Give Iraqis Gas OPEN THREAD!

7 Comments

1. 

   BooMan on December 28, 2005 at 11:08 am

   maybe the Iraqis can develop fuel efficient cars and sell them to us.  

   Or we can all move there where at 65 cents a gallon we can still afford to fill our McSUV’s.

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     Dean Pajevic on December 28, 2005 at 11:09 am

     I’d love to ship all of the Hummer drivers around here off to Iraq so they can get their cheap gas.

2. 

   rumi on December 28, 2005 at 11:15 am

   Special kudos go out to Wolfowitz and Baker for all of their hard work.

   While U.S. military forces occupying Iraq may be facing a quagmire in operations, the economic forces of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization (WTO), are moving full speed ahead implementing various economic reforms that will cause U.S.-based corporations – Bechtel, Halliburton, and others – to proclaim, “Mission Accomplished!” As the Bush administration touts its rhetoric of freedom and liberation, the IMF and World Bank are busily “liberating” Iraq’s resources – oil and labor – and “freeing” Iraq’s markets.
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   In this context, it is worthwhile to review how the Coalition Provisional Authority restructured Iraq’s economy. (See “World Bank Brings Market Fundamentalism to Iraq,” Economic Justice News, September 2004) Paul Bremer passed a series of Executive Orders (without any accountability to Iraqi people) that, among other things:
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   Every single one of these policies fit the neoliberal framework, and sound as if they were World Bank and IMF conditions. But they aren’t. Even before the IMF, World Bank, and WTO made their entry into Iraq to any significant extent, the US occupation was unilaterally coercing Iraq to conform to policies identical to what these institutions would have required – and at a more accelerated pace. There are more ways to restructure economies than through loan conditions. What Iraq has undergone under the CPA can best be described as a structural adjustment program imposed at gun-point.
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   Operation Corporate Freedom:
   The IMF and the World Bank in Iraq

3. 

   boran2 on December 28, 2005 at 11:24 am

   …The increase is attributed to a debt-forgiveness deal signed with the International Monetary Fund that requires the interim Iraqi government to cut fuel subsidies. …

   So at a time when the Iraqi economy is in disarray, the IMF is requiring the end of fuel subsidies?!!!  Sounds like a great plan. (not)

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     Militarytracy on December 28, 2005 at 11:31 am

     Along with capitalism and inflation.  Everything a human being needs for happiness.

4. 

   rumi on December 28, 2005 at 11:35 am

   James Baker’s Double Life

   When President Bush appointed former Secretary of State James Baker III as his envoy on Iraq’s debt on December 5, 2003, he called Baker’s job “a noble mission.” At the time, there was widespread concern about whether Baker’s extensive business dealings in the Middle East would compromise that mission, which is to meet with heads of state and persuade them to forgive the debts owed to them by Iraq. Of particular concern was his relationship with merchant bank and defense contractor the Carlyle Group, where Baker is senior counselor and an equity partner with an estimated $180 million stake.
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   In the confidential documents, the consortium appears acutely aware of the sensitivity of Baker’s position as Carlyle partner and debt envoy. Immediately after listing the powerful players associated with Carlyle–including former President George H.W. Bush, former British prime minister John Major and Baker himself–the document states: “The extent to which these individuals can play an instrumental role in fashioning strategies is now more limited…due to the recent appointment of Secretary Baker as the President’s envoy on international debt, and the need to avoid an apparent conflict of interest.” [Emphasis in original.] Yet it goes on to state that this will soon change: “We believe that with Secretary Baker’s retirement from his temporary position [as debt envoy], that Carlyle and those leading individuals associated with Carlyle will then once again be free to play a more decisive role…”

5. 

   ask on December 28, 2005 at 11:54 am

   A small anecdote:
   I recall the first time I visited Iraq.  It was early 1997 and I was picked up by a driver in Amman for the 960 km (600 miles) road trip to Baghdad.  Quite a trip, but I remember that as soon as we passed the border to Iraq the driver pulled up to a service station.  Filled up the tank – about 50 litres (14 gallons) – the price was 75 Dinars.  At the time, the black market rate for Dinars was 800 for 1 USD.  In other words, we filled the tank for less than 10 cents…(less than 1 cent/gallon).