 by Ryan Mauro We’ve all heard the mantra. The U.S. economic recession is made significantly worse by the extremely high cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom, with a price tag of nearly $700 billion going into 2010. The cost of the war in Iraq has been unnecessarily and tragically high, both in lives and treasure, but if the Iraqi government has its way, the country will massively increase its oil output, bringing down the price of oil and decisively impacting global geopolitics in the West’s favor. The Russian Lukoil company has won a massive contract to develop the West Qurna Phase 2 oil field in southern Iraq, putting to rest allegations that the Bush administration launched the war to seize the fields for its buddies in the oil business, a laughable accusation of Satan-level evil that has had a disappointingly long shelf life. When news of the deal was published, my good friend and fellow Pajamas Media writer Nick Guariglia lamented, saying on his Facebook page, “our blood; Russia’s oil.”
Most readers upon reading this will agree, but there is much reason to be excited about how America and the free world will benefit from this deal. Yes, you read that right. This deal may end up being just what America needs in this time of economic and geopolitical crisis. Iraq wants to increase its oil production, which currently stands at 2.5 million barrels per day, to a whopping 12 million barrels per day in ten years. The minister of oil thinks this can even be accomplished by 2016. That would make Iraq the second largest oil producer in the world, behind only Saudi Arabia. Lukoil is excited about the future of Iraq, saying it will cause a “revolution” in the market by increasing the world’s oil supply by 20 percent. “A top manager at a leading Western firm said the modern history of the oil business will be split into the pre-Iraq and post-Iraq periods. I agree,” said Leonid Fedun, a Lukoil shareholder who was ranked #122 on Forbes’ list of the world’s billionaires this year. Some are saying this goal is too ambitious and is “crazy.” That may or may not be true, but Iraq’s oil output is about to dramatically increase and impact the world’s dynamics.
This will probably result in a decrease in oil prices unless Iraq agrees to OPEC’s demands to keep the price high, something the Iraqis will be reluctant to do if they feel they can get a bigger share of the pie through competitive pricing.
And the Iraqis aren’t so hot on the Saudis and their other neighbors right now anyway. More at Pajamas Media
 FACING an uncrushable opposition and imploding economy, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is playing the nuclear card in an attempt to rally his fractured nation. By defying the West, rejecting talks and issuing scarcely credible promises to build 10 new uranium enrichment plants, he is hoping to whip up a nationalist fervour that will distract attention from Iran's deepening domestic troubles. It is a high-risk strategy, not least because Iran's opposition politicians are as committed to the nuclear program as he is.
Iran's nuclear program is popular, even among the country's Western-minded urban elite, though the question of whether it is for civil power or weapons is seldom discussed openly.
To most Iranians, the program is a source of national pride and a sovereign right that offers reassurance to a nation that feels isolated and vulnerable.
Iran is a Farsi-speaking Shia Muslim state in a region dominated by Arab countries with Sunni majorities. It is surrounded by US forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Gulf and threatened by Israel's nuclear arsenal. Above all, it recalls vividly how the West backed Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, despite his use of chemical weapons. Internal competition over the nuclear issue is in grave danger of escalating Iran's confrontation with the West. It may backfire domestically, too. Circumstances have changed dramatically in Iran this year and the nuclear card may well have lost its domestic potency. Iranians are questioning the cost of the program as unemployment and inflation are soaring, factories are closing and industrial unrest is spreading. Their economic hardship will become much worse if Ahmadinejad proceeds with his plan to save $US100 billion ($109.7bn) a year by cutting subsidies on petrol, electricity, water, food, health and education. Some, including Ahmadinejad himself, argue that imposing sanctions over Iran's nuclear program will serve only to unite the Iranian people. The Australian 
 An economy in meltdown, a President of the Republic indicted for crimes against humanity, and a ruling clique fighting among themselves as piranhas in a pool. The last thing the Sudan, one of Africa's martyred nations, wanted was a new round of violence shaking its foundations. Yet, this is what happened on Monday as demonstrators took to the streets to call for an end to a despotic regime imposed with a military coup in 1989. Although spearheaded by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), a southern outfit campaigning for independence from Khartoum, the demonstrations attracted a range of opposition parties from across the country.
