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To: Crimson Ghost who wrote (32096)	11/24/1998 1:49:00 PM
From: Platter	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

Thanks Prazeres and Rgin...bougt FGII, RON, RIG and FLC today...Already have profit..not as much as those internet stocks but OK...Will look for OSX to move back up to high 60's before year end.

To: Crimson Ghost who wrote (32096)	11/24/1998 1:50:00 PM
From: The Ox	Respond to of 95453

I respectfully beg to differ. Iraq's neighbors recently moved from a position which opposed strikes to one which would approve of strikes as long as Saddam fails to honor the commitments and agreements made through the UN. Iraq's regime is at war with their own people in the north and west, had been at war with their immediate neighbors to the east, Kuwait and Iran, and would have been gearing up for a war with Saudi Arabia if the Gulf war had not happened. I believe there are attacks against his "own" people in the south of the country as well. To say that the UN sanctions are strictly a US ploy to install a new government is ridiculous. In my opinion, Michael

To: Crimson Ghost who wrote (32096)	11/24/1998 1:51:00 PM
From: Platter	Respond to of 95453

OSX now up 1.30

To: Crimson Ghost who wrote (32096)	11/25/1998 9:55:00 AM
From: Tomas	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

Financial Times on Iraq: A country with the second largest proven oil reserves in the world, in 1980 Iraq had a per capita income of more than $5,500. By the end of the war with Iran in 1988 it was below $4,000, but Iraqis still enjoyed one of the Arab world's highest standards of living thanks to a generous welfare state which allocated significant resources to education and healthcare, in spite of huge military spending. However, by 1995, after five years of sanctions, per capita income had fallen to $330 and it is estimated that 5,700 children were dying a month. Another million have been stunted from malnutrition and avoidable illness. According to the UN humanitarian office in Baghdad, the oil-for-food programme, which now allows Iraq to sell up to $5.3bn of oil every six months to buy mainly food and medicine, has led to significant improvements in the health sector and the rate of malnutrition appears to be "ebbing". The Iraqi regime, meanwhile, has fared better than most Iraqis. It rebuilt much of the country after the devastation of the Gulf war. Then, before it accepted the oil-for-food programme in 1996, taxes levied on smuggling and manipulation of the black market maintained a small supply of foreign currency, but contributed to a massive rise in prices. In the past two years, pressure for foreign exchange has been relieved. Illegal oil sales through Turkey and Iran and a greater willingness especially by Arab businessmen to break the sanctions and invest small amounts in Iraq have given the government at least a few hundred million dollars a year to spend freely. These funds have made possible such things as an additional food ration for state employees or new cars for the police. They also allow it to maintain an extensive security apparatus as well as rebuild conventional military forces. In these circumstances, the battered and isolated Iraqi population has been so pre-occupied with survival that it has had little time or energy to entertain the dangerous idea of organising political opposition to the regime.