The Common Ills: Foreign ownership of Iraqi oil?

Sunday, September 24, 2023

Foreign ownership of Iraqi oil?

A lot of news out of Iraq, a lot of chatter. Not a lot focusing on big developments. For example, Amr Salem (IRAQI NEWS) is one of the few reporting on a change in Iraqi oil:

Iraq is about to enact an oil and gas law that would give international corporations a part in the nation’s oil output after more than ten years of discussions and delays.

This important step may take place after the municipal elections in December, according to Al-Sabah newspaper.

Despite the most recent developments, there are still outstanding issues between the federal government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Erbil.

A planned federal oil and gas council’s proposed leadership is one of the main points of conflict, Ali Mashkour, a member of the Parliament’s Oil and Gas Committee, told Oil & Gas Middle East.

So the goals of the Iraq War finally reach fruition and do so with little comment or attention from the international community? Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani spent last week in the US where he met with many leaders -- business and government -- and addressed the United Nations' General Assembly. John Lee (MENAFN) reports, "Iraqi Prime Minister, Mr. Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, held a meeting with members of the American Chamber of Commerce in New York on Thursday evening (local time). The meeting was attended by businessmen, investors, and representatives of major American companies. During the meeting, he praised the efforts of Mr. Steve Lutes, the Deputy Head of the American Chamber of Commerce, for organizing the meeting to inform investors about the business environment in Iraq." While Amr Salem (IRAQI NEWS) notes:

The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, confirmed on Friday that Dutch companies will be a distinct addition to infrastructure in Iraq.

A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) mentioned that Al-Sudani met in New York with the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, on the sidelines of their participation in the 78^th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The meeting addressed different aspects of cooperation between Iraq and the Netherlands, as well as ways to support the economic partnership to serve the interests of the people of both countries.

The two prime ministers talked about the formation of a bilateral council to facilitate cooperation in agriculture and water management areas, especially as the Netherlands is a leading country in these fields.

Next March, the Iraq War hits the 21 year mark. That's when US outlets pretend to care. The prime minister just visited the country for a week but most people in the US would never even know that because the media just didn't care -- CNN and NYT were two notable exceptions. That's corporate media. "Alternative" media? Could they even find Iraq on a globe? Do most of them even do anything at all? The YOUTUBE brigade is so very good about pointing out what went wrong on MEET THE PRESS or another Sunday Chat & Chew but they've never apparently grasped the importance of literacy and actually reading. TV babies -- as Matt Dillon says in DRUGSTORE COWBOY.

Angelo Young (24/7 WALL ST.) notes 13 ongoing wars:

Out of 13 major global conflicts, the newest ones are the Myanmar civil war, triggered shortly after a military coup in February 2021, and the war in Ukraine that started with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Seven of these conflicts are in Asia, including sectarian violence in Iraq following the pullout of the U.S. in December 2017, and Syria’s complicated civil war. Five of these conflicts are on the African continent. (Also see, 40 countries spending the most on war.)

[. . .]

In December 2017, the U.S. announced an end to its combat mission in Iraq, a country severely upended since the U.S. invaded it in 2003 based on the Bush administration false claims of Iraq President’s Saddam Hussein’s involvement in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Since the withdrawal of U.S. troops, the situation in Iraq remains tenuous despite the Iraq government’s claim of victory over Islamic State militants more than five years ago. As in neighboring Syria, Iraq is grappling with ongoing terrorist attacks, most recently in January, in an attack on an Iraq police station in the country’s northeast.

Yes, December 2017 did see the US government announced the end of combat missions in Iraq. Again announced. Let's drop back to August 31, 2010:

Having returned hours earlier from a conversation with troops at Fort Bliss, Texas – troops who had seen every phase of what has become one of America’s longest wars – the President [Barack Obama] spoke to the Nation for just the second time from the Oval Office to announce the end of America’s combat role in that war. Americans in high school today may barely remember a time when America was not in combat in Iraq, and young adults – including so many of our troops who have sacrificed so much – have almost by definition gone their entire adult lives in a country divided over the war. Today, as the President put it, was a day to begin to “turn the page” – a day when America could turn its focus towards building itself back up from a devastating recession.

Over all that time, though, as the President pointed out, “there has been one constant amidst those shifting tides”:

At every turn, America’s men and women in uniform have served with courage and resolve. As Commander-in-Chief, I am incredibly proud of their service. And like all Americans, I’m awed by their sacrifice, and by the sacrifices of their families.

The Americans who have served in Iraq completed every mission they were given. They defeated a regime that had terrorized its people. Together with Iraqis and coalition partners who made huge sacrifices of their own, our troops fought block by block to help Iraq seize the chance for a better future. They shifted tactics to protect the Iraqi people, trained Iraqi Security Forces, and took out terrorist leaders. Because of our troops and civilians -- and because of the resilience of the Iraqi people -- Iraq has the opportunity to embrace a new destiny, even though many challenges remain.

So tonight, I am announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended. Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country. Having drawn down 100,000 troops since taking office, a much smaller force will stay to train and assist the Iraqi forces during the transition period. The President was unambivalent on what would happen after that time: “all U.S. troops will leave by the end of next year.”

The President mentioned that Vice President Biden is in Iraq now, having spent the day meeting with Iraqi leaders about working with America's diplomatic team going forward.

Vice President Joe Biden meets with Ayad Allawi at Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Issawi's home in Baghdad, Iraq August 31, 2010. (by David LIenemann)

They keep announcing things like this but US troops remain on the ground in Iraq.

Another big story that the international media seems unaware of?

