U.S. LOST OUT ON IRAQI OIL IN 2009 AUCTION
"... One of [the Neo-Cons'] key reasons to unleash the war on Iraq in 2003 was to seize control of its precious oilfields... After at least US$2 trillion spent by Washington and arguably more than a million dead Iraqis, it has come to this... (Iraq held) bids to exploit a number of vast and immensely profitable oil fields... Instead of US Big Oil getting the lion's share, strategic competitors Russia and China turned out to be big winners..."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KL16Ak02.html
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
THE FAILURE AND COST OF IRAQ
"The United States is leaving Iraq. It is not leaving because it accomplished its mission of replacing a hostile regime in that country with a friendly regime. America is leaving because the Iraqis are kicking America’s soldiers out. The U.S. has replaced one hostile regime in Iraq with another hostile regime... (that) has aligned itself with Iran...
"America’s military is so loathed in Iraq that it is being expelled by the Iraqi government. America’s soldiers are leaving because Iraq refused to negotiate a status of forces agreement, which exempts American soldiers from local laws. These agreements are the norm in other countries where the U.S. has stationed large numbers of troops, including Japan and South Korea. They trust that the American military will punish crimes by American soldiers committed in its country. The fact that Iraq refuses to exempt U.S. soldiers from prosecution under its own laws demonstrates the extent to which the misconduct of the U.S. military and its mercenary contractors alienated the Iraqi population....
"Apart from the more than 4,000 Americans killed, the more than 30,000 Americans maimed, and the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who lost their lives or have been wounded, a conservative estimate of the costs of the war puts it at $1.2 trillion, although ... the long-term costs, including medical treatment for veterans, may exceed $2 trillion..."
http://www.salon.com/2011/10/25/iraq_war_mission_failed/?source=newsletter
"The United States is leaving Iraq. It is not leaving because it accomplished its mission of replacing a hostile regime in that country with a friendly regime. America is leaving because the Iraqis are kicking America’s soldiers out. The U.S. has replaced one hostile regime in Iraq with another hostile regime... (that) has aligned itself with Iran...
"America’s military is so loathed in Iraq that it is being expelled by the Iraqi government. America’s soldiers are leaving because Iraq refused to negotiate a status of forces agreement, which exempts American soldiers from local laws. These agreements are the norm in other countries where the U.S. has stationed large numbers of troops, including Japan and South Korea. They trust that the American military will punish crimes by American soldiers committed in its country. The fact that Iraq refuses to exempt U.S. soldiers from prosecution under its own laws demonstrates the extent to which the misconduct of the U.S. military and its mercenary contractors alienated the Iraqi population....
"Apart from the more than 4,000 Americans killed, the more than 30,000 Americans maimed, and the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who lost their lives or have been wounded, a conservative estimate of the costs of the war puts it at $1.2 trillion, although ... the long-term costs, including medical treatment for veterans, may exceed $2 trillion..."
http://www.salon.com/2011/10/25/iraq_war_mission_failed/?source=newsletter
Sunday, October 23, 2011
IRAQ A NEOCON FAILURE
"The final troop withdrawal marks a complete defeat for Bush's Iraq project. The neocons' grand plan to use the 2003 invasion to turn the country into a secure pro-western democracy and a garrison for US bases that could put pressure on Syria and Iran lies in tatters..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/oct/23/us-withdrawal-iraq-defeat-bush-neocons
"The final troop withdrawal marks a complete defeat for Bush's Iraq project. The neocons' grand plan to use the 2003 invasion to turn the country into a secure pro-western democracy and a garrison for US bases that could put pressure on Syria and Iran lies in tatters..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/oct/23/us-withdrawal-iraq-defeat-bush-neocons
Friday, October 21, 2011
5,500 MERCENARIES TO PROTECT U.S. FORTS IN IRAQ
"5,500 Mercs to Protect U.S. Fortresses in Iraq.... the State Department plans to field 5,500 private security contractors to protect up to 17,000 civilians working for the American government in Iraq... A force of 3,650 private security guards will be stationed at the huge Baghdad embassy... The Senate report anticipates a whopping “17,000 individuals” working for the Baghdad embassy. Only 650 of them will actually be diplomats, backstopped by “hundreds” of U.S. officials from the Treasury, Justice and Agriculture departments. But they’ll “mostly” be foreign employees “working as life-support and security contractors"... The security firm SOC Inc. has a contract for protecting that embassy worth as much as $974 million.) It’ll be supplemented with mercs at four satellite installations: 600 in the Kurdish capitol of Irbil; 575 in Basra... and 335 each at Mosul and Kirkuk..."