Protestors sacked President General Omar al-Bashir's offices in a number of key cities in the south, the west and the north. By mid-week, it had become clear that the movement enjoyed support from a broad spectrum of political groups, from the secular left to the Islamists led by Hassan al-Turabi, a former ally and, later, a prisoner of al-Bashir's. Even the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), an artificial concoction designed to offer despotism a democratic fig leaf, is now split. It is no exaggeration to suggest that the president and his entourage no longer enjoy any significant support base. President al-Bashir has always tried to justify his rule with the claim that he is the man who ended the north-south civil war that started in the 1950s, reaching its most intense phase from 1983 to 2005. According to estimates by the United Nations, this was Africa's longest war and, having claimed 2.5 million lives, the costliest in human terms. With almost 12 years of fighting, General al-Bashir's regime was responsible for at least half of those victims. Add to that the estimated two million believed to have died in the Darfur tragedy, and the general's record emerges as one of the bloodiest in modern African history. There are times when history dictates the closing chapters even of the longest surviving rulers. Today, it seems that General al-Bashir's rule is becoming the subject of precisely such a final chapter. The NCP regime may have reached the end of the line not only because of its disastrous political record, massive and well-documented corruption, and sheer brutality. The main reason it is in trouble is its perceived incompetence, its obvious inability to offer a roadmap for the major problems the nation faces. Today, the general looks like the Wizard of Oz at the end of the saga when he has to admit that he does not know how to lead Dorothy back to her home in Kansas.
It no longer matters whether he is a good man. What matters is that he is a bad wizard. More at Asharq Alawsat
 The government of Great Britain has begun advising its supermarkets on how to distinguish between Jewish and Arab manufactured foods from the Judea and Samaria regions of Israel.
The British Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), has recommended that food labels for products made in Judea and Samaria say either “Israeli settlement produce” or “Palestinian produce.”
The labels are intended to increase pressure on Israel to surrender these areas and to result in the exulsion of all Jewish residents.
DEFRA, in keeping with Britain’s longstanding opposition to a Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria, said that traders would be committing an offense if they declared produce from these areas as “produce of Israel.”
Israeli officials and leaders of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria criticized the British government Thursday evening for the recommendation. Foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor expressed fear that this was a slide towards a broader boycott of Israeli goods and called the move a matter of concern. “It looks like it [the British government] is catering to the demands of those whose ultimate goal is the boycott of Israeli products.”
Danny Dayan, who serves as chairman of the council for Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, said the decision was the “latest hostile step” from Britain against the Jewish towns and villages in the area. He added that “products from our communities in Judea and Samaria should be treated as any other Israeli product.”
Yehuda HaKohen of the Zionist Freedom Alliance told Israel National News that DEFRA’s recommendation is nothing new and that Britain has always been one of the leading obstacles to regional stability in the Middle East.
“It was the British who originally turned local Arabs and Jews against one another in order to further their own colonialist agenda for our region.
And since Jewish freedom fighters succeeded in driving the British administration from our soil, they have been working tirelessly to undermine Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel.
Britain is and has always been an imperialist power and an enemy of the Zionist revolution. Our leaders would do well to just accept this as fact.”
 With today’s horrific bombing in Iraq, the BBC has posted a piece asking if al Qaeda is bouncing back in Iraq. The reason it’s a question is because no, it’s not. After every large bombing now, there are articles claiming that Iraq is descending into hell. Fortunately it appears that there are many factors which prevent this. - Iraq is more economically stable than perhaps any time in the last twenty years. Its currency is stable and appreciating while oil flows increase government coffers.
- Iraq’s security forces are still growing, now numbering over 600,000. Compare this to when it was under 100k in 2004.
- Iraq’s largest detractors, the Sunni Arabs, have largely accepted the new government and will be voting in the upcoming elections.
 The cost of insuring Dubai sovereign debt against default rose on the news.
Indeed, the country's credit-default swap spreads -- a key measure of credit risk -- stood at around 540 basis points late in northern hemisphere trading, which is nearly 40 basis points wider on the day. Moody's downgraded its issuer ratings for DP World, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group, Emaar Properties and DIFC Investments. All remain on review for further downgrade, the agency said in an emailed statement. "This rating action follows recent comments and statements from government officials, which cause us to believe that no meaningful government support should be assumed for any entity that is not directly part of or formally guaranteed by the government," said Philipp Lotter, senior vice-president for Gulf corporates at Moody's in Dubai. The downgrades come after the Dubai government announced last week that it will seek a six-month payment freeze on debts of one of its biggest conglomerates Dubai World, which owns real-estate developer Nakheel.
