Texas-based Hunt oil deal with Kurdish Gov’t creating tension in Iraq

AFX News Limited/rigzone.com/September/28/2007

A US official today criticised an oil deal between Texas-based Hunt Oil Company and Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), saying it had “needlessly elevated tensions” in Iraq.

Hunt had been advised by the US State Department not to sign the deal before the Iraqi parliament passed a national oil bill that will share out the country’s lucrative oil revenues, but it went ahead anyway, a US embassy official in Baghdad told reporters.

US said to be readying attack on Iran

USNews.com/Political Bulletin/October 1, 2007

In a nearly 5,000-word article, the New Yorker’s Seymour Hersh reports that “in a series of public statements in recent months, President Bush and members of his Administration have redefined the war in Iraq, to an increasing degree, as a strategic battle between the United States and Iran.” US officials “cautioned, in interviews, that the President has yet to issue the ‘execute order’ that would be required for a military operation inside Iran,” but “there has been a significant increase in the tempo of attack planning.”

On CNN’s Late Edition, Hersh said, “Instead of trying to sell…the notion of a massive bombing against the infrastructure…they’re now decided they’re going to hit the Iranians, payback for hitting us. They’re going to hit the Revolutionary Guard headquarters and facilities. They’re going to tone down the bombing. They’re going to shift it. It’s going to be more surgical. It’s going to be much more limited.”

CPJ Letter of Support for Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act

Joel Simon, Committee to Protect Journalists, Sep 28, 2007

The Committee to Protect Journalists sent the following letter to 14 bipartisan cosponsors of the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act, expressing support for the legislation, which calls for increased US responsiveness to the refugee crisis in the region. This legislation addresses many of the dire needs of Iraqi journalists targeted for their work for media outlets based or funded by the United States.

Dear Senators Kennedy and Smith,

I am writing to you as executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists to express our concern for the safety of Iraqi journalists and others who now may find themselves imperiled for having helped U.S.-based and U.S.-backed media organizations report the news from Iraq. We would therefore like to express our support for the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act Senate Amendment #2872 to H.R. 1585 Department of Defense Authorization, which you recently co-sponsored. CPJ is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, dedicated to defending press freedom worldwide and the rights of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal.

We have watched with alarm Iraq’s emergence in the last four years as the most dangerous country in the world for journalists. At least 112 journalists and another 40 media support workers have been killed there since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, making Iraq the deadliest nation, by far, for the press throughout CPJ’s 26 years of monitoring press freedom.

Among those most targeted have been Iraqi journalists affiliated with Western media, particularly U.S.-based news groups, and those working for government-backed media. For example, 12 journalists and 10 other staff members working for the Iraq Media Network, which has received funding from the U.S. government, have been killed since 2003. About 85 percent of the journalists and media workers killed have been Iraqis, and insurgent actions are responsible for the majority of media deaths.

Nuclear power surge coming, regulators expect influx of applications for new gov’t backed plants

Mark Clayton/The Christian Science Monitor/September 28, 2007

With this week’s application to build a new nuclear plant – the first such filing in nearly 30 years – the industry says the US is on the verge of a nuclear power renaissance.

With virtually no greenhouse-gas emissions, reactors are touted as part of the solution to global warming. Over the next 15 months, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects a tidal wave of similar permit applications for up to 28 new reactors, costing up to $90 billion to build.

But the renaissance may be less robust than it looks. Even if the projects are successful and building proceeds at breakneck speed, the lead times are so long and costs so high that it’s unclear that the US can build enough nuclear plants to make a dent in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050. They’re so financially risky, experts say, that the only reason building plans are under way is that the federal government has stepped in to guarantee investors against loan defaults.

$190 billion needed for war (largest annual request to date) brings total to over $800 billion

Increase In War Funding Sought
By Josh White and Ann Scott Tyson/The Washington Post/September 27, 2007

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates asked Congress yesterday to approve an additional $42.3 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, bringing the Bush administration’s 2008 war funding request to nearly $190 billion - the largest single-year total for the wars so far.