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/02/5500-mercs-to-protect-u-s-fortresses-in-iraq/
"5,500 Mercs to Protect U.S. Fortresses in Iraq.... the State Department plans to field 5,500 private security contractors to protect up to 17,000 civilians working for the American government in Iraq... A force of 3,650 private security guards will be stationed at the huge Baghdad embassy... The Senate report anticipates a whopping “17,000 individuals” working for the Baghdad embassy. Only 650 of them will actually be diplomats, backstopped by “hundreds” of U.S. officials from the Treasury, Justice and Agriculture departments. But they’ll “mostly” be foreign employees “working as life-support and security contractors"... The security firm SOC Inc. has a contract for protecting that embassy worth as much as $974 million.) It’ll be supplemented with mercs at four satellite installations: 600 in the Kurdish capitol of Irbil; 575 in Basra... and 335 each at Mosul and Kirkuk..."
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/02/5500-mercs-to-protect-u-s-fortresses-in-iraq/
Monday, October 17, 2011
HOW THE WAR ENDS
"… all US troops will have to leave Iraq by 31 December, in accordance with the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) negotiated between George W. Bush and the Iraqi parliament… Bush was forced into that SOFA because US troops could not fight in Iraq without a legal cover if they were to avoid possible war crimes prosecutions and lawsuits. From June 2003 until fall of 2008, the United Nations Security Council resolutions recognized the US as the occupying power with the responsibility to provide security to the population… But the Iraqi government did not want, by 2008, to go to the UNSC for yet another such resolution… In the absence of a UNSC resolution, US troops needed a bilateral treaty to legalize their activities in Iraq. Thus, Bush had to sign what the parliament gave him…"
"And so that is the way the war ends… the US is forced to adhere to the 2008 SOFA… The US will receive no benefit from its illegal war of aggression, no permanent bases, no bulwark against Iran, no new Arab friend to Israel, no $14 a barrel petroleum– all thing things Washington had dreamed of. Dreams that turned out to be flimsy and unsubstantial and tragic."
http://www.juancole.com/2011/10/this-is-the-way-the-iraq-war-ends-with-bangs-and-wimpers.html
"… all US troops will have to leave Iraq by 31 December, in accordance with the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) negotiated between George W. Bush and the Iraqi parliament… Bush was forced into that SOFA because US troops could not fight in Iraq without a legal cover if they were to avoid possible war crimes prosecutions and lawsuits. From June 2003 until fall of 2008, the United Nations Security Council resolutions recognized the US as the occupying power with the responsibility to provide security to the population… But the Iraqi government did not want, by 2008, to go to the UNSC for yet another such resolution… In the absence of a UNSC resolution, US troops needed a bilateral treaty to legalize their activities in Iraq. Thus, Bush had to sign what the parliament gave him…"
"And so that is the way the war ends… the US is forced to adhere to the 2008 SOFA… The US will receive no benefit from its illegal war of aggression, no permanent bases, no bulwark against Iran, no new Arab friend to Israel, no $14 a barrel petroleum– all thing things Washington had dreamed of. Dreams that turned out to be flimsy and unsubstantial and tragic."
http://www.juancole.com/2011/10/this-is-the-way-the-iraq-war-ends-with-bangs-and-wimpers.html
Saturday, October 15, 2011
MASSIVE EMBASSY TO EXPAND AS SOLDIERS LEAVE
"... The embassy compound is (already) by far the largest the world has ever seen, at one and a half square miles, big enough for 94 football fields. It cost three quarters of a billion dollars to build (coming in about $150 million over budget). Inside its high walls, guard towers and machine-gun emplacements lie not just the embassy itself, but more than 20 other buildings, including residential quarters, a gym and swimming pool, commercial facilities, a power station and a water-treatment plant...."