The company is estimated to have liabilities close to $US60 billion ($66bn), of which $US26bn is debt.
The Dubai government has since said it wouldn't guarantee the debts of Dubai World. Moody's said it also downgraded various baseline credit assessments to reflect "increased liquidity challenges in a tougher financing environment that we expect will continue for a protracted period", and "the longer term implications thereof on Dubai's economy". It also reduced the government support assumptions for all six issuers, Moody's said. "All ratings now reflect the respective company's stand-alone credit profile with the exception of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and DIFC Investments," Moody's said. These ratings include one notch uplift for government support recognizing their stronger strategic linkage to Dubai's core economic development policies, it said. The Australian
 FEARS are growing among Western banks that Dubai Holding, the personal investment vehicle of the emirate's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, will be the next state-owned Dubai company to default. The conglomerate went on a debt-fuelled spending spree in the past decade, borrowing $US12 billion ($13bn) to fund ambitious projects in Dubai and to create a private equity arm that bought stakes in Tussauds and budget hotel chain Travelodge. Together, Dubai World and Dubai Holding are thought to account for 60 to 70 per cent of Dubai's total debt. Research from Bank of America Merrill Lynch indicates that Dubai Holding has $US1.8bn due for repayment next year. Analysts at Barclays Capital said in a note last week that Dubai Holding was most at risk of defaulting on its debts after Dubai World because it had extensive property assets, was highly leveraged and had already faced problems in the past year. Insiders say the immediate focus is the $US3.5bn loan due for repayment by Nakheel, Dubai World's property arm, on December 14, which triggered Dubai's debt crisis. Details of the main lenders to Dubai Holding are not public, but bankers in Dubai say the group borrowed from international banks, including Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC, as well as local lenders. One official close to the company conceded the firm was "a bloody mess" and its boss, Mohammed Gergawi, a close confidant of Sheikh Mohammed, had been "in denial" about the problems it faced. "It's true that we were a very large holding company with very few checks and balances on what we did and how we operated," he said. However, he insisted the company had recently begun "restructuring and deleveraging in a sensible fashion". The once-sprawling conglomerate has been split into four divisions: property, leisure and hotels, investments and free zones -- tax-free business parks in Dubai. Thousands of staff have been laid off, notably in Dubai Properties, the firm's indebted real estate arm. He insisted there "is money available to meet our debt obligations", but conceded that the firm would have to work hard to reassure markets that was the case. There is growing mistrust of senior Dubai officials because last week's announcement of a standstill on debt repayments by Dubai World, which has $US60bn of debt, was made three weeks after Sheikh Mohammed categorically assured investors Dubai would pay its debts on time. Dubai Holding yesterday denied the firm faced any problems repaying its debts. The Australian
 Tom Goss writes that the condition of the Palestinian territories is rapidly changing, especially in Nablus. Nicer cars are being seen, more business is being created, movie theaters are opening, and the overall economic situation is improving. And it is happening, in part, due to trade with Israel: Local Palestinian farmers have been trained by Israeli agriculture experts and Israel supplied them with irrigation equipment and pesticides. A new Palestinian city, Ruwabi, is to be built soon north of Ramallah. Last month, the Jewish National Fund, an Israeli charity, helped plant 3,000 tree seedlings for a forested area the Palestinian planners say they would like to develop on the edge of the new city. Israeli experts are also helping the Palestinians plan public parks and other civic amenities…. I’ve long said that the Jewish communities in the Palestinian territories need to be seen as vehicles of mutually-beneficial interaction between the two, and that trying to create a Jew-free Palestine or Palestinian-free Israel will only increase extremism and quickly fail.
Goss also notes in the article that the Palestinian economy grew by 7% this year, but Abbas says it is really 11%, “helped along by strong economic performances in neighboring Israel.” Palestinians need to realize that an attack on Israel’s well-being is an attack on their own well-being, and Israelis should see the Palestinians as an exciting new market that will benefit them as it grows. World Threats
 Abu Dhabi is moving to bail out on a selective basis the state-owned Dubai World, whose debt default led to a sharp drop in global markets, a senior official has said.