The move came as Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff and former top U.S. commander in Iraq, warned lawmakers that the Army is stretched dangerously thin because of current war operations and would probably have trouble responding to a major conflict elsewhere. “The current demand for our forces exceeds the sustainable supply,” Casey said yesterday. “We are consumed with meeting the demands of the current fight and are unable to provide ready forces as rapidly as necessary for other potential contingencies.”

The administration’s funding request - which came on the same day that the Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of a nonbinding resolution calling for the split of Iraq into three semiautonomous regions - would boost war spending this year by nearly 15 percent and would bring the total cost of both conflicts to more than $800 billion since Sept. 11, 2001, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Petagon seeks $190 billion more for war

Susan Cornwell/Reuters/September 26, 2007

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday asked Congress to approve nearly $190 billion more in spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In prepared testimony to a Senate committee, Gates said the Bush administration sought the money for more training and equipment for the U.S. military, including new armored vehicles that give extra protection to troops against bomb blasts. The funds were for the 2008 fiscal year beginning October 1.

More money was also needed to train and equip Iraqi security forces as well as to improve U.S. facilities in the region and “consolidate our bases in Iraq,” Gates said. Reuters obtained a copy of his remarks in advance of his testimony on Wednesday.

Statement of NIRS on South Texas reactor application

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NUCLEAR INFORMATION AND RESOURCE SERVICE/Michael Mariotte, Executive Director/September 25, 2007

NEW REACTORS IN SOUTH TEXAS WOULD SET U.S. ENERGY POLICY ON MISGUIDED COURSE

Today, NRG Energy said it is submitting an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build two new reactors at its South Texas nuclear site. This is the first full application for a new reactor in the U.S. in more than 30 years.

This project is emblematic of the failures of U.S. energy policy to effectively meet the needs of our nation. Nuclear power is a 20th century technology in a new world of climate crisis and a future that demands a distributed, sustainable approach to energy. Nuclear power requires massive taxpayer subsidies and yet still cannot compete environmentally with the sustainable energy technologies that will power our future.

NRG and S. Texas Project Nuclear Operating Co. apply for first US nuclear power license in 29 years

Environment News Service/September 25, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC - NRG Energy, Inc of New Jersey and the South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company have filed an application to build and operate two new nuclear power reactors at the South Texas Project nuclear power station site in Matagorda County.

This is the first full nuclear plant license application in the United States in 29 years, since Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island reactor had a partial meltdown in 1979. If the application is approved, NRG expects to bring the units on line in 2014 and 2015.

Iraq to end contractor ‘immunity’

The Iraqi interior ministry has said it has drafted legislation regulating private security companies following a shooting allegedly involving a US firm.

The new code would require contractors to be subject to Iraqi law and to be monitored by the Iraqi government.

Feds love Real ID despite growing opposition

Anne Broache/Cnet.org/September 10, 2007

WASHINGTON–A controversial plan for national identification cards known as Real ID drew another ringing endorsement from top Bush administration officials on Monday, even as senators continued to question the law’s privacy implications and cost.

Cheerleading for the mandate was led by the retiring Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), who called a nationalized ID card a top priority. He asked the four Bush administration officials present to divulge whether they supported the idea, which was recommended by the 9/11 Commission but has sparked rebellion from numerous states and civil liberties advocates concerned about its cost and potential for abuse.

One by one, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, FBI Director Robert Mueller, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and National Counterterrorism Center Director John Redd–said they fully endorsed the idea. Each ranked it as a high priority.

Draft regulations issued earlier this year by the Department of Homeland Security dictate that starting May 11, 2008, residents of all states must begin presenting compliant electronic cards in order to board airplanes or enter federal buildings–that is, unless their respective states file for a reprieve starting October 1 of this year.