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Re: [atlarge-discuss] Your Cut $ - Bless the free marketplace..



Right on Jeff, 
You may have miss understood, Right-On for US, lets Nuke-em all 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jeff Williams" <jwkckid1@ix.netcom.com>
To: "Jkhan" <Jkhan@MetroMgr.com>
Cc: <atlarge-discuss@lists.fitug.de>
Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2003 9:03 PM
Subject: Re: [atlarge-discuss] Your Cut $ - Bless the free marketplace..


> James and all,
> 
>   And and even larger number of countries, and people as individuals
> are recognizing that the deposing of malignant regime holding Iraq
> in a virtual strangle hold for nearly 30+ years using threat, death
> squads,
> selective executions, CENSORSHIP, forced starvation and chemical
> and biological weapons upon it's own populace, is both desired by Iraq's
> 
> own people, and the vast majority of the free world so that such
> tyrannical and terrorist fostering regimes can no longer hold hostage
> their neibors, or any liberty and freedom loving person anywhere in the
> world.
> 
>   Therefore I reject  your premise here James.  Yet I also understand
> your concern in regards to commercial interests on and of Iraq.  I share
> 
> some of them with you.  I do not, nor can I ever support however
> any malignant persona such as Sadam, or Melosavich in any position
> of power or influence of any kind.  Sadam must be brought down,
> and he will be.
> 
> Jkhan wrote:
> 
> >    US telecom giants and the war in Iraq: It's not just about oil
> >
> > A growing number of people around the world recognize that the
> > impending US assault on Iraq will be a war of plunder. Focus has
> > rightly centered on Iraq's enormous oil reserves and the desire by
> > American corporations to seize control of this lucrative resource.
> >
> > However, the economic interests of the US extend beyond Iraq's
> > petroleum supply. Recent reports point to the large stake of another
> > segment of American industry in an overthrow of the Iraqi regime: the
> > telecommunications sector.
> >
> > American corporations such as Motorola and Lucent are eager to win
> > contracts for building mobile and fixed phone systems and other
> > telecommunications infrastructure in a postwar Iraq. A US invasion and
> > military occupation of the country will put these companies at an
> > enormous advantage over their rivals, particularly those in France and
> > China.
> >
> > Joseph Braude, author of the forthcoming book The New Iraq and senior
> > analyst for Pyramid Research, gave an interview on February 17 to "The
> > World," an American radio program produced by National Public Radio.
> > In the course of the interview he noted, "Regime change could lead to
> > certain changes in the geopolitical considerations that do weigh in on
> > contracts. So American [telecommunications] companies, for example,
> > who have up to now been on the outs in Iraq may suddenly be in a
> > strong position to compete."
> >
> > He continued: "If there isn't a war, but the sanctions are lifted,
> > then the likelihood would be that the traditional European and Asian
> > countries that have been working with Iraq would continue to work with
> > Iraq."
> >
> > The stakes, according to Braude, are high. At issue is "one of the
> > biggest contracts in recent memory.... A billion dollars to revamp the
> > fixed network [landline] over the next few years ... and hundreds of
> > millions of dollars over the same period for the mobile network."
> >
> > The conflict over who will rebuild the Iraqi communications
> > infrastructure-and how and when it will be rebuilt-has been simmering
> > for over a decade. During the first Gulf War of 1991, the US
> > specifically targeted communications systems for bombing campaigns as
> > part of its policy of destroying the infrastructure required for the
> > functioning of a modern economy. The damage sustained was enormous.
> > Over the ensuing decade, the sanctions regime supported by the US and
> > implemented by the UN served to block Iraqi efforts at modernization.
> >
> > As a consequence, Iraq, with a population of 24 million and the second
> > largest reserves of petroleum in the world, has one of the most
> > underdeveloped telecommunications networks in the world. The average
> > number of telephone lines per 100 Iraqis is 3, down from 5.6 in 1990.
> > Those who have phones-only the wealthy and the political elite-are
> > faced with restrictions on their use because of the decrepit state of
> > the telephone system.
> >
> > Baghdad was once a relatively modern city, but today it is one of the
> > few capital cities in the world that lacks a commercial wireless
> > network. Iraq was one of the last countries to establish an Internet
> > domain suffix for web and email services, and the number of people
> > with Internet access in the entire country is estimated to be merely a
> > few hundred.
> >
> > The infrastructure that was destroyed during the Gulf War had
> > originally been built by the French company Alcatel. Over the past
> > decade the company has continued to play a major role in the limited
> > reconstruction efforts that have begun.
> >
> > Alcatel has a standing contract with the government of Saddam Hussein
> > to begin construction of an international telephone exchange and a
> > microwave telephone system that would link up different areas of the
> > country. The deal was valued at $75 million, but it, as well as
> > Alcatel's other projects in the country, is unlikely to be realized in
> > the event of war.
