal for one of Iraq's 10 super giant fields with its reserves estimated over 4 billion barrels, Hassan Hafish reports for Dow Jones Newswire

In 1997, the oil giant Lukoil struck a $3.7 billion deal with former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to drill at the West Qurna field in Basra. However, Saddam canceled the contract in 2002 the Russians hoped they would be able to revive it when Moscow wrote off most of Iraq's $12.9 billion debt.

In February, Russia agreed to write off $12 billion, or 93%, of Iraq's $12.9 billion debts to Moscow, a gesture that appeared aimed at helping Russian companies win contracts in Iraq. The two sides also signed a separate deal opening up Iraq for $4 billion in investment from Russian firms, including Lukoil.

I hope that the Russians have not been fooled!!!

kassakhoon@gmail.com

What?...Why?...Who?...

There was no doubt that everyone in the Arab world was happy today as seeing the Lebanese parliament members electing their new president after a six-month stand off which was ended after exerting huge Arab and world efforts, the most fruitful one was led by Qatar.

It was a real moment of happiness, especially for me, when I was seeing the majority of the world leaders and senior officials, whether from Arab or Muslim or European countries or others, who were racing to solve the Lebanese problem came together today to harvest the fruits of their efforts.

At these moments, I was feeling a voice inside me wants to reach everyone of those leaders and senior officials to show the same determination they showed over the past six months to solve the Lebanese problem to our problem and help us to get out of our endless sufferings.

With that voice, questions were flowing inside me: tens of conferences were held for Iraq since 2003 what they yielded in? why we are not going forward? what we need to go forward?what we need to heal the past wounds? who can help us? what?....why?....who?.....

kassakhoon@gmail.com