US needs 1.2 billion dollars for Iraqi oilfield repairs: official

[Nambe]

Agence France-Presse

The US civil administration in Iraq is requesting 1.2 billion dollars from Congress to get oil fields here up and running this year, a senior coalition official said.

Congress had already earmarked 400 million dollars to repair oil fields, but faced with blown up pipelines, looting, and refineries and equipment in a worse shape than previously thought, the US boss for Iraq, Paul Bremer, is asking an additional 800 million dollars, the official said on condition of anonymity. ---

But the senior coalition official cautioned Thursday the calculations on oil revenues could still fall short. ---

Ride Don’t Drive It’s Global Cool

[oneighty]

1. This reads unreal

like I am living in a different world. 1.2 Billion of US tax payers dollars to repair oil fields

in a country far away that 'we' have invaded, murdered innocent women and children and men.

Shame on us, shame on all of us.

180

[SeattleDem]

2. yet we could barely get them to give us $40M for port security

Patty Murray (D- Senate) had to fight tooth and nail to get $40million appropriated for port security for US coastal cities, an area that numerous people have said is woefully unprepared for a terrorist attack.

We sit here today, waiting for a dirty bomb to come in a shipping containter, but we'll gladly spend $1.2 billion to get the oil flowing for Shell, Exxon, errr, I mean the Iraqi people....

absolutely disgusting show of priorities.

[cosmicdot]

3. Bechtel and Halliburton - who'll get the job? Carlyle?

all I'd like is some Medicare supplementary help for dental and medication

even a special gov't loan that commercial banks won't consider giving the poor

Billions here ... billions there ... billions except for helping We the People

[underpants]

5. To folow up on what oneeighty stated above-Hold it a second

Taxpayers are going to pay for the oil fields and then the co.s get to deal the oil for money, NO MONEY DOWN?!?!?

[The Magistrate]

4. This Is A Mere Downpayment

Fresh incidents of sabotage will require ever more funds for repairs, while preventing the gain of any revenues. There will not be a drop of Iraqi oil exported this year, or next.

[diamond14]

6. in May, the roof fell in on a middle school in my neighborhood...

lucky it happened on a week-end and nobody was hurt...

don't we need some $$$ here in America....

Rumsfeld testified yesterday that WE-the-taxpayers are currently spending 0.9 Billion a month in Afganistan (the forgotten war) and 3.9 Billion a month in Iraq (the 'mission accomplished' war)....

the corruption is truly beyond anything that I have seen in my lifetime...shrub is making history, that's for sure...

BOOT BUSH in 2004

Re-Defeat bush in 2004

[mediaman007]

7. That money was available

but we already gave it (tax cuts) to the stockholders of Bechtel and Halliburton. Why don't those companies bring home some of the money that they have in the Cayman Islands and use that to finance these projects?

The Bushies are pretty quick to "privatize" everything in this country. Maybe the Iraqis should open negotiations with the United States, France, Great Britain, Russia and Japan. There might be other companies in this World that would finance this need.

By the way, this request will be paid by the middle class taxpayers, since there will not be a tax increase on the wealthy. But it will be the wealthy that will get the benefit of this government investment. I would guess that this money would not be repaid to the United States government.