> >
> > For much of the 1990s, France was the largest beneficiary of trade
> > with Iraq, with the UN approving some $3 billion in contracts for a
> > wide range of goods and services, including telecommunications. In
> > accordance with the food-for-oil program that was initiated in 1996,
> > Iraq was allowed to use oil revenues-stored in an escrow account
> > managed by the UN-to buy specific goods and services, as authorized by
> > the United Nations Security Council. Generally, Iraq sought to direct
> > trade to countries-such as France, Russia or China-that were willing
> > to push for a loosening of the sanctions regime.
> >
> > However, every contract had to be approved by the Security Council
> > before funds could be released. Members of the council, and
> > particularly the US, had wide latitude to block contracts by claiming
> > that the goods to be provided were "dual use," that is, they had
> > potential military as well as civilian applications.
> >
> > The ability to block telecommunications contracts was one of the
> > principal tools employed by the US to pressure China and France to go
> > along with American and British attempts to restructure the
> > inspections system in 2001. For example, in June of 2001 the US
> > released more than $80 million in contracts between Iraq and Chinese
> > companies that it had been blocking. This included a $28 million
> > contract with Huawei Technologies to build a mobile phone network with
> > a capacity of 25,000. The next day, China announced that it had
> > reached an agreement with Britain, France and the US on a list of
> > "dual use" items that would be part of an overhaul of the sanctions
> > regime.
> >
> > The American government reached similar quid pro quos with France and
> > Russia, involving oil contracts as well as telecommunications deals.
> > In general, however, the US tended to block contracts that would
> > benefit European or Asian companies.
> >
> > Scuttling contracts through the Security Council was not the only
> > method used by the US to prevent the rebuilding of Iraqi
> > telecommunications systems. Earlier in 2001, the US had alleged that
> > Huawei was helping Iraq upgrade communications systems that would be
> > used for military purposes. Those systems were promptly bombed by
> > American and British warplanes in February and again in August of
> > 2001, with the US citing the alleged but unsubstantiated improvement
> > of air defense systems as the principal motivation.
> >
> > Huawei eventually backed out of another deal it had reached for a
> > different project, apparently calculating that the uncertainty of
> > Iraq's future position was too great. A new contract was reached with
> > China National Technology Import, but all projects have now been put
> > on hold given the imminence of war.
> >
> > The motivation for the American government's efforts to prevent work
> > on Iraqi communications systems has been twofold. First, they are part
> > of Washington's general policy of starving and brutalizing the
> > country-a policy that has led to the death of hundreds of thousands of
> > Iraqi civilians.
> >
> > Second, they are driven by economic self-interest. The Middle East is
> > one of the principal regions of profitable investment for the
> > telecommunications industry. Many of the countries in the area have
> > begun to privatize communications systems, opening them up to foreign
> > capital as part of the requirements for entry into the World Trade
> > Organization. States in the Gulf region will spend an estimated 25
> > percent of funds devoted to infrastructure development on
> > telecommunications systems over the next decade.
> >
> > At present, Iraq's communications sector is almost entirely
> > nationalized, but this will certainly change after an American
> > invasion. American corporations will be in a position to take over
> > even those limited projects that had been approved by the UN for
> > France and China.
> >
> > The repercussions could extend beyond Iraq's borders. After the Gulf
> > War of 1991, Lucent was awarded a $4.5 billion contract with Saudi
> > Arabia as part of the growing influence of American companies in the
> > region.
> >
> > The New York Times, in a piece published February 17, quotes Jennifer
> > Weyrauch, a spokeswoman for Motorola, a world leader in mobile
> > communications with operations throughout the Middle East: "If an
> > opportunity exists under the right circumstances we would take a close
> > look at it. To this end, we urge the US Congress and administration to
> > prepare to promptly remove exiting sanctions that would impede US
> > businesses from participating in the reconstruction and recovery
> > effort."
> >
> > This "reconstruction and recovery effort" will be implemented on the
> > backs of the Iraqi people. White House spokesman Ari Fleisher recently
> > stated, "Iraq has tremendous resources that belong to the Iraqi
> > people. And so there are a variety of means that Iraq has to be able
> > to shoulder much of the burden for their own reconstruction." In other
> > words, revenues from oil extraction will be used to fund generous
> > contracts for American corporations to rebuild what the US military
> > has destroyed.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> 
> Regards,
> 
> --
> Jeffrey A. Williams
> Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 129k members/stakeholders strong!)
> ================================================================
> CEO/DIR. Internet Network Eng. SR. Eng. Network data security
> Information Network Eng. Group. INEG. INC.
> E-Mail jwkckid1@ix.netcom.com
> Contact Number: 214-244-4827 or 214-244-3801
> 
> 
> 
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