"As the Department of Defense pulls out and its spending drops, the State Department is expecting its costs to skyrocket. State asked Congress for $2.7 billion for its Iraqi operations in fiscal year 2011, and got $2.1 billion. It wants $6.2 billion for next year. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee estimates that State's plans will cost $25 to $30 billion over the next five years...."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/16/us-embassy-iraq-state-department-plan_n_965945.html
U.S. EMBASSY IN BAGHDAD TO DOUBLE STAFF
"The US Embassy in Baghdad, already the largest in the world, is expected to double its staff after American forces pull out of the country... James Jeffrey, the US ambassador in Iraq... said the staff would increase "from 8,000 plus personnel that we have now to roughly double that by 2012"... in 2012, the American presence in Iraq will consist of up to 20,000 civilians at sites that include two embassy branches, two consulates, and three police training centres. The figure includes armed private security personnel, support staff and diplomats..."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/8422912/US-Embassy-in-Baghdad-to-double-staff.html
"... The embassy compound is (already) by far the largest the world has ever seen, at one and a half square miles, big enough for 94 football fields. It cost three quarters of a billion dollars to build (coming in about $150 million over budget). Inside its high walls, guard towers and machine-gun emplacements lie not just the embassy itself, but more than 20 other buildings, including residential quarters, a gym and swimming pool, commercial facilities, a power station and a water-treatment plant...."
"As the Department of Defense pulls out and its spending drops, the State Department is expecting its costs to skyrocket. State asked Congress for $2.7 billion for its Iraqi operations in fiscal year 2011, and got $2.1 billion. It wants $6.2 billion for next year. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee estimates that State's plans will cost $25 to $30 billion over the next five years...."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/16/us-embassy-iraq-state-department-plan_n_965945.html
U.S. EMBASSY IN BAGHDAD TO DOUBLE STAFF
"The US Embassy in Baghdad, already the largest in the world, is expected to double its staff after American forces pull out of the country... James Jeffrey, the US ambassador in Iraq... said the staff would increase "from 8,000 plus personnel that we have now to roughly double that by 2012"... in 2012, the American presence in Iraq will consist of up to 20,000 civilians at sites that include two embassy branches, two consulates, and three police training centres. The figure includes armed private security personnel, support staff and diplomats..."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/8422912/US-Embassy-in-Baghdad-to-double-staff.html
ALL U.S. TROOPS TO LEAVE BY END OF 2011
"The U.S. is abandoning plans to keep U.S. troops in Iraq past a year-end withdrawal deadline... (because) Iraqi leaders have adamantly refused to give U.S. troops immunity from prosecution in Iraqi courts, and the Americans have refused to stay without it..."
"... there will be a massive American diplomatic presence. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is the largest in the world, and the State Department will have offices in Basra, Irbil and Kirkuk as well as other locations around the country where contractors will train Iraqi forces on U.S. military equipment they're purchasing. About 5,000 security contractors and personnel will be tasked with helping protect American diplomats and facilities around the country... The U.S. Embassy will still have a handful of U.S. Marines for protection and 157 U.S. military personnel in charge of facilitating weapons sales to Iraq.
http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-us-drops-keeping-troops-iraq-212223355.html
"The U.S. is abandoning plans to keep U.S. troops in Iraq past a year-end withdrawal deadline... (because) Iraqi leaders have adamantly refused to give U.S. troops immunity from prosecution in Iraqi courts, and the Americans have refused to stay without it..."
"... there will be a massive American diplomatic presence. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is the largest in the world, and the State Department will have offices in Basra, Irbil and Kirkuk as well as other locations around the country where contractors will train Iraqi forces on U.S. military equipment they're purchasing. About 5,000 security contractors and personnel will be tasked with helping protect American diplomats and facilities around the country... The U.S. Embassy will still have a handful of U.S. Marines for protection and 157 U.S. military personnel in charge of facilitating weapons sales to Iraq.
http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-us-drops-keeping-troops-iraq-212223355.html
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
1 IN 3 VETS SEE WAR AS WASTE
"... Nearly 4,500 U.S. troops have died in Iraq and about 1,700 in Afghanistan. Combined war costs... have topped $1 trillion.... (now) One in three U.S. veterans of the post-9/11 military believes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not worth fighting, and a majority think that after 10 years of combat America should be focusing less on foreign affairs and more on its own problems.. "
http://news.yahoo.com/poll-1-3-vets-sees-iraq-afghan-wars-040253311.html
"... Nearly 4,500 U.S. troops have died in Iraq and about 1,700 in Afghanistan. Combined war costs... have topped $1 trillion.... (now) One in three U.S. veterans of the post-9/11 military believes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not worth fighting, and a majority think that after 10 years of combat America should be focusing less on foreign affairs and more on its own problems.. "
http://news.yahoo.com/poll-1-3-vets-sees-iraq-afghan-wars-040253311.html