Yeah? Even less.

B

Here are some more folks joining the military coalition forces.

US Welcomes Prospect of Arab Peacekeepers in Iraq
David Gollust
State Department
02 Jul 2004, 19:24 UTC

Listen to David Gollust's report (RealAudio)
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Adam Ereli, Deputy State Department Spokesman
The State Department said Friday it views as a "positive sign" the possibility that at least two Arab countries might contribute peacekeeping troops to Iraq. Both Jordan and Yemen have publicly suggested they may be prepared to take part in security operations.
The Bush administration has been working hard to try to enlist Muslim, and especially Arab, countries to join in Iraq peacekeeping operations. Although neither Jordan nor Yemen has made firm commitments to send troops, their expressed willingness to consider such a step drew an immediate welcome from the State Department.

In a talk with reporters, Deputy State Department Spokesman Adam Ereli said neither Jordan nor Yemen had discussed their intentions with the United States, but that their interest in helping bolster security in Iraq is commendable:

"We certainly commend both countries for their offers of assistance," Mr. Ereli said. "We've long said that it's important that the international community do what it can to support Iraq, and the interim Iraqi government as it moves to establish security and democratize. Obviously, it's up to each country to determine what it can do. But the fact that Iraq's neighbors are moving in this direction is certainly something that's positive."

Jordan's King Abdullah said in a BBC interview Thursday that if Iraq's newly sovereign interim government asked Jordan to commit troops, then it would be "very difficult" for his government to say no.

However, Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher later told reporters King Abdullah's comments should be seen as a statement of support for the new Baghdad government rather than an announcement of a pending deployment.

Jordan has played host to the training of hundreds of officers for Iraq's new security forces. But Mr. Muasher said he did not think Iraqi authorities would want armies from neighboring states on its soil.

A U.S.-backed plan for Turkey to commit peacekeeping troops to Iraq last year was scuttled by opposition from members of the now-defunct Iraqi Governing Council, who objected to the prospect of Turkish troops in Kurdish areas of northern Iraq.

Officials of Yemen's foreign ministry were quoted Friday as saying that country would be willing to send troops to Iraq, but only if they serve under a United Nations mandate and under the control of the world body.

The U.N. Security Council resolution approved earlier this month endorsing the formation of the Iraqi interim government called for creation of a distinct unit within the U.S.-led multinational force to protect United Nations personnel and operations in Iraq.

U.S. officials are hoping that Monday's transfer of sovereignty to the interim government will prompt countries previously reluctant to commit troops to Iraq to reconsider and provide soldiers, if not to the broader American-commanded force, then to the U.N.-protection unit.

that sounds like some good frickin news!! Awesome.

The Jordanians have withdrawn their offer to send troops, at the request of the new Iraqi "government".

Yemen is an unstable dictatorship rife with jihadi violence. If they send troops, they may work more with al_queda than they do with us. Osama bin Laden was born and raised in Yemen. The bombing of the USS Cole was done off the coast of Yeman, by Yemani terrorists.

Golden Rule is the source of lots of conflict. It should read

"Do unto others as they wish to be treated."

I prefer girls, you prefer boys. You squeeze my ass I knock you out. But if you respect my wishes we can be best friends.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Sounds like a good policy, Kuan.

Libertarian with armed forces.

From what I've read and seen living in Manhattan, put together with a European upbringing plus plenty of archives from the BBC, I conclude :
This war starting with 9/11 was only created by unconditional support of the US for Israel (Example of this later) . The groups called Hezbollah ,Fatah and
Hamas were a direct creation of Israel . Those groups never existed before Israel . Jerusalem is the birth place of Jesus Crist and it is a holy place and it was before Israel . Right now in Israel you have prostitution, drug abuse and the violence that comes along with it ,Disco's and brothel's . All of this never happened before Israel . Since the Palestinians are muslims and Christ is recognized in the Koran as a prophet they were better care takers of Jerusalem . Jews naturally have a hatred for Christ and couldn't care less if they're dancing and prostituting on holy ground . Alcohol is forbidden in Islam and was never imported into Palestine before Israel . If the US could stop their support for Israel, Hezbollah, Hamas and Fatah would disappear overnight . Just to give one example about the conviction of the US : A resolution passed by the Security Council telling Israel to immediately stop their inproportioned use of military force was vetoed ONLY by the US but passed by every member of the United Nations on July 11 2006 . If anyone would like to know a little secret about the UN/US relationship : EVERY resolution passed since the creation of the United Nations concerning Palestine has been vetoed by the US . Needless to say that those very resolutions were/are the key to peace in the middle east . This conduct by the US combined with daily humiliation by Israeli border guards, daily bombings by Apache Helicopters and constant incursion of Israel to steal more of land will lead to the creation of the phenomena known as "Suicide Bombings" . Just my 2 cents worth of observations .