The unnamed official told news agencies on Saturday that the United Arab Emirates' wealthy capital would "pick and choose" how to assist its debt-laden neighbour.
"We will look at Dubai's commitments and approach them on a case-by-case basis," the official told the Reuters news agency by telephone, adding: "It does not mean that Abu Dhabi will underwrite all of their debts." Dubai's crisis exploded on Wednesday when the emirate, known for opulent lifestyles and the world's tallest building, said it would delay payment on debt issued by Dubai World, triggering panic among investors and driving global markets down. Abu Dhabi's selective assistance for companies in "Dubai Inc", a network of quasi-sovereign industries, instead of blanket assistance, is likely to disappoint many investors who assumed the city would provide a safety net for its neighbour.
The official, who declined to be identified because he is not authorised to speak to the media, said: "Some of Dubai's entities are commercial, semi-government ones. Abu Dhabi will pick and choose when and where to assist."
At stake is the $59bn in debt held by Dubai World, the holding company, and Nakheel, its property arm, known for building palm-shaped islands for wealthy celebrities.
On Friday, stocks from Tokyo to Mumbai reacted badly to news of lenders' exposure in the firms that built artificial island housing developments in the Gulf emirate.
Banks in Asia and Europe were quick to distance themselves from Dubai, and shares on the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong plunged 3.45 per cent after the morning session, down 765.28 points to 21,445.13 as a result of the panic.
European stocks fell to lows not seen since May and bonds jumped after the restructuring was announced. Dubai, part of the oil-exporting UAE, said on Wednesday it would ask Dubai World creditors and Nakheel to agree to a standstill on billions of dollars of debt as a first step towards restructuring. Alia Moubayed, a senior economist at Barclays Capital in London and author of the Dubai Debt Problem report, said the "challenges Dubai is facing are considerable".
"The sources of financing, however, at this stage are ... the extent of the Abu Dhabi support that's likely to come through," she told Al Jazeera. More at Al Jazeera
 DUBAI World says it is in talks with banks to restructure about $US26 billion ($28bn) in debt, easing concerns that the government-owned investment arm will default on all of its $US60 billion in total liabilities. The restructuring will comprise several phases, and Dubai World says it is considering alternatives to its debt obligations. About $US6bn of the restructuring is related to its property unit, Nakheel World. Dubai World, a conglomerate spanning real estate, ports and leisure interests, was seeking a debt standstill, a move that weighed heavily on investor confidence worldwide. "Following a detailed review of the group's liquidity and capital structure, Dubai World has concluded that it should immediately consider alternatives in respect of the debt obligations of certain entities within the group," it said. "The proposed restructuring process will only relate to Dubai World and certain of its subsidiaries, including Nakheel World and Limitless World." Global jitters about a potential default caused stocks to plunge late last week on concerns about a potential new phase of the financial crisis. The announcement that banks are in talks about restructuring triggered a rally in US markets just ahead of the close. Investors were rattled earlier in the session after the Dubai government said it would not automatically rescue the investment vehicle. Moelis & Co has been appointed to advise on the restructuring, and Rothschild will remain a financial adviser. Dubai World says the restructuring will relate to only some of its subsidiaries, including Nakheel and Limitless World. The process will not include Infinity World Holding, Istithmar World, and Ports & Free Zone World, all of which are on "a stable financial footing," according to Dubai World. Separately, law firm Ashurst says it is representing a group of creditors, who account for about a quarter of the nominal value of a $US3.5bn Islamic bond due next month, issued by Dubai World's Nakheel property unit. The Australian
 The Iraqis have added another threat to Syria, on top of trying to establish a U.N. tribunal to prosecute those in Syria facilitating the violence, and thus exposing the Assad regime’s involvement. Iraq now says that they will end their economic ties with Syria if it does not stop providing insurgents with safe passage and extradite Baathist insurgents involved in the horrific bombings in Baghdad since August.