Azhi Rasul (RUDAW) reports:

Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court on Sunday ruled to dissolve the Kurdistan Region’s provincial councils “due to the end of their electoral cycle,” after declaring an amendment for their extension as “unconstitutional.”

The court stated that Article No. 2 in Law No. 2 of 2019, which amended the provincial councils for the provinces of the Kurdistan Region, was “unconstitutional,” it said in a statement.

According to provisions from Article 2 of the Iraqi constitution, the amendments went against the principles of democracy and infringed on basic rights and freedoms.

Elections for the Kurdistan Region’s provincial councils were last held in April 2014, and members of the council were sworn in on June of the same year to serve for four years, until June 2018.

ALMAYADEEN notes, "It is worth noting that in July 2019, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq's Parliament passed a proposal to amend the law governing provincial councils in the region, including extending the terms of the existing councils to bridge the legal gap created by the expiration of their mandates." MEDYA NEWS adds, "Journalist Fehim Işık told Medya News that the Kurdistan Regional Government is now considering how to respond to the court’s decision. However, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has been left without a functioning legislative body since May due to disputed parliamentary elections. This impasse has prevented the parties from taking collective decisions or convening parliament."

Still on Iraq, let's drop back to Friday's snapshot:

In other news, Rupert Murdoch is returning to Bran Castle in Romania. Paul Rudnick Tweets:

David Folkenflik (NPR) reports:

Rupert Murdoch, the media magnate who built an unmatched global media empire over seven decades from a single newspaper he inherited in his native Australia, announced on Thursday that he would step down.

"I have been engaged daily with news and ideas, and that will not change," Murdoch wrote in a memo to employees at Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and the many other properties that make up his two corporations, Fox Corp. and News Corp. "The time is right for me to take on different roles."

Murdoch's career has been marked by a singular drive for business success, an eagerness to have sway over elections and policies, and the repeated eruption of scandals. Fox News, which he founded in 1996, has played an increasingly prominent role in his profits, his influence, and his crises.

[. . .]

Murdoch's Sun tabloid relied on anonymous police sources to blame soccer hooligans for a deadly stampede after a stadium collapse; in fact, the police's own poor disaster response was found to be responsible. News Corp. later paid hundreds of millions of dollars after it came to light that people acting on its behalf had hacked into the mobile phones, voicemails and emails. The Murdochs closed down one of its tabloids, News of the World, and abandoned hope of taking full control of Sky, a major British satellite television outfit in which it held a significant stake.

In the U.S., Fox News paid nine figures to resolve a growing wave of sexual harassment accusations against then-Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes, among others. It later paid millions of dollars to the family of a slain Democratic National Committee staffer whom it baselessly claimed had leaked thousands of party emails that had actually been hacked during the 2016 campaign by the Russian government.

Yet nothing matched the debacle after the 2020 presidential election.

Murdoch's role in allowing Fox News stars to embrace discredited claims of fraud in that race came into sharp view during a defamation suit filed against the network and Fox Corp. The company settled for $787.5 million this spring, just before opening arguments in the trial were to begin. Dominion Voting Systems, the plaintiff, planned to make Murdoch one of the first witnesses to testify before the jury.

Despite Murdoch's contempt for Trump, Fox amplified his baseless claims of having been cheated out of victory. Documents from that legal case show network leaders were desperate to win back viewers angry that Fox News journalists had projected Trump would lose Arizona on Election Night.

Nothing matched the debacle after the 2020 presidential election?

Nothing?

I guess that's true . . . if you write a 920 word column and none of the words are: Iraq War.

Medhi Hasan (MSNBC) observes:

In the months before the Iraq War, Murdoch’s vast media organization agitated for invasion. The Guardian examined 175 Murdoch-owned papers in the run-up to war and coincidentally — completely coincidentally! — all of them supported the invasion.

Here in the states, Fox beat the drum so loudly for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq that even in 2015, 12 years after the invasion, a survey found that more than half of Fox’s viewers thought WMDs were discovered in Iraq.

But it wasn’t just Murdoch’s media empire, it was his own personal touch on world leaders.

In the final days before the invasion, British Prime Minister Tony Blair still had not publicly committed to taking part in the invasion, at least not on the timeline the U.S. wanted.

On the night of March 11, 2003, according to the diary of top aide Alastair Campbell, Blair “took a call from Murdoch who was pressing on timings, saying how News International would support us, etc. Both TB and I felt it was prompted by Washington, and another example of their over-crude diplomacy.”

News Corp. later called it “rubbish” to suggest Murdoch was lobbying for war on behalf of U.S. Republicans. Whatever his motivations, it’s clear that Murdoch helped make that war happen. As even the right-wing former editor of the Daily Mail, Paul Dacre, once said, “I’m not sure that the Blair government — or Tony Blair — would have been able to take the British people to war if it hadn’t been for the implacable support provided by the Murdoch papers. There’s no doubt that came from Mr. Murdoch himself.”

On the topic of Paul Rudnick, his new novel is FARRELL COVINGTON AND THE LIMITS OF Style and he has an event coming up in Santa Barbara (October 3rd).

I'm thrilled to be visiting Santa Barbara for this lunch and to be chatting with the wonderful Mandy Jackson- Beverly! If you're in the neighborhood please come by! pic.twitter.com/MtfYWDMFxF
— Paul Rudnick (@PaulRudnickNY) September 24, 2023

Naomi Klein also has a new book, DOPPELGANGER: A TRIP INTO THE MIRROR WORLD which she discusses with Ryan Grim in the video below (it's from September 13th but just posted today).