Iraq: U.S. has no claim to oil boom -Iraqis fuming about request it supply USmilitary with cheap gas

Chicago Tribune ^ | 05/01/08 | Liz Sly

[LibWhacker]

BAGHDAD — As Congress gears up to debate the Bush administration's latest request for an additional $108 billion in war funding for Iraq and Afghanistan, Iraqis are fuming at suggestions being floated by lawmakers that Baghdad should start paying a share of the war's costs by providing cheap fuel to the U.S. military.

"America has hardly even begun to repay its debt to Iraq," said Abdul Basit, the head of Iraq's Supreme Board of Audit, an independent body that oversees Iraqi government spending. "This is an immoral request because we didn't ask them to come to Iraq, and before they came in 2003 we didn't have all these needs."

The issue of Baghdad's contribution to the costs of the war jumped to the forefront early in April during testimony to Congress of the Iraq war commander, Gen. David Petraeus, and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker. Noting that the soaring price of oil is likely to give Iraq a revenue bonanza this year of up to $70 billion, senators quizzed the two on why Iraq isn't using its rising oil income to pay more of the costs of reconstruction.

Iraqi and U.S. officials say they are. Iraqis acknowledge the need for Iraq to take on a greater share of its reconstruction costs and say it is doing so. In fact, according to the latest report released Wednesday by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, the body established by Congress to monitor reconstruction spending, Iraq is now responsible for the majority of the money spent on reconstruction and the Iraqi security forces.

[LibWhacker]

Feel the love.

[Hans]

Boy this makes me feel warm all over.
Abdul Basit is a real diplomat, why is
it I think he might be allied to the head
choppers.

[HamiltonJay]

Arab inate corruption will do its damnable best to keep Iraq in the middle ages.

[SolidWood]

Abdul Basit: "This is an immoral request because we didn't ask them to come to Iraq, and before they came in 2003 we didn't have all these needs."

Abdul Basit sounds like he is a reinstalled Baathist. Throw this bum out.

[MrLee]

Tell me again why Americans are dying for these muslimes?

[LibWhacker]

Apologies, AM... Would you kindly delete the ‘is’ on ‘Iraqis’ and put in the two extra spaces I neglected to insert? (I edited it to get under the 100 character limit on titles and forgot to proofread, arghhhh!)

[tatsinfla]

time to pack the bags and come home boys....gratitude....the u.s. will never learn....

[poobear]

Guess that SOB would prefer we left him to the hands of the Bathists to die in Saddam's shredders!

THAT ticks me off! Any good sharp shooters over there with a clean site on this ungrateful b@stard?

[ladyjane]

"America has hardly even begun to repay its debt to Iraq,

Reparations for Iraq, anyone?

[SolidWood]

I’m pretty sure this guy is a former Baathist himself.
When Shias are whining they say that they welcomed the liberation but for some other reasons (America evil blablabla) they want an end, but this guy says that under Saddam there were no problems... he is a reinstalled Baathist.

[Cementjungle]

America has hardly even begun to repay its debt to Iraq," said Abdul Basit, the head of Iraq's Supreme Board of Audit, an independent body that oversees

What a misleading article. They get a quote from some guy from a non-government "independent body" to say this, yet later in the article they say the opposite... that Iraq is picking up more and more of the costs.

I don't know the real facts, but this article (the headline at least) seems very fishy to me.

[LibWhacker]

"This is an immoral request because we didn't ask them to come to Iraq,.."

No, that's right. You didn't ask us. You forced us.

[Gil4]

RE: “we didn’t ask them to come to Iraq”

The hell they didn’t - they were begging for it. They may not have invited us, but they were definitely asking for it. If he’s siding with Saddam now, he needs to go join him.

That was our big mistake in the war - we needed to pummel them into submission before rebuiding. Anyone who was not an enthusiastic support should have been declared the enemy. There would have been a whole lot fewer people playing both sides of the fence waiting to see if we won.

[piytar]

Abdul Basit sounds like he is a reinstalled Baathist. Arrest Throw this bum and ship his hide into an Iraqi prison out.

Just my suggestion...

[piytar]

BANG! That was a shot that hit in the ten ring!

[avenir]

Maybe we should simply reiterate:

1) We invaded your country
2) We beat you
3) We set the terms now
4) You will provide our military with fuel needs
5) End of item.

[SolidWood]

Thanks for pointing this out! Very important! I didn't notice that it reads that this a**h*le ingrate is from some shady nongovermental organisation!!

[Royal Wulff]

Agreed. MSM/Dem collaborative attempt to stoke animosity and frustrate progress in Iraq.

[devane617]

"Tell me again why Americans are dying for these muslimes?"

We should have never put a single ground troop in that sand-pit. Bomb the crap out of them from the air, and let them decide when they had enough. If they want democracy -- great. If they decide on more corruption -- then more bombs.