The Iraqis are handing the confessions of three captured terrorists involved in the October bombings in Baghdad to the U.N. as part of their effort to have a tribunal created and expose Syria. To better understand Syria’s complicity in radical Islamic terrorism, check out Barry Rubin’s article in Middle East Quarterly, which I might add, mentions yours truly. World Threats
 The UAE central bank intervened yesterday, setting up an emergency liquidity facility for lenders in the second-largest Arab economy. Its move was designed to head off a run on local banks when they re-open today after a four-day holiday. The rulers of Abu Dhabi are expected to make a statement before the markets open on whether they will bail out Dubai and which businesses and projects will be rescued. Such a statement would be a key test of financial stability in the region. Senior analysts in the region expect that projects regarded as folly will not be backed but operations and investments with a strong business model will be. Restructuring of the debts on those had already been started by investment bankers at Rothschild and accountants at Deloitte. KPMG is expected to be confirmed this week as lead adviser to the biggest creditors to Dubai World, including British banks. Western banks welcomed the UAE central bank action but analysts called it “a holding tactic”. The central bank said that it “stands behind local and foreign banks operating in the country”. Peter Sands, the chief executive of Standard Chartered, which has lent about $US8bn to Dubai, said: “The central bank has acted decisively and pragmatically. Their support for the banking system will underpin consumer and market confidence in the economy.” Raj Madha, a banking analyst at EFG Hermes, an investment bank based in Egypt, said that further measures were required. He said that the facility “may be enough to stop any liquidity drain gaining momentum tomorrow, but they need to clarify the long-term health of the banking sector by a guarantee of loans or by offering to buy up exposure.” Last night, the rulers of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, its much richer sister emirate, were locked in fraught talks about the terms of a potential rescue. The UAE central bank is advised by Oliver Wyman, the management consultancy, and has held talks with the office of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the multibillionaire whose investment fund owns Manchester City Football Club. Today will mark the first key test of whether Dubai will default on its estimated $US88bn debt pile, when interest payments of about $US138 million become due on a $US2bn bond issue by Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority, a unit of Dubai World. Abu Dhabi, which sits on one-tenth of the world’s oil reserves, has the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, valued at $US700bn. It can afford to bail out Dubai but is thought to be driving a tough deal, possibly demanding control of key assets, such as Emirates Airline. Projects begun but not completed include the $US20bn Dubai Land, 3bn sq ft of theme parks, shopping centres, hotels and residential properties due to be completed in 2018; the $US15bn Dubai Festival City, a 1300-acre complex of schools, hotels, offices and leisure facilities to be completed in 2020; and The Lagoons, a $US17.7bn development of seven islands, to be completed next year. In a related development, Dubai censors scrambled to stop The Sunday Times reaching news stands yesterday. SAB Media, the Dubai licensee, was told the paper was blocked from distribution. No reason was given but the recall was probably prompted by an illustration of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum swept away in a wave of debt. In Dubai, it is illegal to produce a derogatory image of the ruler or to deface his picture. The Australian
 Thousands of Palestinian workers in Dubai may lose their jobs due to the financial crisis there, economists project.
Over the past few months, thousands of the estimated 100,000 Palestinian laborers working in Dubai have lost their jobs.
The Gulf state's economy is grinding to a halt, due to the huge international debts the country took on to drive its breakneck expansion coupled with the global economic crisis.
Last week, the Dubai government announced its flagship conglomerate needed a six-month halt to interest payments on $59 billion worth of debt.
Arab financial analysts said the crisis in the Gulf states, compounded by debts and falling oil prices, will affect the economy in the Palestinian Territories, where many families depend on money from relatives working in Dubai, primarily in construction.
Other Palestinians work as engineers, instructors and in technology-related professions in Dubai. Some have started construction businesses there, such as Arab-Tech, which was among the country's first victims of the financial crisis.
This recession resulted in the cancelation of building contracts and projects and sent the industry into a freeze, prompting many Palestinians to leave Dubai for neighboring Qatar - which last month injected $6 billion in fresh capital into its banking system to "restore confidence" in its own economy - and in Saudi Arabia. Some have returned to the West Bank.
One Dubai-based Palestinian businessman said Palestinians working in Dubai were generally "highly skilled personnel with long years of experience in their respective fields."
"Many West Bank families are losing their sources of income, as these people are no longer sending much money," he told Haaretz.
