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#21 [url]

Jun 3 08 1:29 PM

I started reading that and then nothing made sense. I rubbed my eyes, guzzled more coffee and tried again. I couldn't make sense of it and then I realized it doesn't make sense because it is written in French.

But look at all these businesses coming to Iraq...

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Heart With 2 Wings

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#22 [url]

Jun 3 08 1:30 PM

oh wow i translated it in english hmmm i will post all of it thanks for letting me know ok lol i tried to translate it here, i think what is happening is it is in French then translated, i never had that happen, weird, but ya can learn a lil french cant ya? lol

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." ~~John 15:5~~

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Heart With 2 Wings

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#23 [url]

Jun 3 08 1:35 PM

France Embassy opens office in Iraqi Kurdistan region

French FM Bernard Kouchner inaugurated a new French diplomatic office in Erbil.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner inaugurated a new French diplomatic office in Erbil, the Iraqi Kurdistan's capital on Sunday evening, the second day of his two-day trip to Iraq


"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." ~~John 15:5~~

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Heart With 2 Wings

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#24 [url]

Jun 5 08 12:37 AM

Pentagon Backs $5 Billion Green Zone Development Plan





BAGHDAD — Forget the rocket attacks, concrete blast walls and lack of a sewer system. Now try to imagine luxury hotels, a shopping center and even condos in the heart of Baghdad.

That's all part of a five-year development "dream list" — or what some dub an improbable fantasy — to transform the U.S.-protected Green Zone from a walled fortress into a centerpiece for Baghdad's future.


But the $5 billion plan has the backing of the Pentagon and apparently the interest of some deep pockets in the world of international hotels and development, the lead military liaison for the project told The Associated Press.

For Washington, the driving motivation is to create a "zone of influence" around the new $700 million U.S. Embassy to serve as a kind of high-end buffer for the compound, whose total price tag will reach about $1 billion after all the workers and offices are relocated over the next year.

"When you have $1 billion hanging out there and 1,000 employees lying around, you kind of want to know who your neighbors are. You want to influence what happens in your neighborhood over time," said Navy Capt. Thomas Karnowski, who led the team that created the development plan

Karnowski said a deal already has been completed for Marriott International Inc. to build a hotel in the Green Zone. He also said a possible $1 billion investment could come from MBI International, a conglomerate that focuses on hotels and resorts and is led by Saudi Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber.

Elizabeth Caminiti, a Marriott spokeswoman, declined to comment. Phone calls and e-mails sent to London-based MBI were not returned.

For the moment, however, it's mortars and rockets — not investment money — pouring into the Green Zone, which includes the U.S. and British embassies, key Iraqi government offices and other international compounds. Militants have escalated their shelling of the enclave since Iraqi forces began a crackdown on Shiite militias in late March.

But developers are clearly looking many years ahead and gambling that Baghdad could one day join the list of former war zones such as Sarajevo and Beirut that have rebounded and earned big paydays for early investors.

Even now — with violence in Baghdad again creeping up — the faint hints of the development plan have driven up the Green Zone's already sky-high real estate prices.

Land that a few years ago was going for $60 a square meter on 50-year leases in the zone is now going for up to $1,000 a square meter, American officials say.

Last week, a Los Angeles-based holding company for equity firms, C3, confirmed it was starting a $500 million project to build an amusement park on the outskirts of the Green Zone in an area encompassing the Baghdad Zoo. The first phase, a skateboard park, is scheduled to open this summer.

But any Green Zone project is literally starting from the ground up.

"There is no sewer system, no working power system. Everything here is done on generators. No road system repair work. There are no city services other than the minimal amount we provide to get by," Karnowski said.

He noted that of 500 development projects carried out in Baghdad last year, not one was done in the Green Zone — with the exception of the building of the new American embassy.

The plan also envisions significantly reducing the non-Iraqi footprint in the Green Zone, a five-square-mile area crisscrossed by 15-foot-high blast walls and checkpoints.

About 50 percent of the area is now occupied by coalition forces, the U.S. State Department or private foreign companies. If all were to go according to Karnowski's plan, only 5 percent of land in the Green Zone will be in foreigners' hands in five years.

Privately, American diplomats say the plan is, at best, wishful thinking.

