-Caveat Lector- From http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A43805- 2001Aug21?language=printer }}>Begin U.S., Ally Part Ways on Iraqi Oil British Pricing Plan's Disruption of Global Markets Feared By Colum Lynch Special to The Washington Post Wednesday, August 22, 2001; Page A16 UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 21 -- The United States declined this week to back a British proposal to tighten U.N. procedures for pricing Iraqi oil, citing concern that the proposal might disrupt global oil markets, according to U.N. diplomats and oil analysts. Over the past year, Iraq has tried to set artificially low prices on its oil and to force buyers to make up the difference through secret payments that would circumvent U.N. sanctions, according to U.S. and European diplomats. The British proposal seeks to stop the back-door payments by reducing Iraq's ability to sell oil below market value. It would require that Iraq and the United Nations jointly set prices every 10 days rather than every 30 days, hewing closely to world levels. It also would deprive the Iraqis of the right to request reductions whenever the market price drops. "We are trying to reduce the gap between the market price and the prices being set [at the United Nations] for Iraqi crude," said a British official. "The excess margin allows unscrupulous buyers to make excessive profits and pay a cash surcharge to the Iraqi government." U.S. officials are in favor of clamping down on Iraq's illicit revenue, which they suspect is used to purchase prohibited weapons and luxury goods for President Saddam Hussein's inner circle. But the United States, the largest consumer of Iraqi oil, is concerned that the British proposal could disrupt trade. "We are certainly sympathetic to the intent of [the British proposal], but we're just not sure yet whether it's the right thing to do," a senior U.S. official said. Under the United Nations' "oil for food" deal, Iraq is permitted to export as much oil as it wants. But the revenue -- which amounted to more than $17 billion last year -- must go into U.N. accounts and must be used only to purchase humanitarian supplies and to repair Iraq's civilian infrastructure. Some industry analysts warned that the British proposal might not provide enough lead time for oil traders to charter tankers and identify buyers. Most major producers price their oil every month, said Larry Goldstein, president of the Petroleum Industry Research Foundation. © 2001 The Washington Post Company End<{{ &&&&&&& From http://english.pravda.ru/main/2001/08/23/13127.html }}>Begin 11:05 2001-08-23 JOHN ASHTEAD: IRAQ WORLD LEADER IN CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION Iraq has announced that it has reserves of crude oil to the amount of 270 thousand million barrels, more than double its present reserves of 112 thousand million. These figures make Iraq leapfrog over Saudi Arabia as the world’s greatest (potential) producer of crude oil. Meanwhile, the Iraqi oil ministry has announced that Iraq is ready to start to exploit new oil fields, increasing production to 10 million barrels per day, from the present production rate of 3 million b/d. The question remains with the United Nations to resolve, because of the sanctions imposed on Iraq since 1990. Iraq currently exports oil under the “oil for food” programme, which allows Baghdad to exchange oil for certain basic goods, such as food and medicines. Therefore any widening of oil exploitation would have to be given the go-ahead by the United Nations. These sanctions have been criticised for being vindictive and counter- productive, since the smuggling of goods which inevitably takes place serves to make the rich richer, while the poor continue to struggle – more so due to the sanctions. Curiously and yet again, sanctions serve to create an aura of invincibility around the leaders they are planned to destroy. John ASHTEAD PRAVDA.Ru LONDON UNITED KINGDOM End<{{ &&&&&&&& From http://english.pravda.ru/politics/2001/08/21/12995.html }}>Begin 16:10 2001-08-21 MIKE SCHNEIDER: AMERICAN GENOCIDE CONTINUES The U.S. government intentionally used sanctions against Iraq to degrade the country's water supply after the Gulf War, The Progressive magazine reports in its September issue, citing seven partially declassified Pentagon documents dating back to 1991. Thomas J. Nagy, author of the cover story "The Secret Behind the Sanctions: How the U.S. Intentionally Destroyed Iraq's Water Supply," says the documents demonstrate that "the United States knew it had the capacity to devastate the water treatment system of Iraq. It knew what the consequences would be: increased outbreaks of disease and high rates of child mortality. And it was more concerned about the public relations nightmare for Washington than the actual nightmare that the sanctions created for innocent Iraqis." Nagy cites a January 22, 1991, Defense Intelligence Agency document entitled "Iraq Water Treatment Vulnerabilities," which states: "Iraq will suffer increasing shortages of purified water because of the lack of required chemicals and desalination membranes. Incidences of disease, including possible epidemics, will become probable unless the population were careful to boil water." That document adds that "it probably will take at least six months (to June 1991) before the system is fully degraded." The documents mention possible diseases that may flow from the degradation of Iraq's water supply. These include: cholera, diarrhea, diphtheria, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, kwashiorkor, measles, meningitis, pertussis, and typhoid. The article says, "The sanctions, imposed for a decade largely at the insistence of the United States, constitute a violation of the Geneva Convention." The 1979 protocol to the Geneva Convention states: "It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove, or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as foodstuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and supplies, and irrigation works." The story is timely, as this week marks the eleventh anniversary of U.N. sanctions on Iraq. "When the inglorious history of Iraq sanctions is written, these documents will demonstrate a level of callousness that is almost unspeakable," said Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive. Mike Schneider USA End<{{ <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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