The sheikdom of Dubai, ruled by the Makhtoum family, has staked its future on plans to become the tourist, transport and finance hub of the Middle East, encouraging outsiders to buy apartments in the plethora of new tower blocks sprouting like poplars across the sand.
But the international financial conglomerate Citigroup warned has warned that several Dubai developers have been caught in a severe squeeze, and their projects are increasingly unlikely to be finished.
 Dubai World’s surprise request for a freeze on debt payments provided the focus for world financial markets yesterday, hitting bank stocks and the price of oil, but lifting the dollar on a day when US and most Gulf markets were closed.
With the US on holiday for Thanksgiving, the region observing Eid al Adha, and trading on the London Stock Exchange temporarily closed for technical reasons, the environment was ripe for rumour and sensation as markets eschewed risk for gold and US dollars.
The day began with credit ratings agencies downgrading several government-related companies, such as DIFC Investments and Emaar, citing questions over Government support. Gold, a traditional refuge for investors in a storm, hit a record high of nearly US$1,200 before falling back.
Dubai then issued a statement to the market clarifying that DP World, the profitable ports division of Dubai World, would be spared from a restructuring that was announced along with the debt freeze request. The announcement regarding DP World was welcomed by markets and within the company itself. “This makes perfect sense. We have very tradeable assets and a very attractive business,” a DP World executive said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Still, markets added a premium to the cost of borrowing for Gulf companies, and the price of insuring government debt against default also rose.
European stock markets had their biggest falls in three weeks, while the MSCI index of emerging stock markets declined by one per cent. More at the National
 BAGHDAD — Hundreds took to the streets Saturday throughout Iraq to demand open elections and improved public services, revealing growing discontent among Iraqis with the pace of reconstruction more than six years after the U.S.-led invasion. The protests came as the Iraqi government is struggling to restore infrastructure after years of neglect, corruption and insurgent attacks, as well as rebuild their security forces ahead of a planned American withdrawal in 2011. About 200 demonstrators took to the streets in central Baghdad, chanting: "No water, no electricity in the country of oil and the two rivers," referring to Iraq's ancient name. Protester Najim Abid said he and others were calling on the Iraqi government and international aid organizations to take immediate action to improve conditions for Iraqis. "They must step in and save the Iraqi people who are suffering because of poverty and deprivation," said Abid, 52, a retired government worker. Iraq's economy has been badly hit by low oil prices, which forced the government twice this year to slash its budget from $79 billion to $58.6 billion. Its budget next year is expected to be about $70 billion, still well below its funding needs. Oil accounts for about 95 percent of Iraq's revenues. The lack of clean water and electricity could prove to be an issue in next January's national elections for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has campaigned on the issue of improved security. In recent days, al-Maliki has begun speaking publicly about increasing funding for reconstruction. About 800 people in the southern provinces of Wasit and Basra took to the streets in support of a call by the country's most senior Shiite cleric to hold more open elections. Iraq's parliament has been considering having the Jan. 16 ballots list only the party blocs and not the individual candidates. Last week, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani threatened to boycott the Jan. 16 elections if the voting system includes only the parties and not the names of the candidates. Al-Sistani wants the so-called "open list" system because he believes it will encourage more voter participation.
