Tag Archive for 'Iraq War'

Obama misreads his Iraq war

Violence reaches twelve-month high, politics breaking down, president will need to relook at the war he’s attempting to shed.

Obama outlines U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, war

President Barack Obama said Iraqis will no longer see U.S. troops in their streets "by the end of 2011," which he said was in line with the Status Of Forces Agreement signed between Iraq and the United States.

The troop drawdown has already been started and "by August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end," Obama told his mostly Marine audience at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. "We will retain a transitional force to carry out three distinct functions: training, equipping, and advisi…

Iraq politicians question Shell gas deal transparency

Plus:
*Reality sets in as KRG-Baghdad make oil export agreement
*PKK bombing of Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline requires new Turkish strategy
*Update and more exclusive documents on the Status Of Forces Agreement
*The Iraq Press Roundup
*Much more

Key members of Iraq’s Parliament, including the chairman of the Oil & Gas Committee, have issued a statement outlining concerns over the efforts of Iraq’s Oil Ministry and Shell to create a joint venture for natural gas, Ahmed Rasheed reports for Re…

Maliki takes first swing at KRG oil deals

Plus:
*Shell and Turkey sign Iraq gas co-op pact
*Update on SOFA
*Oil capital Basra wants autonomy from Baghdad
*Iraq Press Roundup

Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has blasted the Kurdistan Regional Government for what he calls "constitutional violations." In a press conference he listed them – including developing foreign relations and utilizing Peshmerga forces against national Iraqi Security Forces.

But the most telling of all is that Maliki, long in the oil debate shadows and…

Update and Perspectives on the Status Of Forces Agreement

Plus:
*SOFA negotiations rocky but developing
*Iraq Oil Report offers first look at text submitted to Parliament
*Kurdistan-Baghdad relations rocky
*KRG signs U.N. electricity help
*Iraq Oil Ministry wants helicopters
*Alive in Baghdad: Sahwa, What Next After Al-Qaeda?
*Iraq Press Roundup

The Status Of Forces Agreement, or SOFA, is nearing a late-November deadline when Iraq’s Parliament is to recess, and the end-December deadline when the current U.N. mandate is to expire.

Iraq O…

No moves on Iraq oil law in KRG-Baghdad talks

Plus:
*Iraq Oil Report update delays
*Get your copy of the Shell-Iraq gas Heads of Agreement
*PetroVietnam renegotiating Saddam-era oil deal
*Iraq Human Rights Commission awaits Presidency Council OK
*Iraq Oil Report Exclusive: Text of Human Rights Commission law
*What is the "Green Zone"?
*The Iraq Press Roundup

Apologies to readers: over the past week regular updates have been delayed as Iraq Oil Report puts the finishing touches on a re-launch and brand new website. It is an excitin…

KRG’s Hawrami pans Iraq oil law movement

Plus:
*Another Iraq critic of the Shell gas deal
*Kirkuk oil flows to Turkey again
*Obama’s Iraq
*Alive in Baghdad: Iraqi Professors Demand Rights
*Much more

News of the Iraq oil law being sent to Parliament may be a little too optimistic.

"Two weeks ago (Kurdistan Regional Government President) Massoud Barzani was in Baghdad for talks with (Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri) al-Maliki," KRG Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami told the Middle East Economic Survey (MEES). "They agreed…

Iraq, Shell: gas deal not a monopoly, as documents and top lawmaker contend

Plus:
*Iraq oil law expected next week in Parliament
*Northern Iraq oil exports stopped on Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline blast
*Six state oil firms added to bidding list
*Iraq Press Roundup
*Much more

Officials at Royal Dutch Shell and the Iraqi Oil Ministry refute claims that a proposed gas joint venture would have exclusive access to Basra province's gas industry, though a key member of Parliament criticizes the project, Ben Lando and Alaa Majeed report for United Press International.

"It…

Shell-Iraq gas company would be Basra natural gas monopoly

*Proposed joint venture could expand beyond Basra
*Includes all gas, associated and non-associated, documents show

Plus:
*Oil Ministry presses Parliament on oil law action
*Alive in Baghdad: Who would Iraqis vote for – McCain or Obama?
*Violence in Context
*Iraq Press Roundup
*USIP: Iraq’s Cultural Heritage: Preserving the Past for the Sake of the Future
*Much more

A secret document obtained by United Press International reveals a planned joint venture company between Royal Dutc…

Iraq to join oil revenue transparency pact

Plus:
*Oil Minister Shahristani joins PM Maliki’s coalition list
*The Green Zone Sit-in
*VIDEO: Two-part series on the Surge & Sadr
*Operation Hotel California: entering Iraq in 2002
*Iraqi women face increasing threats
*All Iraqis in danger with bad water

It's an exhausting and complicated process, but Iraq is taking steps to open up its oil and revenue interactions to the world's watchdogs, Ben Lando reports for United Press International.

"The commitment from the government is s…