Ethnically diverse oil zone a tinderbox / Uneasy relations between Kirkuk’s Arabs and Kurds
Leaders of local Arab tribes warn that they are arming themselves to keep the oil industry out of Kurdish hands.
Geopolitics & Military
We Have Always Spent Iraqi Money on That: Conquer and Plunder Follows “Shock and Awe”
The cost of Iraq’s reconstruction and the practice of awarding large contracts to big corporations with close ties to the administration, such as Halliburton, have been repeatedly criticized over the past year. Recent news reports, however, indicate the truth is even worse.
At Least 85 Die in Rebel Attacks in Five Iraq Cities
At least 85 people died and more than 320 were wounded in Iraq on Thursday when insurgents launched bloody assaults in five cities to disrupt next week’s formal handover to Iraqi rule.
Supreme Court Refuses to Order Cheney to Release Energy Papers
The Supreme Court handed a major political victory to the Bush administration today, ruling 7 to 2 that Vice President Dick Cheney is not obligated, at least for now, to release secret details of his energy task force.
Saudi Arabia: The Politics of Self-Preservation
The high prices have given the Saudi government a long forgotten confidence that the Bush administration would realise that the Saud family was and is the only option for stability in Saudi Arabia and stability in oil prices and that they must be supported no matter what they did or said.
Iran ‘seizes British boats’
Eight British military personnel were today arrested by Iran after it discovered three naval vessels in its territorial waters, according to reports.
Energy war jeopardises progress
For years the superpower politics of the cold war blocked efforts to end global poverty. Today it is the hot war of energy economics and global warming that present an impossible obstacle. They also threaten something far worse – a great reversal of human progress.
Militants claim Saudi security helped killers
A number of troubling questions have begun to surface about the events surrounding Mr Johnson’s grotesque killing last Friday.
Wilkie Iraq Putin
Senior Australian intelligence analyst turned whistleblower, Andrew Wilkie suggests that there might be an Iraq-illegal war equivalent of the Watergate tapes: intelligence of US government preparation for war gathered by Australian, British and Canadian intelligence agencies.
Peak Oil Revisited – The Bill Collector Calls
Mike Ruppert’s critical report from the 2004 Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas conference.
Why Osama backs Bush
Saudi power struggles are holding back attempts to defeat terrorism.
Oil market balanced on a knife’s edge in absence of Iraqi crude
The recent sabotage of Iraq’s oil pipelines has raised fresh concerns about production capacity and room for maneuver in case of a crisis amid firm global oil demand.
