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To: Joan Osland Graffius who wrote (168181)	5/25/2002 9:56:14 AM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Respond to of 436258

Iraq using pipeline to court U.S. ally - Hopes new revenue will cause Turkey to abandon support for Bush -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: May 24, 2002 5:00 p.m. Eastern Editor's note: In partnership with Stratfor, the global intelligence company, WorldNetDaily publishes daily updates on international affairs provided by the respected private research and analysis firm. Look for fresh updates each afternoon, Monday through Friday. In addition, WorldNetDaily invites you to consider STRATFOR membership, entitling you to a wealth of international intelligence reports usually available only to top executives, scholars, academic institutions and press agencies. © 2002 WorldNetDaily.com Iraq's use of economic diplomacy to forestall a possible U.S. strike continues to develop, with Baghdad now targeting key U.S. ally Turkey, says Stratfor, the global intelligence agency. The Iraqi government has nearly finished reconstructing a major pumping station on a joint pipeline, running from Kirkuk in Iraq to Ceyhan in Turkey, which this summer will become fully operational for the first time since 1990. The pipeline repairs will generate hundreds of millions of dollars in oil-transit fees for the Turkish government, which is struggling to revive its stagnant economy. Baghdad hopes that the cash flow will make the Turks reconsider supporting U.S. military action against Iraq. It is not clear exactly what the White House has in mind for Iraq. U.S. President George W. Bush told an audience in Germany yesterday that an attack on Iraq was not imminent. The Pentagon seems to have major concerns over such an operation, and the White House and civilian leaders at the Pentagon appear to be pressing the U.S. military leadership for more imaginative attack plans than those that have been presented so far. However, no matter what scenarios are being offered for ousting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Turkey is key in all of them. U.S. aircraft from Turkish bases enforce the Iraqi northern no-fly zone, and Turkey's border with Iraq is a potential invasion route. This makes swaying the opinion of the government in Ankara a top priority for Baghdad. The repair and reopening of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline will almost double the line's total capacity from 900,000 barrels per day to 1.6 million bpd. The additional volume through the pipeline will mean a corresponding increase in the transit fees collected by the Turkish government, something on the order of a half billion dollars a year in revenue. This is serious cash for the Turkish government. The economy is in intensive care: It shrank 9.4 percent last year amid an economic crisis and is only now steadying under an International Monetary Fund-backed recovery program. Many Turkish politicians place a large measure of blame for their economic woes on U.S. policies in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War. The oil embargo on Iraq and a collapse in trade between the two countries have cost the Turkish economy tens of billions of dollars. The financial hit was partially offset by aid from U.S.-backed international institutions. Last February, Turkey won a $16 billion loan package from the IMF, making it the organization's biggest borrower with a total of $31 billion. However, Ankara would rather that the billions of dollars come from trade instead of loans. Although the money coming from Iraq may make the Turkish government more sympathetic to Baghdad's diplomatic efforts, it likely won't be enough get Ankara to turn its back on Washington. However, Turkey may still use this relationship to raise its price for participating in a U.S. campaign against Baghdad. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: Joan Osland Graffius who wrote (168181)	5/25/2002 4:24:07 PM
From: Knighty Tin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

Joan, None of these scamsters believe in The House of Steward. <g> I know one thing, if performance doesn't improve, they'd better start lowering their fees. If it weren't for brain dead 401Ks, Janus would be history. Along with Aim and Principal. And I owned calls on Stillwell, Janus's daddy, for a while, so I'm not being unfair to them. But they have found a way to screw up a lot of folks' financial futures. One new way of doing things that won't work is Chuckie Schwab's "honest" quatitative approach to buying stocks. When is the last time you heard anyone bragging about how well his quantitative fund is doing? Does anyone think Chuckie can do it better than Fidelity or Vanguard or Barr Rosenburg or any of these other number crunchers? The only one of these funds to do any good at all has been Oppenheimer Main Street's small cap fund, that holds 600 issues. But methinks that guy is a freak who will self-destruct when he sees the new Star Wars for the 80th time. <g>