The key to everything is getting that oil pumping. You'll recall that one reason why Iraq (in my words) was a "basket case" was the condition of the 4 pipelines.
The "Domestic" south was as the UN described - leaky. The northern line had pumping stations that needed repair. The Saudis wouldn't open the one through SA to the Red Sea. The fourth had been closed by the Syrians at the behest of Iran at the beginning of the war - but had apparently been opened to pump 'illegal' oil free of sanction restrictions.
Then, there was the compensation paid to Kuwait, plus the 28% taken by the UN for "expenses" (though I'm uncertain whether Kuwait's cut came out of it. (I find it difficult to find the details in the monstrous paperwork issued by the UN.
I'm not sure that Saddam cared any longer (perhaps confirmed by his demeanor in his recorded television appearances).
So, get the black stuff flowing "dans trois semaines", get the Rent into the hands of the Iraqis, have the oil companies move the stuff out on limited time contracts. (Once the immediate rush is over, the Iraqis can re-negotiate better conditions.)
Seems good to me.
Harry -------------------------------------------------
Keith wrote:
What with a business to keep an eye on and writing immoderately to Futurework List I don't often have time to walk into town. But a necessary visit to the dentist called me there yesterday and I decided to buy a copy of Le Monde to read in the waiting room. "It will be interesting", I thought, "to read what the French say about this Iraq business".
I turned to the second page where the international news starts and here Iraq had a page all to itself. But there was no nonsense there about the existence or not of Weapons of Mass Destruction or what devious people Rumsfeld or Wolfovitz were (or even whether President Chirac will deign to talk to Bush*). Three of the four headlined items were:
L'Irak fait rapidement red�marrer sa production de p�trole
Le "ministre" promet des exportations "dans trois semaines"
Les Etats-Unis ont acquis les pleins pouvoirs sur l'exploitation des hydrocarbures
So while the o-word is scarcely mentioned in the American and British press, the French obviously know what the war was all about.
(*President Chirac, with all the hauteur of someone who's been in politics for over 40 years, having met nearly all of the famous and infamous world statesmen since WWII, including several American Presidents and British Prime Minsitgers, treats Tony Blair as an arriviste and put him in his place by ignoring him at a recent soir�e, much to Blair's obvious embarrassment, as we saw very plainly on our TV. God knows how Chirac will treat Bush at the forthcoming G8 meeting at St Evian. I feel almost sorry for the man already.)
Sorry about all the French words, incidentally. Reading Le Monde has obviously affected me. It's only a temporary maladie I'm sure.
Keith Hudson
**************************************************** Harry Pollard Henry George School of Social Science of Los Angeles Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042 Tel: (818) 352-4141 -- Fax: (818) 353-2242 http://home.attbi.com/~haledward ****************************************************
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