Monday, June 21, 2004

Headlines at Iddybud June 21

Headlines at Iddybud June 21


ISX Roll-Out Begins

Is Nedra Pickler an AP op-ed columnist?

Chalabi & al-Sadr may have future in Iraq gov't

WELCOME, SUMMER 2004!

Chalabi & al-Sadr may have future in Iraq gov't

Chalabi & al-Sadr may have future in Iraq gov't

Juan Cole mentions Al-Hayat news that Iyad Allawi recently dispatched Ahmad Chalabi to mediate between him and the Kurdish leadership in the north of Iraq. Also, a preparatory board has met to begin planning an Iraqi National Congress of 1000 notables. This includes an invitation to the Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, who observers thought might well be elected to the advisory council. Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has allegedly called on Muqtada to come to the congress.

From Informed Comment:


The American attempt to destroy Chalabi politically, and to destroy Muqtada al-Sadr physically, has so far failed miserably. Allawi is clearly eager to do business with both, and to pull them into his orbit. Both are now poised to gain seats in the proto-parliament, the national advisory council, and they have made an improbable and wholly cynical alliance with one another, according to an informed Iraqi observer. The two of them could well show up in the government to be formed in January, 2005.


Juan Cole also writes about the fact that Shiite Indians were being supported by Hindus in yesterday's protest in New Delhi against harsh U.S. policies in Iraq and to demand that the U.N. take the leading role in putting the country back on its feet. Indian Shiites have in recent decades been moderate and politically timid, but this issue has clearly galvanized them. Professor Cole believes there is only more trouble to come, seeing that the Shiite International has turned anti-U.S. I can only blame the Bush administration's sheer stupidity in their foreign policy for this unfortunate turn of events.

I'm beginning to believe that the Bushites will do anything...and I mean a desperate anything... to get the security failure known as Iraq under control so they can politically align themselves for re-election. I happen to think nearly everything they've done has had a political-advantage-strategy importance above our national interest. The Democrats are seen by the Bushites as more the enemy than the real enemy. For this reason, I think we will wind up leaving the people of Iraq with an anti-U.S. government in place. This is certainly not in our best national interest. It's a cob job. With some of these Iraqi notables, the anti-U.S. sentiment may be closeted away for their own political furtherance. I think, in the end, we will have failed the Iraqi people (and will have lost 846 men and women of our own armed forces) over the folly of "liberating" a nation while actually installing a new anti-U.S. government in Saddam Hussein's place.

Is Nedra Pickler an AP op-ed columnist?

Is Nedra Pickler an AP op-ed columnist?

The AP headlines that grace Nedra Pickler's journalistic ventures certainly seem like mini-op-eds...or perhaps slogan-suggestions for the Bush campaign.

One particular headline (and accompanying story) in question:

Campaigning for the poor paused to vacation with rich
By NEDRA PICKLER
Associated Press Writer


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We have a fellow from one of the richest families as our sitting President and I have to say that I think he's been incredibly stupid in handling world affairs.

Somehow Americans have gotten the impression that it's fine and dandy to have a rich Republican run for President...but not a wealthy Democrat.

Why would a professional newsperson wish to push this idea?

This type of thinking leads us to the only rationalization that we could make: Republicans are well-known to have gotten rich by greedily stepping over the flattened bodies of the poor, I suppose. We expect rich Republicans to run and once in office, to continue their naturally-inherent greedy streak of sinking the poorest..and..well...that's supposed to be alright
with us(?!)

I guess Nedra Pickler thinks so. I know she's not even trying to hide her bias anymore. I find her way of thinking philosophically bankrupt and her writing unprofessional (if she's supposed to be relaying the news). Why are we being subjected to such trash by the AP? If a writer can't give us straight facts, she should be replaced by someone who can. Make Nedra an op-ed columnist, a job for which she has auditioned in the guise of a newswriter and has proven herself an excellent candidate.

ISX Roll-out begins

ISX Roll-Out Begins

The ISX (Iraq Stock Exchange) has been established with a nine-member Board of Governors.

Here is a bit of history if you are unfamiliar with Iraq's financial markets. The Baghdad Stock Exchange (BSE) opened in 1991. It was government-owned and tightly controlled by Iraq's Ministry of Finance. Baath Party members routinely engaged in illegal seizures of listed company shares. The BSE ceased trading on March 19, 2003 due to the invasion of Iraq. Since its closure, the BSE's 300,000+ investors’ brokerage accounts have been frozen. Private transactions have been occurring, some illegal.

Since the BSE was owned by the Iraqi government and capital raising did not conform to free market principles, a new Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) has been established with an SEC as the oversight regulator. Independent of the Ministry of Finance, the ISX is a self-regulatory organization chaired by a public member of the Board. There will be satellite communication for a remote branch office in the U.S.

They are opening up now...rolling-out over the next few weeks, with five new companies per week. Rigorous market regulation is promised in order to control fraud, manipulation and unreasonably volatile price fluctuations.

If security issues are nipped in the bud, investors will come flocking, I'm sure. If security issues remain as they are today, I would consider investment extremely risky.

At least the groundwork has been set for a possible success.