Archive for the ‘Iraq’ Category

Baghdad Denies Trader’s Claim That U.S.-Seized Oil Is From Iraq – Bloomberg

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An oil traders claim that a cargo of crude seized by the U.S. came from Iraq rather than Iran, as Washington asserts, is wrong, according to Baghdad.

SOMO, Baghdads state oil-marketing company, categorically denies that the 2 million barrels of crude -- worth roughly $130 million at todays prices -- are of Iraqi origin, it said in a statement on its website.

Fujairah International Oil & Gas Corp. laid claim to the cargo that Washington seized as part of its efforts to sanction Iranian oil exports. FIOGC, controlled by the ruler of Fujairah, one of the UAEs seven emirates, told a U.S. court last week that the crude came from Iraq and that it had documents from SOMO to prove that.

Read more: UAE Sheikh Lays Claim to Oil Cargo U.S. Says Is From Iran

In case of circulation of those shipping documents bearing the logo of SOMO for these shipments, they are to be considered as forged and incorrect documents, SOMO wrote.

FIOGC didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

With assistance by Anthony Di Paola

Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal.

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Baghdad Denies Trader's Claim That U.S.-Seized Oil Is From Iraq - Bloomberg

Letter to the editor: Time to pull open-ended Iraq war powers – pressherald.com

As the 18th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq draws close, so does a promising opportunity to promote peace and end endless war: a bill to repeal the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force in Iraq.

The 2002 Iraq Authorization for Use of Military Force was passed when some people in our government mistakenly thought that Saddam Hussein was developing nuclear weapons. It gave our nation permission to invade Iraq and remove the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Saddam was removed long ago, but the 2002 Iraq Authorization for Use of Military Force is still on the books. It has been misused against forces that had nothing to do with Saddam, and our continual warmongering has cost us countless dollars and lives. It could be used to involve us in a continuous cycle of retaliation.

HR 256 repeals the 2002 Iraq Authorization for Use of Military Force. To bring the bill to the House floor so it can be passed, we need as many co-sponsors as we can get. I see that Maine Rep. Chellie Pingree has co-sponsored HR 256, and I commend her decision. She is in good company, as many representatives on all sides of the political spectrum are pushing this cause.

We must continue to rally both the public and our leaders to work to use tools of peace and diplomacy rather than the weapons of destruction that continue the cycle of war.

I thank Rep. Pingree for her support as we work to have harmony replace war.

Beatrice BraeuerScarborough

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Letter to the editor: Time to pull open-ended Iraq war powers - pressherald.com

Seven reasons why a Libyan solution cannot work in Iraq | Ibrahim al-Zobeidi | AW – The Arab Weekly

When a Libyan pessimist, sceptical of the ability of his countrys new government to fulfill its promises, meets an Iraqi who is all too familiar with his own countrys problems and is affected by the corruption of its failed, corrupt governments (the roots of which were laid in laws enacted by US Administrator Paul Bremer), many factors will cause the Iraqi citizen to envy his Libyan brother for blessings God has bestowed upon.

The first is that Libya is not a neighbour of Iran, Turkey, or Syria.

The second is that the Libyan people belong to one sect and are essentially of one ethnic group, despite the existence of small ethnic minorities who are unable to obstruct the reunification process, as is the case in Iraq today.

The third is that the Libyan people number slightly more than seven million in a vast land with resources and riches that are enough to rebuild the country from east to west and from north to south. These can also make Libyan citizens the richest on earth. That wealth would enable them to play an effective and far-reaching role in drawing up regional policies and contributing to international agendas to a far greater extent than, for instance, little Qatar has achieved.

The fourth and most important of all reasons is that the majority of Libyans is favourable to a civil state that separates religion from the state, even though it respects religion and is keen on the freedom to preach, provide religious counsel and practice rituals. The history of the Libyan people since the days of their emancipation from the Italian occupation shows that the role of clerics rarely extended beyond the mosque or the shrine.

