Absent from media coverage of late is the fact that the central government of Iraq has reached its 2007 budget revenue target of $30.2 billion. This figure is derived from oil revenues — revenues of which the Democrats have criticized the Iraqis and President Bush for not capturing to fund the cost of the new government in Baghdad. This criticism now rings hollow.
The Canadian Media? Are they important? I mean, to anybody except themselves?
Long ago written off as partisan, hence irrelevant.
I don’t consume their product, so advertising dollars spent there are not effective in my household. I am glad to provide that message whenever surveys are conducted probing the matter.
If the Canadian Media wants a glimpse of their asteroid, well, it looks like my family. Your average Canadian family. Their target market.
They’ll do anything to diminish the successes of the Bush presidency.
Interestingly Kate, when I respond to this I was typing on the German Keyboard type setting, although I am correctly set up for US English keyboard (as well as the German on, of course). Been writing your friends overseas and then wrote this post on the German type setting before changing back to the English keyboard?
So, the oil money is flowing into Iraqi coffers, sure negates the all-about-oil meme, the scenerio where the US was trying to expropriate Iraqi oil.
@penny:
Except amongst the Democrats that advocated the grab themselves.
and meanwhile, in Afghanistan, the Taliban have adopted Jack Layton’s Health Care policies.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/12/world/asia/12afghan.html?ref=todayspaper
I personally think getting rid of Saddam was a good thing and will be a positive in the long run, it has removed the likelihood of war between Iran and Iraq for at least a generation.
The WMD immediate threat was fairly weak, but was a substantial longterm threat to the region. Saddam would have restarted his programs the minute the sanction collapsed, which they were in the process of doing. I feel right to criticise Bush and his administration for complete ineptness in after invasion planning and nearly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The world likes to criticises the US for Iraq, but was busy scratching it’s butt while Rwanda played out. Mind you the world also forgets that Russia, China and France had lots of reasons to keep Saddam in power. Funny to that Blix was happy to raise suspicion about Saddams truthfulness up to the last minute, only to recant in an attempt to thwart the invasion, likely he was very aware of the Oil for Food scandal and wanted to protect his boss.
I suspect History will be much more kind to Bush than the present.
But I thought the USA was STEALING the oil…
How can Irak have any oil revenues???
Could any liberal help me understand?
( sarcasm )
Sorry for the horribly off topic post but..
Has anyone heard any more about the “I guess Smalldeadanimals speaks for the people of Saskatchewan after all” business and the reports that Smalldeadanimals has been using related techniques of manipulating online statistics gathering and reporting to increase their own apparent popularity, number of hits and guests to their site, etc.
Anyone who knows us know that Just because we do it to make them look bad doesn’t mean we’d do it to make ourselves look good.
What the hell s with giving this oil money away??? We need at least a 20 pont skim from this production to pay back the wads of cash thrown into straightening out that sorry Muzzie backwater.
Seven trillion dollars people…this is what the frikking Iraqi cluster frig has cost tax payers…they got the oil revenues so anti up on the pay back.
Before the war the US gov accountants figured the cost at 100 or 200 Billion. There was shock and awe, and outrage too, so the wise and venerable administration shock troops hit the airwaves to say it was all a bunch of hooey, and it probably be much ,much less (20 Billions, maybe a little more) and it was all moot anyway, because Iraq would be financing itself soon anyway.
Years later, supplemental after supplemental (but no budgeting!), talented economists are putting the war at between 1 and 2 Trillion. Meaning at best, it will cost 5x more than the worst prediction that the gov’ called way off the mark.
How often is this discussed that you think people are so sick of hearing it they need to be informed the Iraqi government found 30Billion dollars to rub together? Is this front page news? Has it affected the Iraq war supplemental requests to congress? What does this money represent? Four months of operations in Iraq for the U.S.? Three?
