Home  \\  World  \\ Iraq reconstruction.. a fool's erra... 01 Mar, 2018 Iraq requires over $100 billion to rebuild its shattered infrastructure By: Struan Stevenson* (Riyadh Daily)   Iraq reconstruction.. a fool's errand Plans for the wholesale reconstruction of Iraq are being trumpeted by Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi and his government cronies.  Abadi told the World Economic Forum in Davos in January that his country required over $100 billion to rebuild its shattered infrastructure. At the international conference in Kuwait on 14th February, the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister claimed that over $30 billion had been pledged by 76 countries.  Some of the biggest potential donors included Turkey, who pledged $5 billion, the US who say they will pay $3 billion, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait who have promised $1.5 billion each, Qatar who are offering $0.5 billion and the EU, which seems prepared to pay something approaching $0.5 billion.  So bill...

Trump Excludes Iraq’s Popular Mobilization from his Iran Strategy 10/22/2017 7:00:38 PM   facebook Google+ ► Print Iraqs Popular Mobilization Force commits criminal activities in Kurdish regions Huffington Post, Oct. 22, 2017  - Trump’s exclusion of Iraq from his enumeration of Iranian violations in the Arab world and the IRGC roles there, in Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon, has interesting implications. Iraq seems to occupy a special position for President Trump. The prime minister in Baghdad, Haider al-Abadi, may have earned the trust of the US president, and even a preferential position with regard to US support, possibly at the expense of the Kurds, Washington’s erstwhile long-standing ally. Indeed, Trump has overlooked the participation of the Popular Mobilization forces in battles alongside the federal Iraqi forces to retake Kirkuk from the Kurds and other Kurdish-claimed regions in northern Iraq, bearing in mind that the US Treasury Depar...

Tillerson seeks Arab help in US effort to isolate Iran 10/23/2017 10:48:04 AM   facebook Google+ ► Print US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson holds a press conference with the Qatari foreign minister in the capital Doha on October 22, 2017.   AFP,oct. 23, 2017  -- US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson took the Trump administration's case for isolating and containing Iran in the Middle East and beyond to Saudi Arabia and Iraq on Sunday, pushing for them to unite against growing Iranian assertiveness. He also called for a quick resolution to the ongoing crisis between Qatar and its Arab neighbors, which he said was unintentionally bolstering Iran. In Saudi Arabia and later Qatar, Tillerson denounced Iran's 'malign behavior' and urged nations of the region and elsewhere, notably Europe, to join the administration to halt any business they do with Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps. He also demanded that Iranian and Iran-backe...

Trump Excludes Iraq’s Popular Mobilization from his Iran Strategy 10/22/2017 7:00:38 PM Iraqs Popular Mobilization Force commits criminal activities in Kurdish regions Huffington Post, Oct. 22, 2017  - Trump’s exclusion of Iraq from his enumeration of Iranian violations in the Arab world and the IRGC roles there, in Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon, has interesting implications. Iraq seems to occupy a special position for President Trump. The prime minister in Baghdad, Haider al-Abadi, may have earned the trust of the US president, and even a preferential position with regard to US support, possibly at the expense of the Kurds, Washington’s erstwhile long-standing ally. Indeed, Trump has overlooked the participation of the Popular Mobilization forces in battles alongside the federal Iraqi forces to retake Kirkuk from the Kurds and other Kurdish-claimed regions in northern Iraq, bearing in mind that the US Treasury Department has now targeted the IRGC as a suppo...