Fifth, and despite all the turbulence the country has faced, the professional Libyan National Army has survived albeit with limited manpower, weapons and combat experience. Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, despite conflicting views about him, only exhorted soldiers still loyal to military tradition to reject the domination by armed militias over the countrys wealth and people, calling upon them to unite under his leadership. He thus became the leader of an effective armed force that could not be ignored by the outside world and the United Nations when searching for a solution. And that is what has happened.

It was not possible, without his approval and participation, to reach the peaceful settlement with the Tripoli government, Islamist militias and groups of foreign mercenaries which produced the interim government tasked with laying the ground for fair elections by next December. Such a thing cannot happen in Iraq where the militias are in full control and dominate the government and the judiciary. The Iraqi army, since its re-establishment after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, has been the weakest partner in the political process because the Iranians and their Iraqi Shia proxies and their Kurdish allies sought to ensure an army built on their own factions.

The sixth asset for Libya is that unlike Iraq it has no racist parties which since their inception decades ago have put their weapons and fighters under the command of every country hostile to their homeland. This was especially true after the Americans, in the aftermath of the 1990 occupation of Kuwait, gave these parties an independent platform to be a thorn in the side of the Iraqi people, allowing them to prevent full reunification even at the cost of bloodshed.

And the seventh and last reason is that Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria have not tainted the hands of their soldiers and officers with the blood of Libyans, as Iran and Turkey have done with Iraqis. They have not had recourse to the bribery, espionage and plots which is keeping Iraq as long as possible, torn, backward and bankrupt, making certain that a unified, strong, rich and respected Iraq never emerges.

Yes, there are external forces that created Libyas problem on February 17, 2011, and they have indeed fanned the flames of civil war over the past ten years. But these same actors are the ones who worked to encourage the Libyan protagonists, or maybe more accurately, to force them to end the fighting, chaos and devastation and to rebuild what the armies and militias have ravaged. This came about after these external forces realised their interests are better served by a Libyan at peace rather than in conflict.

As for Iraq, it has one neighbour who was able to infiltrate all the states joints and become the de facto and undisputed ruler.

Moreover, the most striking difference is that the US in Libya did not simply force a settlement, but raised its big stick against all parties involved in creating the problem. In Iraq, however, the US was not in the past part of the solution nor is it today nor will it be in the future.

In addition, the radical Islamists driven by the ideas of the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS and others have not been able to transform their influence in Libya into a deep state that imposes its authority over the entire country like they did in Iraq.

Iraqi governments be they from the Dawa Party or those that have followed it, have had the support of the powerful Iranian state as well as official Turkish backing and tacit US approval. And this, even though the US always knew better than others about these governments corruption, extremism and bloodthirstiness. The full extent of the facts were hardly concealed from Americas intelligence services that were never more than an inch way from the public and private lives of the countrys pro-Iranian ministers, directors, and ambassadors, be they Shias or Sunnis, Arabs or Kurds.

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Seven reasons why a Libyan solution cannot work in Iraq | Ibrahim al-Zobeidi | AW - The Arab Weekly

Franciscan University President says Christian education is on the way to Iraq – WTRF

For over a year, the University has been working to establish something never done before.

Posted: Mar 17, 2021 / 05:03 PM EDT / Updated: Mar 17, 2021 / 05:14 PM EDT

JEFFERSON COUNTY, OH (WTRF) Persecution is seeing healing as the Pope proclaimed, The church is alive in Iraq, and in the Ohio Valley, a university is becoming part of this monumental step.

An email in December would prompt one of the most exciting weekendsofFather Dave Pivonkas life.

The Pope, the Holy Father, is going to come to Iraq and would I be willing to come and be his guest. First off, honestly, I had to think about it. Ive not had to travel to Iraq before.

With two other professors, Fr. Dave embarked tothe Middle East,where they found themselves to besome of the few Americansattendingamong10,000 people.

The Popemade his firstventure to Iraq, signifyingtohis followersa turning point in history.

