First of all Doug, you said that the US destruction of existing infrastructure was going to eat all of the oil money. The article that you are referencing talks about 13 years of neglect and 3 wars spanning 20 years.
Secondly, the article you post talks about revenue estimates that extend out 18 months. The $25 billion that is supposedly going to be needed in the first year (probably priced at contract rated in downtown NY...lol) would be used in part to INCREASE oil output and production efficiency to a competitive level.
Re:Of Iraq's current oil revenues, 72 percent pay for humanitarian needs, leaving just $3 billion to $4 billion a year that might go toward economic reconstruction
Do you think that the Iraqi citizens might have the opportunity to actually participate in the reconstruction, earn money and therefore reduce the need for this humanitarian aid, while at the same time creating a functioning economy? How much humanitarian aid does SA need?
RE:Iraq has 112 billion barrels of proven crude reserves, second only to Saudi Arabia's and ''more than ample to provide the funds needed to rebuild and boost economic growth,'' Heritage Foundation fellow Ariel Cohen argued in a research paper in September.
That makes more sense to me. As supply needs increase in China, extra oil pumped from Iraq will keep the prices from skyrocketing and needs from China will keep prices up.
Re:A lot of this debt dates from Iraq's war with Iran in the 1980s, when France and the former Soviet Union sold Baghdad arms and equipment while Saudi Arabia and Kuwait provided loans - Iraq considered them grants - of $40 billion to $60 billion. Reparations owed to Kuwait after the Gulf War have further swollen Iraqi debts.
Kuwait will be told to wait.
re:An internationally approved apparatus such as the U.N. oil-for-food program might provide added legal protection against efforts by Iraq's overseas creditors to impound cargoes of Iraqi crude as payment.
Hey...a use for the UN. and if the UN says no, we say screw you and retain the 800 million-1 billion a year that they expect from us. |