Security is nowhere near the level needed for major development projects. Then there is the question of whether the Iraqi government even wants U.S. involvement in developing the center of their capital.

One diplomat, who asked not to be named because of no authorization to speak to the media, said they did not think Iraqis would want Washington to "turn this area into downtown Kansas City."

But Both Karnowski and Iraqi officials said the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is interested in hearing U.S. ideas in developing the Green Zone, though many Iraqi leaders have expressed worries and words of caution.

"The Iraqi government wants to limit U.S. power in the Green Zone," a top adviser to al-Maliki said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the press.

Iraqis also complain that the Americans — because they control security in the Green Zone — essentially hold a veto over the investors.

Karnowski acknowledged that American officials would vet potential investors because of a "vested interest."

Some Iraqi leaders even have drawn parallels to the U.S.-backed development plan and what Saddam Hussein did in the area — known by its Iraqi name of Tashri during his regime.

Hussein stocked the neighborhood with family and tribal allies, political loyalists and members of his elite Republican Guard. Karnowski called the accusation "partially true."

"Why do people build fences around their house? The intent is until such time as it's much safer around here, you want to be able to influence what goes on," he said.

The biggest hurdle to the plan is sorting out the true owners of property in the Green Zone, where "eminent domain by gun" was employed during the Saddam era, Karnowski said.

The chaos after Saddam's fall also added the murkiness.

"It's a jungle here," said Hussein, a 28-year-old from Lebanon who started a contracting company about a year ago in Baghdad and rents out living space in the Green Zone on the side. "It used to be like the Wild West — you grabbed some property and said, 'this is mine."

Air Force Lt. Col. Monte Harner leads the effort to discover who owns the titles and consolidate the areas held by the U.S. military.

He said the Army plans to move a military hospital in the zone — now located in a former private medical facility — to a base nearby, freeing it up for Iraqi use. Also in the works is the consolidation of Green Zone housing used by American troops.

Sadiq al-Rikabi, a top adviser to al-Maliki, said there are also plans for development projects at the Baghdad airport west of the city, including a hotel.

American officials confirmed some projects would be carried out near the airport.

According to Karnowski, the United States will spend $120 million to demolish buildings damaged by air strikes during the opening days of the war.

Both Karnowski and Harner are aware their Green Zone plan is viewed as unrealistic by many, primarily U.S. Embassy officials.

"If you talk to people at the State Department, they still believe a hotel isn't going up. But it is a done deal," Karnowski said of the Marriott project.

Harner also believes even having a blueprint is important.

"You have to stake a goal in the sand before you can begin to move toward it," he said. "Without a vision of what could be, you're just treading water."

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." ~~John 15:5~~

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#25 [url]

Jun 5 08 1:11 AM

Rosenberg tour areas in Iraq, he stated he has already seen changes and it has become alot safer.

so yes, I can see in a few years (maybe less) that Iraq will become an empire with the help of it's neighbors that are wealthy.

Deuteronomy 6: 5-6

And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

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Heart With 2 Wings

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#26 [url]

Jun 11 08 3:26 PM



LIFE RETURNS TO IRAQ’S ‘GHOST TOWN’ SUBURB

Dora, in Saddam’s time, had it all – a power station and oil refinery provided jobs and its large bungalows hidden in date palm groves drew rich, powerful Sunnis and their families to this southern suburb of Baghdad.
But Dora fell on hard times at the start of the war in 2003.

When I visited Dora about 18 months ago, it was with the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, before the surge of U.S. and Iraqi forces into Baghdad began. The once bustling "gateway to the South" was a ghost town. It smelled of cordite, an explosive powder.

Sunni residents were in hiding; Dora’s Shiites were dead or had fled to other provinces; its many Christians – doctors, architects and other professionals – had also fled to escape the sectarian killing. The insurgent town had become an al-Qaida stronghold. But that wasn’t the only threat: Shiite death squads, masquerading as National Police, had murdered and maimed so many Sunnis that the 1st Cavalry had to force the police out of their precinct and cordon off the area.

It was a very different Dora that I saw this past week, once again embedded with U.S. forces – this time with the 4th Infantry Division. Life had returned. Dora’s famous Friday open market was bubbling with people, produce and color. No one looked afraid.

