Road to normality … A Baghdad marketplace that used to be a haven for militias and violent gangs. Photograph: Graham Crouch for the GuardianAnd Shell and Halliburton should not forget about the citizens. They have endured war, maiming and death in order to accommodate them. I would think Shell and Halliburton would put a 'clause' in their agreements with the provinces that the monies won't be squandered or put in offshore bank accounts but used to REBUILD the country the Plutocracy demanded.
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, August 29, 2010
The New York Times, The Associated Press
BAGHDAD – Insurgents with al-Qaeda in Iraq (click title to entry - thank you) claimed responsibility Saturday for a wave of car bombings, roadside mines and hit-and-run attacks in at least 14 Iraqi cities and towns, a deadly campaign whose breadth dealt a blow to Iraq's fledgling security forces.
At least 56 people were killed in the attacks Wednesday, in which insurgents deployed more than a dozen car bombs. Two of the assaults wrecked police stations in Baghdad and Kut, a city southeast of the capital.
The statement from the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group for al-Qaeda militants, was posted on one of its websites. It called the assaults "the wings of victory sweeping again over a new day."...
I have a suggestion for Shell and Halliburton. They should hire Iraqis as their private contractors. Yep. Pay them well. And I would work out an arrangement with the multiple provinces for direct payment. I sincerely believe working with the central government is what the problem is in Iraq. If the oil companies meet with provincial leaders they'll probably find more cooperation and less violence. Consider it a 'kickback.' No doubt it will work. It might even be condusive to a peaceful transition in Iraq when its central government fails and the provinces take over. The way it was suppose to work is that all the provinces were to get a 'cut of the action' to insure national security.
Good luck.
..."In 2005, Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia were all feeding the violence in Iraq; the United States was adrift without a strategy; and the Iraqi government and security forces were barely existent," said Eurasia Group analyst David Bender.
Today, he argued, those neighbors preferred stability in Iraq, Iraqi security forces had improved and the viability of the Iraqi state was not being threatened as it was in 2005....
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67S0ST20100829
It would seem as though there is something about this 'USA Transitioning Out of Iraq' that is good for the region. The USA is no longer a target of extremists in Iraq so the region has to concentrate on cooperation and security. Hm. I'm sure they'll be fine. I hold "Beirut" as inspiration to the possiblities.