I’d love to know the answers to these questions, but unfortunately, rnc.org only mentions this one bare, idiotic fact; meaningless without any context. Yet here in the echo chamber of empty minds meaningless facts set off fireworks of outrage that more attention isn’t given to them. Please, enlighten us, or just me if everyone else finds this “achievement” so damned stunning that no other information is needed and the presses must be stopped, or burned to the ground. What does this tell you? What did you learn about the iraq war from this press release of this one fact? Finally, is it possible that they’ve made the needed money so fast because the price of oil has gone up, and remained so high? Is the fact that Iraq never meets its production goals related to this?
Democrats – huh. We all know who the terrorists want to get elected President in ’08. A Democrat!History will record that during Bill Clinton’s terms in office America was attacked again and again and he did nothing. The terrorists can’t wait for his wife to get elected to the same position. Say what you want about GWB – he came after their a$$es and they fear him. Clintons, they can handle.
Arthur A, the costs to the United States — just the United States– of enforcing the U.N. sanctions against Saddam Hussein (which weren’t working, I’m sure you’ll agree), plus the costs of enforcing the no-fly zones (of which Saddam was in constant violation… was it thousands of violations, or merely hundreds?) was running around $80 billion to $100 billion PER YEAR, with NO end in sight. What do “talented economists” say about a fiscal expenditure like that?
Joe B., I’m not sure about Economists, but Psychiatrists would likely say the medication is wearing off, so be sure to stay clear of scissors.
And of course I agree the sanctions weren’t working. The astounding number of WMD’s found after going in should be proof enough for any, but there is also the disturbing fact that some Iraqis were alive when the US invaded. The far more serious failure (I’m sure you would agree).
In any event, your comments are unrelated to answering the question of why Iraq selling 30Billion in oil is so amazing that we must mock the fact that the media don’t repeat it daily. Where is the context that makes that fact so amazing? It won’t be found in the 1990’s or the ‘Oil for Pixie Dust’ scandal.
Or even the “Oil for Fraud” scandal. Maybe you agree that it’s OK to have 97% of the wealth of Iraq –you know, the country with the second largest known reserves of light oil in the world– controlled by less than 1% of the population (read, Saddam, the family, and the army). Some economist mentioned those numbers some time back.
I know, Arthur, you subscribe to the numbers of Iraqi civilian deaths estimated by Les Roberts (600,000+), which is probably a load of garbage.
I say, ANY Iraqi deaths resulting from the Iraq war are a bloody waste, as were the multiple hundreds of thousands of deaths… what, 1.5 million, maybe 2 million… caused by Saddam Hussein directly during his 24 year stint as, um, mass-murdering bastard. What, you imply some deaths are tragic because of the dates on which they occur, but ahh, to hell with the rest of ’em, eh?
You talk “context”, yet you leave out the expense to park a flotilla of aircraft carriers and support vessels, and God knows who/what else, 6,000 miles from home for 12 years. YOU brought up the “$1 trillion/$2 trillion”.
In fact, why even bother to kick Saddam out of Kuwait in 1991? Think of all the lives that could have been saved and, more importantly to YOU, the money!
Oh, and this —> “Joe B., I’m not sure about Economists, but Psychiatrists would likely say the medication is wearing off, so be sure to stay clear of scissors” is something a high school kid would say.
Dear Joe, I can see it’s pointless to argue. Your previous comments reveal you already know both what I think I know and what I find important. I conclude, therefore, that I must not find the questions I asked important, or really desire to know them, since you’ve avoided them and their meaning. What that implies about me and my own need for psychiatric intervention I would guess you avoided saying out of kindness to my delicate state and youthful ignorance.
Kind regards,
Arthur A,
What cost is freedom?
Would the Oil wealth and Taliban Organizational power of Iraq and Afghanistan be used against North America if the troops were to leave?
It would not, you say? Prove it!
If you like living under Sharia Law, then go to the MEast. Do not invite it to flourish here. I would prefer not to do sniper duty here at home, thank you. = TG
PS: Read MichaelTotten.com where the Marine says… ** I would rather do this here than at home in the USA.**