The Flashlight, July 28 - August 3, 2007
THE FLASHLIGHT, July 28 – August 3, 2007
Iraq
NYTimes 7-29. editorial. Saudi Arabia is pouring money into Sunni opposition groups in Iraq. It is allowing 30-40 people a month to cross its border into Iraq to join the Sunni insurgents. The Saudis are afraid of growing Iranian influence, especially in southern Iraq.
Frank Rich: Since March the number of Iraqi Army battalions fit to fight independently has dropped from 10 to 6.
In The Occupation of Iraq by Ali Allawi published last April at Yale Press, unknown embezzlers stole $1.2 billion of the Iraq Army’s procurement budget “under the nose of General Petraeus.”
NPR (National Public Radio) 7-30. In an official US government report on Iraqi reconstruction, the Bechtel Corporation, which received $1.5 billion for various projects, has only succeeded to making half of them operational. The rest are dysfunctional, and the Iraqi Government refuses to take them over. The report said that corruption is a “second insurgency” in Iraq. Unemployment in Iraq is now 50%.
CNN 8-1. $602 billion has already been spent in Iraq and Afghanistan according to the official estimate. The expected total is one trillion dollars.
Guardian 8-3. The Iraqi Parliament went into recess after failing to pass the oil bill much desired by the Bush Administration. It would have allowed foreign companies to operate in Iraq under “exploration risk contracts” that could last 30 years with no chance for revision. The location of most of Iraq’s oil reserves is well known; there is no risk involved in drilling there. As a country under occupation, Iraq is in a poor bargaining position in dealing with foreign companies.
The Guardian reports that Iraqi civil society, trade unions, and professional oil experts are opposed to this bill. The Sunnis, Sadrists, and Virtue Parties in Parliament oppose the bill. Cheney and the oil lobby in Washington are reportedly enraged at the Iraqi Parliament for refusing to pass it. They have stopped talking about benchmarks and the September deadline, and now are advocating “patience.”
[On account of the waning supply of American men and equipment available to fight in Iraq, and the growing public opposition to the war, a major political struggle is probable this fall.]
Israel/Palestine
NYTimes 7-29. A new coalition of 34 American evangelical Christian leaders called for a greater US effort to find a just solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. They called for the creation of a Palestinian state which would include the “vast majority” of the West Bank. [Currently there are 250,000 Israeli settlers there.] This new Christian coalition is opposed to another evangelical group, Christians United for Israel.
US News
7-31 CNN. Senator Ted Stevens (R), age 83, of Alaska is under FBI / IRS investigation for corruption. Investigators entered his house and took pictures. It was reported that he “allowed” Veco, an oil services corporation with tens of millions in federal government contracts in Alaska, to pay for the renovation and expansion of his home. Rep., Don Young, the only representative from Alaska in Congress, is also under investigation.
CNN 7-30. John Roberts, Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, suffered a seizure and was rushed to a hospital. He was allowed to go home two days later. It was reported that he had a seizure in 1993, although this was not mentioned in his Senate confirmation hearings. There was no tumor or blood clot in his brain. According to a medical commentator, Roberts is now considered an epileptic. There is a 50% chance that he will have another seizure.
CNN 8-1. A major bridge over the Mississippi in downtown Minneapolis collapsed at the height of evening rush-hour traffic. 50 automobiles landed in the river. 7 people are known dead so far, and 20-30 are missing.
This was an interstate bridge, thus a federal government responsibility. It was built in 1967; since then traffic over it has greatly increased. There is no indication of terrorism as a cause of the collapse. Both federal and state agencies are investigating it.
CNN (8-2) and the New York Times (8-3) issued commentaries on the deterioration of the American infrastructure, including bridges, roads, tunnels, waterways, dams, railroads, water systems, and waste-water systems. A bill sponsored by Senators Chuck Hagel (R) and Chris Dodd (D) for infrastructure maintenance work is currently pending in the Senate.
NYT 8-3. The Senate passed an expanded Children’s Health Insurance Bill by a veto-proof margin of 68 to 31. A similar bill passed the House by a smaller margin. The cost of the bill would be paid for by increased taxes on tobacco and reduced subsidies to private insurance companies.