Wow.

I just got a message from Tralflammadore.

Might sound a bit off to you but there is plenty of truth there.

I don't like Achmad-dean-ajahd too much either but unfortunately he has a small point about the holocaust being a European creation and the creation of Israel birthed by Europeans as an attempt to make it all right. Would have been a lot better off if Zionists had considered that every part of the earth is God's creation and that they could have done a lot better than to be attached so unshakeably to an old stone wall.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Wouldda, couldda, shouldda. We are where we are.

Now what?

Bot

Now we wait for our accumulated bad karma to manifest itself in China slowly (maybe rapidly) eclipsing us as the world's economic power. With Russia and China sharing military exercises, China controlling big aspects of our money, and Iran very clearly allied with both of them -- combined with our being tied down in Iraq and looking more and more impotent all the time, could be the "sole superpower" thing is on the wane.

What we do now is proceed rapidly to halve, then halve again our oil consumption.

You urged me to make a case once for my assertion that we are by far the least energy efficient nation on earth. Here 'tis:



BTW, did you hear that Mexico's proven reserves will be exhausted in 10 years at current rates of extraction?

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Did I? I don't think so as I would be surprised were we not the numero uno on that particular list.

I'm sure Emmerich will correct some of what I say--he works in this field. But I'll take a stab at it in hopes of provoking his just wrath and indignation against us.

The demise of any oilfield is almost always predicated on current prices and current extraction methods. In any given formation it is rare indeed that the majority of hydrocarbon is extracted. It is extracted only until it is no longer cost-effective to produce. As prices rise and technology improves, oilfields can be made to continue to produce beyond predictions based on certain prices and techniques. That will not always be the case as oil is a finite resource. But when folks talk about exhausting the resource they usually don't take those two factors into consideration.

Here's an interesting example. In east Texas one of the first major plays was in the Kilgore, TX area. Because of ignorance mostly, the field was abused badly and prematurely went out of production. Recently the field has gone back into production. It's not a sudden discovery of new oil. It is that the prices have increased and management methods have improved such that it is worth bringing back into production.

Like I said before, this is not an infinite process since oil is a finite resource.

Conservation is a great idea. Alternative sources for fuel, lubricants and the petrochemical industry need to be developed. They will, when the price is right.

Just as an aside, it amazes me that 200 years ago whale blubber and animal fat supplied all the oil needs of the planet.

Bot

You raise some good and valid points. Still, we are embroiled in major hostilities and tension, largely centered around the desire for oil at the lowest price, from where-ever. Further, Peragro can have his blithe assurance that atmospheric carbon is a non-issue. Myself, I'm not interested in summers like Iraq now has becoming the norm in my country, not to mention the other far more serious consequences.

If temps were to go up just a bit, the snowpack in the Sierras that serves as a virtually irreplaceable resorvoir will just about vanish. Oh boy, we'll be able to use the Arctic ocean for shipping 2 or 3 months out of the year, if they don't get sunk by icebergs, and lemme see, there must be some other upsides but I'm drawing a blank right now.

Meanwhile, we got Nascar yay-hoos and donut spinning sideshows, sanctioned and illegal, and people driving monster RVs around that are bigger than the homes of many people on this planet.

We have gone gadget, gizmo, and big rig happy like they ain't no tomorrow.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K