Iraq Oil Report

Turkey is being pressed to respond to an increase in Kurdish rebel attacks by invading Iraq, where the rebels are allegedly holing up. More after the energy-related news.

Meanwhile, Lionel Laurent writes for Forbes.com that the small oil firms are making their mark in Iraq and Big Oil is betting on Baghdad. He asks, Is Big Oil Losing The Race For Iraq?

The Kurdistan Regional Government’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Falah Mustafa Bakir speaks Thursday, Oct. 11, in New York City at Columbia University (of recent Ahmadinejad fame) on “Federalism, the Oil Law and Regional Issues.”

The event is sponsored by Columbia University’s Middle East Institute.

Child: “Mother, mother! Daddy was electrocuted!”

Mother: “We have power?”

This is a popular Iraqi joke, according to McClatchy Newspapers, which uses it to start their story on the status of electricity in Iraq.

Jay Price, Jenan Hussein and Sahar Issa write In Baghdad, elusive electricity is rare delight.

It was the second of two hours of electricity they get each day from the state-run power grid. Four and a half years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, it’s never certain when the power will arrive, just that one electrified hour will come in the morning, another at night. U.S. reconstruction officials say that on average, electricity is available 10 hours a day, but Akhbal, a small woman whose face is worn beyond her 48 years, doesn’t know anyone who gets close to that much.

Aside from ongoing warfare, a large part of the reason Iraqis are left wanting for electricity (as well as fuels, health care and more) is because of the inability of the federal ministries to deliver.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office explains why in their updated report, Stabilizing and Rebuilding Iraq: U.S. Ministry Capacity Development Efforts Need an Overall Integrated Strategy to Guide Efforts and Manage Risk.

The Turkish Invasion

Upsurge in Kurdish attacks raises pressure on Turkish prime minister to order Iraq invasion, reports Ian Traynor for The Guardian.

Selcan Hacaoglu reports for the AP Turkish troops are targeting the Kurdish rebels.

Meanwhile, Turkey says it can send troops into northern Iraq, Hidir Goktas and Gareth Jones report for Reuters.

But the United States, torn between allies in Ankara and Irbil, as well as a nearly 55-month long war in Iraq that might not handle another front for fighting, warned Turkey not to enter Iraq.

Society, Security and Politics

An article in Iraq’s constitution, aimed at keeping the government from mucking with marriage, is being used to impose sexist restrictions on the rights of women, Los Angeles Times’ Tina Susman reports.

Article 41 is just one line in the 16-page document, but to critics, it is the worst.

Opponents, including women’s rights activists and legal scholars, say the one poorly worded sentence opens the door to rule by draconian interpretations of Islamic law that could sanction the stoning of adulterous women, allow underage girls to be forced into marriage and permit men to abandon their wives by declaring, “I divorce you,” three times.

In the southern city of Basra, there are already signs of religious extremism being used to rein in women. Police say gangs enforcing their idea of Islamic law have killed 15 women in the last month.

Kareem Zair writes in Azzaman on the conditions in a women’s prison in Baghdad, where all lack medical care and many detained because their sons or husbands were accused of crimes.

Which country has the third largest contingent of coalition troops in Iraq behind the United States and Britain? Andrew E. Kramer reports the answer for The New York Times: Georgia.

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