Iraq
NYTimes 7-29. editorial. Saudi Arabia is pouring money into Sunni opposition groups in Iraq. It is allowing 30-40 people a month to cross its border into Iraq to join the Sunni insurgents. The Saudis are afraid of growing Iranian influence, especially in southern Iraq.
Frank Rich: Since March the number of Iraqi Army battalions fit to fight independently has dropped from 10 to 6.
In The Occupation of Iraq by Ali Allawi published last April at Yale Press, unknown embezzlers stole $1.2 billion of the Iraq Army’s procurement budget “under the nose of General Petraeus.”
NPR (National Public Radio) 7-30. In an official US government report on Iraqi reconstruction, the Bechtel Corporation, which received $1.5 billion for various projects, has only succeeded to making half of them operational. The rest are dysfunctional, and the Iraqi Government refuses to take them over. The report said that corruption is a “second insurgency” in Iraq. Unemployment in Iraq is now 50%.
CNN 8-1. $602 billion has already been spent in Iraq and Afghanistan according to the official estimate. The expected total is one trillion dollars.
Guardian 8-3. The Iraqi Parliament went into recess after failing to pass the oil bill much desired by the Bush Administration. It would have allowed foreign companies to operate in Iraq under “exploration risk contracts” that could last 30 years with no chance for revision. The location of most of Iraq’s oil reserves is well known; there is no risk involved in drilling there. As a country under occupation, Iraq is in a poor bargaining position in dealing with foreign companies.
The Guardian reports that Iraqi civil society, trade unions, and professional oil experts are opposed to this bill. The Sunnis, Sadrists, and Virtue Parties in Parliament oppose the bill. Cheney and the oil lobby in Washington are reportedly enraged at the Iraqi Parliament for refusing to pass it. They have stopped talking about benchmarks and the September deadline, and now are advocating “patience.”
[On account of the waning supply of American men and equipment available to fight in Iraq, and the growing public opposition to the war, a major political struggle is probable this fall.]
Israel/Palestine
NYTimes 7-29. A new coalition of 34 American evangelical Christian leaders called for a greater US effort to find a just solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. They called for the creation of a Palestinian state which would include the “vast majority” of the West Bank. [Currently there are 250,000 Israeli settlers there.] This new Christian coalition is opposed to another evangelical group, Christians United for Israel.
US News
7-31 CNN. Senator Ted Stevens (R), age 83, of Alaska is under FBI / IRS investigation for corruption. Investigators entered his house and took pictures. It was reported that he “allowed” Veco, an oil services corporation with tens of millions in federal government contracts in Alaska, to pay for the renovation and expansion of his home. Rep., Don Young, the only representative from Alaska in Congress, is also under investigation.
CNN 7-30. John Roberts, Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, suffered a seizure and was rushed to a hospital. He was allowed to go home two days later. It was reported that he had a seizure in 1993, although this was not mentioned in his Senate confirmation hearings. There was no tumor or blood clot in his brain. According to a medical commentator, Roberts is now considered an epileptic. There is a 50% chance that he will have another seizure.
CNN 8-1. A major bridge over the Mississippi in downtown Minneapolis collapsed at the height of evening rush-hour traffic. 50 automobiles landed in the river. 7 people are known dead so far, and 20-30 are missing.
This was an interstate bridge, thus a federal government responsibility. It was built in 1967; since then traffic over it has greatly increased. There is no indication of terrorism as a cause of the collapse. Both federal and state agencies are investigating it.
CNN (8-2) and the New York Times (8-3) issued commentaries on the deterioration of the American infrastructure, including bridges, roads, tunnels, waterways, dams, railroads, water systems, and waste-water systems. A bill sponsored by Senators Chuck Hagel (R) and Chris Dodd (D) for infrastructure maintenance work is currently pending in the Senate.
NYT 8-3. The Senate passed an expanded Children’s Health Insurance Bill by a veto-proof margin of 68 to 31. A similar bill passed the House by a smaller margin. The cost of the bill would be paid for by increased taxes on tobacco and reduced subsidies to private insurance companies.
posted by THE FLASHLIGHT at 8:05 AM
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