coldwarvet

Look, let's step back for a minute and do a REAL "reality check." Can any of us say that ANY translation we have read of ANY article, originally written in Arabic, has been clear and unequivocal? Can ANY of us say that we trust the accuracy of the Iraqi media unreservedly? Does it make ANY sense at all for the Central Bank of Iraq to telegraph their intentions, one way or the other? Is it not strange that the only place where this information resides is in the media? Why not on the CBI web site, if that's their official position? Does it make any sense at all that they would be talking and talking and talking about a redenomination, when they could have easily done it at any time over the last several years? Does it make any sense that they would ask their own people to turn in their IQD in exchange for USD, simply so they can redenominate? In my opinion, the reason for the delays is crystal clear: they are attempting create a negative climate around holding onto IQD, so they won't have as much out there to cash in when they DO RV.

Ladies and Gentlemen, For 10 1/2 of my 20 years of active Air Force service, I was assigned to three different SAC B-52 bomber wings. I served as a copilot, aircrew commander, instructor pilot, standardization/evaluation pilot (aka check airman), flight commander, squadron operations officer, and finally an operations support squadron commander. Every year, after SAC updated its Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP), I and every other combat-coded B-52 crew member had to go before our wing commander and brief him on our knowledge of that wing's portion of the plan, and how we would accomplish it. It was a pass-fail briefing, and no, it wasn't a rubber stamp. What we were talking about was how each B-52 would deliver TWENTY FOUR (24) nuclear weapons, each of them many times more powerful than those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, against two dozen different targets in the then-Soviet Union. Have any of you seen the footage of Hiroshima after it was hit? If you have, multiply that damage first by dozens of times for each target struck, and then by two dozen times more for each plane's weapons load. Thermonuclear warfare is not cocktail party conversation, folks! It's pretty darn easy to sit in front of a computer and talk about "nuke Iran" or "nuke Israel." We're talking about the elimination of millions of human beings from the face of the earth in a matter of seconds. Plus, the earth that's left behind would be unhabitable for decades, if not centuries. A war that went nuclear in the ME would set this planet back centuries in terms of its technological capability, standard of living, and freedom. Let's be careful what we wish for, and how we talk about it, OK? Just sayin'

Thanks for the honesty, keep. Calling it like YOU see it is a far cry from some of the other Lopsters who insist their way of seeing it is the ONLY way, because "that's reality."

If you want to know the REAL reason why jobs are being sent offshore - think health care. In 2005, Toyota had a choice between building a new plant in Canada, and one on the US. The incremental cost per car of health care in Canada at that time was $120. In the US, it was $1500. The same situation remains today. Do the math. Our health care system has priced the American worker out of the international labor market. BTW, Obama's payback "health reform" bill to the AARP and Big Pharma won't even put a dent in the real problem. Want REAL health care reform? Start by looking in the mirror.

I agree, mrref. We'll wake up some morning and it'll be done. No fanfare, no dancing in the streets, nuthin. They'll have announced it in Iraq, the CBI site will show it, they'll declare the cash in period, and that'll be it. Ka-ching!

With all due respect, it's been the "certified financial planners," "investment bankers," and "financial analysts" with their mindset of "here's what's worked in the past, and that's what will work in the future" that have directly contributed to the current set of circumstances. Where were they when all of the current global financial mess began to unfold? Did any of them speak up about the unfolding of the financial mismanagement, recklessness and (dare I say it?) corruption, or did they sit quietly by and wait for a "market correction"? The silence, for the most part, was deafening. All of their collective advice is predicated upon the system remaining the way it has been. Sorry, but that ain't gonna happen. We're on uncharted territory, and no one, no matter how many letters they have after their name, knows what's going to occur. So trotting out the names above, and relying upon their advice simply becasue they have a dated track record and are "recognized experts," is a lot like going to the hardware store to buy oranges. All bets on the future are off; anyone who believes otherwise is terminally naive. JMO.

Having served as a B-52 pilot for 10 1/2 years of my 20 year military career, and thus having sat through innumerable intelligence briefings about the then-Soviet Union, I see this is just same song, umpteenth verse when it comes to Russia. They have a centruies-long cultural inferiority complex, wanting to be regarded as a true world power, but possessing the ability to do so only by arming themselves to the teeth so other nations will fear them. That's the essence of their definition of power. The excuse of resource protection (from who?) is just that, an excuse. Russia's vast size and strategic inaccessability (remember the fate of both Napoleon and Hitler) are natural protection for them. Putin's rearming rhetoric is a cover for Ruissia to become, once again, the neighborhood bully. Here we go again.

Here's the nightmare scenario: 1. Iran gets nukes while the West dithers. 2. Iran turns a nuke over to a terrorist group, which smuggles it into the US. 3. Iran declares there is a nuke in an unidentified US city; demands the surrender of Israel as a condition of removing it. 4. The US refuses; mushroom cloud over a major US city. 5. WW3 begins anyway. The only question is when do you want it to begin, when Iran has nukes, or not? I doubt seriously that Russia or China will go to war to save Iran. JMO.

The title of the OP was "OK Here It Is." Ok, here WHAT is? Nothing more than another OPINION, based on a retrospective, historical look at another country whose underlying economic conditions are NOT identical to Iraq's. And, oh, by the way, spiced up with a healthy dose of negativism, which the poster would have you believe is "reality." Sorry bud, but I choose not to live in your world. If you choose to adhere to this consistently negative attitude, medical research conclusively shows you'll eventually do the rest of us a favor and die early. There is nothing out there that is even remotely conclusive regarding RD vs. RV. Convince yourself one way or another if you want to, but this remains a SPECULATIVE investment. Wake up, smell the coffee and enjoy your life.

