Category: Iraqi War
-
Iraq's oil reserves
The US estimates there are 112 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Iraq. At the beginning of the war in Iraq, oil traded for about $30 a barrel. It now trades at $142. So in 2003, Iraq’s oil was worth $3.36 trillion (About 3 months of US GDP) In 2008, Iraq’s oil is worth…
-
Embed diary
I am enjoying David Smith’s latest embed diary from Iraq. Today he writes about an entrepreneur, Dr Moayad Hamad, in the Dora district of Baghdad: Hamad, wearing an expensive watch, and smoking cigarettes despite his old profession, is the new breed of Iraqi entrepreneur. Captain Russell Matthews, Warrior battalion, 10th Mountain Division, told me: “He’s…
-
No End in Sight
-
Debating Iraq’s Transition
Things seem to be going well in Iraq of late. Tom Friedman asks why Rice isn’t not on the diplomatic offensive combined with the military surge. He is hinting at what I suspect – there’s a real chance that the insurgency is simply holding fire until the surge has run its course. Is she just…
-
F.B.I. Says Guards Killed 14 Iraqis Without Cause
Federal agents investigating the Sept. 16 episode in which Blackwater security personnel shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians have found that at least 14 of the shootings were unjustified and violated deadly-force rules in effect for security contractors in Iraq, according to civilian and military officials briefed on the case. Is it so hard to…
-
No plan, no peace
In case you missed it. The best documentary on the war I have seen thus far. Almost two hours long, John Ware looks at the lack of post-war planning. The documentary was broadcast on BBC1 last month.
-
Cheney on Iraq
I like the use of the word quagmire.
-
Rumsfeld gets roasted by Clinton
Rummy needs to resign. My goodness indeed. When referring to the number of troops that went into Iraq, Rummy said: “I guess history will make a judgment on that”. How long do we have to wait before history kicks in? It’s well over three years since the invasion. Can we not at least start to…
-
Abizaid relents
The exchange today at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. [via Steve] SEN. CARL LEVIN: Do you agree, General, that — with the ambassador from Britain to Iraq that Iraq is sliding towards civil war? GEN. ABIZAID: I believe that the sectarian violence is probably as bad as I’ve seen it, in Baghdad in particular, and…
-
Haditha
No doubt a word that will live in the memory of the Marine Corps for some time to come. It appears the evidence backs the story that Marines deliberately shot civilians. Steve Clemons believes the war is now deflating America’s purpose. Senator Max Baucus’s nephew was also killed in July.