Working together
U.S. troops, who now live in an outpost right in the middle of town, were not the only force patrolling the streets. So were the infamous, primarily Shiite, National Police, as well as the so-called "Sons of Iraq" – local volunteers, all Sunni, who were mostly former insurgents. It was something quite remarkable I was seeing for the first time: U.S., Shiite and Sunni armed forces cooperating for the general good.


Sunni residents, who wouldn’t have dared to be seen talking to members of the National Police a year ago, were now complaining to them about rising food and fuel prices in the market or asking for advice.

"Before we all suffered from a triple threat – al-Qaida, the militias, and sectarian kidnappings," said Alladin Hussein, a former major in Saddam’s Army, who I met in the market. "Now we are living in stability and security. It’s like a precious gem, something very fragile that you have to take care of."

continues

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." ~~John 15:5~~

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Heart With 2 Wings

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#27 [url]

Jun 14 08 1:28 PM

Arab Monetary Fund writes off $100 million Iraqi debt; reschedules rest



Iraqi Finance Minister Bayan Jabr says the Arab Monetary Fund has written off $100 million in interest on Iraq's $500 million debt.


The two sides signed an agreement Saturday in Amman also rescheduling the remaining $400 million of Iraqi debt - incurred during the Saddam Hussein era - to the Abu-Dhabi-based fund over a period of 18 years. The fund, founded in 1976 and hosted by the United Arab Emirates, has 22 member countries including Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt. (AP)

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." ~~John 15:5~~

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Heart With 2 Wings

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#28 [url]

Jun 21 08 3:51 PM



Iraq wants to sharply boost oil output


decided to put it here too

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." ~~John 15:5~~

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#29 [url]

Jun 21 08 7:04 PM

The Greatest Story Never Told
Finally, the U.S. Mega-Bases in Iraq Make the News

[/b]


Think of this as the greatest American story of these years never told -- or more accurately, since there have been a few reports on a couple of these mega-bases -- never shown. After all, what an epic of construction this has been, as the Pentagon built a series of fortified American towns, each some 15 to 20 miles around, with many of the amenities of home, including big name fast-food franchises, PXes, and the like, in a hostile land in the midst of war and occupation. In terms of troops, the President may only have put his "surge" strategy into play in January 2007, but his Pentagon has been "surging" on base construction since April 2003.


and


And let's remember one more base, though it's never called that: the massive imperial embassy, perhaps the biggest on the planet, being built, for nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars, on a nearly Vatican-sized 104-acre plot of land inside the Green Zone in Baghdad. It will be home to 1,000 "diplomats." It will cost an estimated $1.2 billion a year just to operate. With its own electricity and water systems, its anti-missile defenses, recreation, "retail and shopping" areas, and "blast-resistant" work spaces, it is essentially a fortified citadel, a base inside the fortified American heart of the Iraq capital. Like the mega-bases, it emits an aura of American, not Iraqi, "sovereignty." It, too, is being built "for the ages."


Its a big article

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Heart With 2 Wings

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#30 [url]

Jun 21 08 7:08 PM

by this i think babylon is much further along than we think, of course the msm never gives the full truthful pic.... we need to send someone over there and investigate this for ourselves lol

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." ~~John 15:5~~

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#33 [url]

Jun 21 08 8:10 PM

It is as live as when the satallite last passed over that area. I think it passes over twice in 24 hrs. Not sure but the pics would be less than 24 hrs old.

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Heart With 2 Wings

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#34 [url]

Jun 21 08 8:19 PM

oh ok kewl i will go see what i can

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." ~~John 15:5~~

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Heart With 2 Wings

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#36 [url]

Jun 21 08 8:40 PM

no Rosie google earth isnt almost live i checked and homes have been built and not showing on the map....

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." ~~John 15:5~~

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Heart With 2 Wings

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#38 [url]

Jun 21 08 8:47 PM

oh ok lol yeah that would be kewl but aint paying for it at least not til like july aug

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." ~~John 15:5~~

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Heart With 2 Wings

Posts: 10,225 News Editor/ Moderator

#40 [url]

Jun 21 08 8:51 PM

oh yeah so true, and a pearly white balcony ......and your right it is 400.00

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." ~~John 15:5~~

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