Source: FoxNews
 By Elliott Abrams In an op-ed on Sunday ["The Elders' View of the Middle East"], former president Jimmy Carter, speaking on behalf of a self-appointed group of "Elders," described a rapacious Israel facing long-suffering, blameless Palestinians, who are contemplating a "nonviolent civil rights struggle" in which "their examples would be Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela." As with most of Carter's recent statements about Israel and the Palestinians, instead of facts we get vignettes from recent Carter travels. And while he finds "a growing sense of concern and despair" among "increasingly desperate" Palestinians, polls do not sustain this view. The most recent survey by the leading Palestinian pollster, Khalil Shikaki (done in August, the same month Carter visited), shows "considerable improvement in public perception of personal and family security and safety in the West Bank and a noticeable decrease in public perception of the existence of corruption in [Palestinian Authority] institutions." This does not sound like despair. In fact, positive views of personal and family safety and security in the West Bank stood at 25 percent four years ago, 35 percent two years ago and 43 percent a year ago, and they have risen to 58 percent in the past year, Shikaki reports. There are other ways to measure quality of life in the West Bank: The International Monetary Fund recently stated that "macroeconomic conditions in the West Bank have improved" largely because "Israeli restrictions on internal trade and the passage of people have been relaxed significantly." Read more here ... Source: Washington PostH/T: GH
 By Rachel Ehrenfeld On September 9, Iran will stage one of its biggest economic shams, seemingly selling fifty percent of its telecommunication company, Iran Telecom (TCI), to private investors. The well-advertised “privatization” of the company, described as “the biggest of its kind in the history of Tehran Stock Exchange,” is expected to fill Iran’s depleted coffers with $7.9 billion. In addition, Iran plans to privatize 230 companies in the coming year. Could this be the controversial, newly elected Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s plan to remake his image as an economic reformer? Is he really selling off the control over the telecommunications services, including domestic and international telephone and mobile, telegraph, data transmission, and radio paging services? Moreover, this is the national telecommunications system he and his goons were unable to stop from broadcasting to the world dramatic photos, videos and messages of the brutal crackdown on demonstrations following his fraudulent re-election. Dictators do not give up such important controls. So, who are those investors that Iran's Privatization Organization “previously approved technically and financially”? Read more ...Source: FPM
March 20VIENNA (Reuters) - Strict measures across the world to act against climate change could seriously affect the economies of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations, a Saudi official said on Thursday.
"Countries talking about reducing dependence on oil could impact our economy," Mohammad al-Sabban of the Saudi ministry of petroleum told an OPEC energy conference.
OPEC has committed to reducing harmful emissions and Saudi Arabia has invested in carbon capture and storage technology which is designed to do so. But the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries stresses that others should also take their share in managing the use of fossil fuels. "We are ready to bear our fair share of cost of addressing climate change but no more," said Sabban, head of the Saudi Delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and also a senior economic adviser at the Saudi oil ministry. He cited an independent study by consultants Charles Rivers, which stated that policies to mitigate climate change could remove 5-20 percent of Saudi and other Gulf countries' GDP. He also referred to International Energy Agency Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka who spoke at the same conference. "If you take the IEA scenario presented by Tanaka yesterday that is a stringent policy scenario that will definitely head us toward 20 percent of economic welfare loss and this is very serious for oil producing countries and in particular Gulf producing countries," he said. "Efforts to cut CO2 and at the same time reduce energy dependency on imported oil "is a very serious behavior that could impact our economy," he said. "We stand to lose out to such policies that are biased against oil producers." Sabban reiterated comments made by Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi in Geneva on Monday that the kingdom was also investing in solar power and aimed to become a leading supplier in addition to its role as the world's biggest oil exporter. Source: Asharq Alawsat
 I have burned many electrons over the years highlighting reports about the abuse of financial aid to the Palestinians. The Funding for Peace Coalition probably did the most comprehensive job back in late 2004 with their report Managing European Taxpayers' Money: Supporting The Palestinian Arabs - A Study In Transparency. Not much seems to have changed since then. The Palestinian Authority continues to be led by the same corrupt cronies, and continues to provide “terrorist insurance” payments to imprisoned murderers and their families. The Abbas led PA continues to incite violence against Israel through its public statements, television shows and hate education. And the JCPA reports that the internationally funded PA still has Hamas and other terrorists on the payroll. In Gaza, the criminal Hamas government has been caught red handed time and again stealing international aid – either selling it back to the people to fund their war crimes, or diverting it directly to their guerilla terrorist forces. And Hamas keeps firing rockets into Israeli towns using their own human shields every day. And the smuggling tunnels bring in more weapons all the time. James Lindsay, former legal counsel for UNRWA, issued a report Fixing UNRWA: Repairing the UN's Troubled System of Aid to Palestinian Refugees, where the recommendations are more than telling. He argues that implementing them would return Palestinians “to what most of them so desperately seek: normal lives.” Lindsay directly and indirectly argues that much of the UNRWA budgets are spent providing services to people who simply don’t need the charity, and many are not refugees, and some are not even Palestinians. Read more ...Source: David Frankfurter
If you chose "No," please consider providing your solution to Gaza crisis in the comments.
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by Ryan Mauro
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