"All leaves are cancelled until morale improves."

So RV already!

Thanks to Adam and all the Mods for keeping an eye out for situations like this, and handling them entirely appropriately. I spent 24 years of my life sworn to support, protect and defend the Constitution, including freedom of speech. However, there is a BIG difference between the freedom to speak in a public forum, being clearly recognized as who you are and standing accountable for your opinion, and the license to hide behind an assumed name and anonymously disrespect others without personal consequence to yourself. The latter is definitely NOT a freedom I wish to uphold. If you want to post that kind of garbage, man up and reveal who you truly are. Otherwise, go away. We don't want your disrespectful, anonymous drivel on this site.

Tells you for sure whose side he's really on, doesn't it?

That's only one part of the problem. The other, perhaps more significant part, is the Congress' willing abdication of THEIR responsibility to the federal bureaucracy. This all started during the Roosevelt administration, when huge new federal agencies were created, ostensibly to help get the country out of the Depression. The Supreme Court objected but Roosevelt, backed by a predominantly Democratic Congress, threatened to pack the Supreme Court with additional justices if the then sitting justices didn't play ball. The justices backed down. The result? Today we have regulatory agencies like the Federal Communications Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and others which exercise vast and sweeping powers over major areas of our lives, with NO Congressional oversight. That means they effectively sidestep the principle of government by the people. For example, did you know that the FDA has now conferred upon itself the power to effectively ban many new dietary supplements developed after 1994? Whose interests do you think that represents? Can you spell B-I-G P-H-A-R-M-A? The fact is, these regulatory agencies, which are populated by managers hand picked by big corporate interests, are running amok. These same special interests have millions of dollars of political money at their disposal, so it's no wonder that no politician has raised his/her voice in protest. So before we sign on to simplistic solutions like the one in the OP, let's make sure we all understand the full dimensions of the problem, and elect officials who will publicly advocate for dismantling these corrupt agencies.

NCIS Bones NCIS: Los Angeles Unforgettable Suits Being Human In Plain Sight

Erbil, HCL and Resolution 140 have to be dealt with. The Kuwait issues have been resolved by virtue of the fact that the Iraqi indebtedness to Kuwait is now treated as an investment, which the Kuwaitis will benefit from for years. No more artifact, body or repayment issues. Whoever came up with that idea was brilliant. Keep in mind the June lifting of chapter 7 is totally arbitrary. It's based on the UN's estimate of how long the Iraqis will s**** around getting the rest done. Once they sign off on Erbil, HCL and Res. 140, they can go back to the UNSC and ask that Chapter 7 be lifted immediately. Chances are it will be. Film at 11!

Remember there is a difference between the deficit and the debt. The deficit is the difference between what the annual federal budget is and that year's tax revenues. That's in contrast to the debt, which is the accumulation of the budget deficits of all the years up to the present time. So saying that Obama will reduce the deficit to 900 billion isn't that big a deal.

NIcely done, Thug!

GREAT post, Greg! Assuming that your analysis is correct (and I do!), it explains a lot about what is going on politically in that arena. The nut jobs in Iran certainly don't want an Iraq with the kind of economic capability you demonstrate they will have, post-RV, out their back door. It would spoil all their dreams of establishing the Caliphate, welcoming the White Imam, etc. Better to pay off some two-bit shyster like Maliki to inflame tribal feuds and try to sabotage it. Let's hope Iraq can somehow get this done; if not, it'll be a pretty rough ride for us all the next few years.

Heavy, as a fellow veteran I appreciate your concern, but you are forgetting one VERY important point that was recently revealed. Not long ago, Russia announced that, for its own security, they will consider ANY attack on Iran to be an attack on Russia. Despite their diminishment on the world stagte after losing the Cold War, they are still a very powerful country that possess many nukes. Obama will NOT start WW3 over this issue. His political base would abandon him, and he would not be re-elected.

One of the most valuable assignments I had during my military career was as a statistical analyst at the Air Force Personnel Center. During my first week on the job, one of the "old heads" in the personnel world took me aside during a conference and said, "The most important thing you need to know in this business is, you can make numbers say anything you want them to say." I think we all should keep that clearly in mind as we read the numerous posts from the Iraqi media.

Lemme see - I'm supposed to accept advice from an officer of one of the "Big 4," one of the banks that hasn't closed a commercial loan of any real size in over three years (it's a fact; check it out)? And the best this guy can do is look at the past and use that as a "reliable" indicator for the future of one of the most dynamic economies on the planet? Gimme a break! That's why the US is in the economic mess it's in, with guys like that running the show. I wouldn't trust a banker for financial advice any farther than I could throw him.

One more example of retrospective thinking. "It can't happen, because it never has before!" The same logic was used in 1956 to assert that the US wouldn't land a man on the moon within the next 50 years. Thirteen years later we did. I wonder how many other aspects of this person's life can be characterized by this mindset. He/she must be a very unhappy person. So sorry!

Thanks, rss AND sonny1. It'd be great, sonny1, if it HAS already happened. I vote for a new DV cheer: ONE-TO-ONE, HEY! ONE-TO-ONE, HEY! ONE-TO-ONE, HEY! GO RV!

Keep this in mind also. Russia has just declared that an attack on Iran would be considered an attack on itself. Russia is still recovering from the catastrophic effects the Cold War had on its economy. It has NO appetite for starting a new arms race with the West. If Iran is discovered to be building a nuclear bomb, it may well trigger Cold War II. I strongly suspect that Russia is acting behind the scenes to dissuade Iran from building a nuke.