Sorry.

IraqWhen the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank reported two years ago that the Iraqi economy was heading for a boom, skeptics dismissed it as misplaced optimism. Now, however, even some of those who opposed the toppling of Saddam Hussein admit that many Iraqis share that optimism.

Newsweek has just hailed the emergence of a booming market economy in Iraq as "the mother of all surprises," noting that "Iraqis are more optimistic about the future than most Americans are." The reason, of course, is that Iraqis know what is going on in their country while Americans are fed a diet of exclusively negative reporting from Iraq.

The growing dynamism of the Iraqi economy is reflected in the steady increase in the value of the national currency, the dinar, against the three currencies in direct competition with it in the Iraqi marketplace: the Iranian rial, the Kuwaiti dinar and the U.S. dollar, since January 2006.

No doubt, part of the dinar's strength reflects the rise in Iraq's income from oil exports to almost $40 billion in 2006, an all-time record. But oil alone does not explain all, since both Iran and Kuwait are bigger exporters than Iraq.

The fact that civil-servant salaries have increased by almost 30 percent, with a further 30 percent due to come into effect early next year, also has helped boost demand.

But a good part of the boom is due to an unexpected flow of foreign capital. This has been facilitated by the prospect of a liberal law on direct foreign investments, which exists only in such free-trade parts of the region as Dubai and Bahrain. None of Iraq's six neighbors offers such guarantee for the free flow of capital to and from the country.

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, the number of private companies in Iraq has increased from a mere 8,000 to more than 35,000 this year. Each week an average of 60 new companies spring up in Iraq's booming areas. A good part of the investment in southern Iraq, including in Um Qasr, comes from Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Iran

Iran is suffering a staggering decline in revenue from its oil exports, and if the trend continues income could virtually disappear by 2015, according to an analysis published yesterday in a journal of the National Academy of Sciences.

Iran's economic woes could make the country unstable and vulnerable, with its oil industry crippled, Roger Stern, an economic geographer at Johns Hopkins University, said in the report and in an interview.

Iran earns about $50 billion a year in oil exports. The decline is estimated at 10 to 12 percent annually. In less than five years, exports could be halved, and they could disappear by 2015, Stern predicted.

Not to mention that the petition you note would be quite interesting reading for the Legal office.  If those who signed it don't want to be a part of the mission, they don't have to remain in the military.  Any officers in particular can resign their commissions, and if they have any service obligation left, they can repay what they owe. 

"Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy."  -Sir Winston Churchill, British statesman (1874-1965)

I thought that the chick who kept tagging along with Peppermint Patty was a dyke, but not Patty herself.

You're refering to Marcie. Actually, a recurring theme in Peanuts was that Patty and Marcie tended to like the same boys -- particularly Charlie Brown -- thus making them rivals as well as friends. While the pair have been depicted in recent years as lesbians (Family Guy, Robot Chicken, Saturday Night Live), Charles M. Schultz made it pretty clear from the storylines that Marcie liked boys.

~~~
"Government should only do what only government can do."
-- Prime Minister Kim Campbell, 1993

Yeah STL, or like saying it was the "smartest thing Rosie ever
said". Her smartest statement would still be infinitely stupid.

"It began with all eyes on Osama bin Laden and ended with Osama bin Forgotten"

Wrong Johnbo! It began with Osama bin ENABLED, during the Clinton years. Followed by Osama bin TurnedLoose, when Clinton turned down bin Laden's head on a silver platter.

Shrubman, you're always good for a laugh. 

Imagine YOU calling ME a douchebag for "following idiots like Cohen" when it was "idiots" like him - and others, including me - who warned idiots like you about the disaster awaiting if we invaded Iraq.  The hard part to understand is that you still don't get it. 

Oh wait, lets see; spends all day on NewsBusters, comes across like a typical slack-jawed troglodyte, can't speak in complete sentences, makes up stupid words like "douchebaggines". . .   Never mind, I think I understand why you don't get it and never will.

You've made Cal Thomas proud by giving "legitimacy" to HIS loony list. 

As for my "lies", perhaps commentator and media observer would fit Cohen better than "journalist".  He was established as per his credentials on MSNBC, Fox, etc. to speak about the developments leading up to the invasion of Iraq.  His view was that of a seasoned political observer (at least as legitimate, if not more so, than Cal Thomas) and my point was simply that his opinion and views about the invasion were censored. 

Is that simple enought for you, Jackoff?

He was a liberal critic censored by the "liberal" MSM.  Maybe irony is too difficult for you.