Posted on 07/28/2018 4:13:08 AM PDT by GonzoII
Iran’s loss may be Libya’s gain. The prospect that U.S. sanctions will drastically curb Tehran’s oil exports is feeding interest in Libya’s oil reserves and has even sparked movement toward economic and political reform in one of the region’s most unstable states.
As Libya endured yet another oil blockade, which pulled nearly 850,000 barrels per day from the world’s markets, Trump administration officials worked behind the scenes over the past month to pressure key militia leaders, government officials and oil executives to cooperate or face dire consequences, multiple sources told The Washington Times.
State Department and White House officials declined to comment on specifics, underscoring the sensitivities required to execute a successful power play in Libya.
The country is plagued by Islamist radical threats and divided between rival governments in its eastern and western halves since the 2011 revolution and death of longtime strongman Moammar Gadhafi.
With the U.N. and European allies, the U.S. has pushed a deal to subject the Central Bank of Libya and the state oil company to a wide-ranging investigation into long-standing reports of corruption and misappropriation of oil revenue by radical Islamist factions and militia groups.
Regional analysts have welcomed the investigation as a glimmer of hope after a long record of failure and uncertainty for U.S. policy.
“The proposed Central Bank audit presents an opportunity to improve transparency and management of a critical economic institution,” said Lydia Jabs of the U.S.-Libya Business Association.
International Crisis Group senior Libya analyst Claudia Gazzini voiced cautious optimism but warned that major questions remain about who will conduct the audit and how its findings are handled...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
He’s used to juggling lots of balls, keeping multiple plates spinning. Obama never sucessfully ran a lemonade stand.
Somewhere under the White House, there’s some 200 by 200 ft room with wall to wall white-boards. He’s sitting at night....plotting out ten sequence steps with sixty-odd countries with timelines and media-control methods written out.
Let’s play Libyans and Romans.
Cleaning up Obama’s foreign policy mess? More winning!
Related: See tagline.
Hillary and her band of flying monkeys destroyed Libya. Left it without a government, and helped jihadists take it over. Like Bill did to bosnia.
Valjar’s been around that long. We need a patriot with a mallet and wooden stake.
Didn’t we kick Libya’s butt? So, shouldn’t their oil be ours now?
Wow, so true (maybe “literally!”), and so succinct and to the point!
(It still will be so good if we can finally make friends with Libya.)
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