The Zaidi Case.
It was reported on Dec. 19 by Maliki's officials that the
jailed shoe-thrower Zaidi apologised for what he did. But they did not
reveal his where-about. People's pressures and world public . . .
Obama's Energy Policy Team.
Before taking office, Obama has begun work on his plan to end US
imports of foreign oil and non-American gas within ten years. His
national security team, led by energy expert Gen James Jones, . . .
Focusing On The Non-Oil Sector - Part 34 - Iraq: Shoes To Bush
& Bomb From Obama.
When US troops invaded oil-rich Iraq in March 2003, they expected
to be welcomed as liberators from Saddam's ruthless
Sunni/Ba'thist dictatorship, with the country's Shi'ite
majority to shower them . . .
Zawahiri Hits Obama.(Ayman al-Zawahiri and Barack Obama)
Using a racially derogatory term, al-Qaeda's No. 2 Ayman
al-Zawahiri on Nov. 19 attacked Obama for his support for Israel. In the
first al-Qaeda reaction to the Nov. 4 US presidential election, . . .
Iran Split Over The SOFA; Syria Remains Strongly Opposed.(status
of forces agreements)
The Shi'ite theocracy is divided over the US military presence
in Iraq. Its supremacist wing which includes the IRGC is strongly
against the SOFA, while pragmatists under Chief Justice . . .
The Saudi Perspective.
Saudi Arabia, from where US-led forces liberated Kuwait, has been
quietly advising Iraq's Sunni Arab leaders to back the SOFA. From
the Saudi standpoint, an early US withdrawal from Iraq would mean . . .
Kurdish Intervention.
To secure more support from the Sunni Arabs, Iraq's Kurdish
President Jalal Talabani on Nov. 21 held meetings with many Sunni Arab
leaders at his Baghdad residence in the heavily fortified . . .
Focusing On The Non-Oil Sector - Part 33 - Iraq With Obama &
Saudi Perspective.
Under Barack Obama's Democratic administration which will take
over on Jan. 20, 2009, the US will be the first world power to focus on
the non-petroleum sector. It will spend $15 bn per annum for . . .
Iran Training Shi'ites?
The US media on Oct. 19-20 gave top play to documents showing that
Iran's IRGC was training Shi'ite Arabs, including Lebanese
Hizbullah members, to fight US forces as well as pro-US Shi'ites
and . . .
Iraqi Nationalism Vs Iran.
With all the influences it has in Iraq, the one thing Iran's
theocracy fears most is the country's Arab nationalism, most
notably among Iraq's Shi'ite Arabs as well as the Sunni Arabs.
It had . . .
Bad Scenarios.
Baghdad and other Arab capitals during the week were buzzed with a
variety of bad scenarios for Iraq. One was a military coup. Another was
an uprising by the awakening councils (AC), made up mainly . . .
Back To McFarlane's Piece.
The former top Republican official on Oct. 23 wrote (with
underlining and some name spelling by APS): "In the summer of 1983,
I became President Ronald Reagan's special representative to the
Middle . . .
From Beirut To 9/11.
This was the title of an article by Robert C. McFarlane, who was
the US national security adviser from 1983 to 1985, published on Oct.
23. He ended it with this: "Since 9/11 we have learned a lot . . .
Focusing On The Non-Oil Sector - Part 32 - Iraq-US Deal Gets New
Obstacles.
In the run up to the Nov. 4 US presidential election, the Bush
administration is applying intense pressure on the government of
Shi'ite PM Nuri al-Maliki to sign a Status of Forces Agreement
(SOFA) . . .
Iran Is Worried.
Tehran has been nurturing the hope that the EU's and
Asia's strategies to diversify their energy imports would
eventually give impetus to the their countries to normalise their
relations with Iran . . .
The China TSA For Ahdab Oilfield.
The Maliki government on Sept. 1 said it had approved a $3 bn TSA
with CNPC in a move which could signal the shape of future oil deals.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said: "The cabinet has . . .
US Lawmakers Force Cancellation Of No-Bid Oil TSAs.
An Iraqi plan to award six no-bid technical support agreements
(TSAs) to Western oil majors, which came under sharp criticism from
several US senators this summer, has been withdrawn. Iraqi Oil . . .
Petraeus Leaves.
The night before Army Lt Gen David Petraeus turned US command in
Iraq over to his deputy Army Lt Gen Raymond Odierno, a group of senior
American officers gathered at Camp Victory to say goodbye. . . .
The US Exit Options.(Viewpoint essay)
The real motives behind the US invasion of Iraq relate to a
strategy having a much broader perspective than that of the GME. This
strategy is based on a projection of the US as the "midwife"
for . . .
Focusing On The Non-Oil Sector - Part 31 - Iraq & Better US
Exit Options.(Viewpoint essay)
When this series began on Jan. 26, 2004, APS Energy Group had
expectations that the petroleum-rich countries of the Greater Middle
East (GME) and OPEC were finally to begin focusing on the non-oil . . .
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