US senator (Carl Levin) wants Iraq oil funds used for rebuilding

[sabra]

Source: reuters

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) - The chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee said on Tuesday he may try to require Iraq to spend more of its oil revenue on reconstruction instead of investing the money in foreign banks.

"What kind of an absurdity is it that we are paying for the reconstruction of Iraq with American taxpayers dollars if Iraqi oil sales, to a significant degree, are going into foreign banks and not being used for their own reconstruction," said Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat.

Before the U.S. invasion of Iraq in early 2003, top Bush administration officials suggested some war costs could be financed through Iraqi oil revenues. That never occurred and U.S. taxpayers have instead seen about a half-trillion dollars of their money spent on the war so far.

In the meantime, there are estimates that Iraq has up to $30 billion in assets invested in U.S. financial institutions.

Levin said he would ask Congress' investigative arm, the General Accountability Office, or others in the U.S. government to look into Iraq's use of oil revenues.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N04467762.htm

[gratuitous]

1. What Iraq oil funds?

Who's pumping the oil in Iraq? Who’s paying for the oil that’s being pumped? Are they paying for it? And to whom are they paying? How much is being pumped, and how much is being paid for? Who’s shipping the oil? Where? Who’s paying for it at that end, if they are paying for it?

There are a lot of questions to answer before we get down to the question of what that revenue is going to be used for. Right now, as far as I can tell, we don’t have hard answers to any of the questions in the preceding paragraph.

[plantwomyn]

9. No one knows where it goes or how much is pumped.

http://www.paulchefurka.ca/Iraq%20and%20Saudi%20Arabia.html
At the oil terminals of Al Basra (ABOT) and Khawr al Amaya (KAAOT), “smugglers are suspected to be diverting an estimated billions of dollars worth of crude onto tankers because the oil metering system that is supposed monitor how much crude flows into and out of ABOT and KAAOT - has not worked since the March 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.”

[Hydra]

2. Wow

I thought the oil wasn't flowing since they won't sign off on our colonization plans.

As for rebuilding, if we were really doing that, they would have been done in 3 months.

[babylonsister]

3. Here's another thread on this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2959201&mesg_id=2959201

[LynnTheDem]

4. We destroy their country...then demand they pay for us to rebuild what we destroyed.

And ya wonder why the world despises us...

[frog92969]

7. When we could just take it out of cheney's Dubai account.

And make bu$h sell his Paraguayan retreat.

[Parche]

5. oil funds

why dont we have those funds to pay back the Homeland, and reduce the debt...

Homeland....I love that word :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

:hi:

[SunDrop23]

6. Sounds like Levin wants the terris to win.

:sarcasm:

[MasonJar]

8. Durbin appears to be losing it. We should pay to rebuild Iraq; our stupid

president is the one who "broke" it. The Iraqis had a government; they had electricity, college education, artifacts from the ancient times, women's rights and a secular government. We have broken their government and ruined the the women's chances of a normal life. We have killed a million of their people plus and we have put in place a Shite religious party.