The world is talking about Christianity in Iraq, said Fr. Dave.

It comes at a dyer time. In the past 10 years, Fr. Dave says 60 percent of the Christian population in Iraq haseither left the country or been martyred.And now, the Pope called onthe remainingrefugees to forgive.

I remember talking with the bishop and I said, How many priests do you know that have been martyred during this time when ISIS took over this area? He began to go through a list of many, many priests who were killed. Its a church that suffered greatly. To be able to be there to celebrate with the Pope was just a great blessing.

Now back from his trip, Fr. Dave tells me Christians in America dont realize how good they have it.

When I was in Erbil, a young adult, she was maybe 22 or 23 years-old, goes Can I tell you something? I said, of course. She goes, Please tell your people to not take things for granted.

Rebuild my church:The mission at Franciscan can takemultiple directions with the most recent endeavor.

For about a year and a half,theUniversityhas been working with ArchbishopWardaof Erbil to establish a Catholic University in Iraq. Its an area that has neverseen the likes of one before.

The Archbishop has developed four different schools and they teach in English. So, it would be great to have people from this area go over to Iraq and be able to teach the children.

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Franciscan University President says Christian education is on the way to Iraq - WTRF

A trend analysis of key indicators in IDP camps – Iraq, 2018 – 2020 – Iraq – ReliefWeb

Background

Following the high number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Iraq that returned to their area of origin (AoO) from 2016 to mid-2018, the rate of return slowed and remained comparatively low from mid-2018 onwards. In 2019, the Iraqi government initiated a plan to close IDP camps in order to facilitate returns.2 While the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily slowed this process down, the camp closures continued through 2020. As of September 2020, 1.3 million IDPs remained in protracted displacement throughout the country. This included almost 251,765 individuals who resided in 43 formal IDP camps, or 67 camps when including sub-camps in composite camp areas.

The Iraq Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster strategy has shifted to consider and support safe camp consolidations and closures in order to adapt to the shifting trend of IDP returns and to ensure minimum CCCM standards are being met across ageing camps. The primary aim of this situation overview is to examine trends in IDP camp conditions over a three year period (2018-2020). It compares the changes in key indicators in each camp to better assess how the situation in camps has evolved and where further improvements might be needed. The overview also seeks to monitor camp compliance with the minimum standards established by the CCCM Cluster during this period and reinforce the accountability of camp management.

The rounds included for the comparative overview are:- August-September 2020 (round XIV)- July-August 2019 (round XII)- July-August 2018 (round X)

Methodology

The selection of camps included in the assessment was based on the following criteria:- Open during the period of data collection;- Contained a minimum of 100 households; and- No security or accessibility constraints were present.

A mixed methodology approach to data collection was employed for this assessment, consisting of: a household survey with a representative sample of households from each camp; key informant interviews with the camp manager of each camp; and mapping of camp infrastructure using satellite imagery analysis and physical surveillance of infrastructure by enumerators on the ground.

For rounds X and XII, the household survey employed a random probability sampling technique. The sample drawn for each camp was calculated to achieve a 95% confidence level and a 10% margin of error at the camp level. When aggregated to the national level, findings are representative with the same confidence level and margin of error. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions, data was collected through phone-based interviews for round XIV and purposive sampling was used. The sample size was calculated to make it as consistent as possible with previous rounds. However, the purposive strategy used means that round XIVs sample may not be representative and the results should be considered as indicative only. For each round, population figures for each camp were drawn from the most recent Iraq CCCM Camp Master List and Population Flow database, maintained by the CCCM Cluster.

In partnership, the CCCM Cluster and REACH have conducted 12 rounds of the camp profiling and mapping assessment throughout formal camps in Iraq. These profiling exercises initially took place on a quarterly basis, but as the situation in many of the IDP camps stabilised over time, the assessment has been conducted twice a year since 2016.

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A trend analysis of key indicators in IDP camps - Iraq, 2018 - 2020 - Iraq - ReliefWeb