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http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-24/us-propaganda-enters-insane-irrational-overdrive-attempt-sell-war-syria US Propaganda Enters Into Insane, Irrational Overdrive In Attempt to "Sell" War In Syria Thanks to a dizzying barrage of lies, mainstream media fear-mongering and a couple of beheadings, the Obama Administration finally achieved its long sought after war in Syria. The tactic that proved most effective in mobilizing the American public back into a shivering, post-9/11 fetal position, was the same tactic used by elites in the UK to convince Scotland against voting for independence. That tactic, as I detailed in a recent post, is fear. However, fear in itself is not enough. It must be coupled with endless slogans and misdirection by the mainstream media and politicians. It must lead the public to subconsciously embrace a thought process that is completely irrational. Such tactics can be labeled propaganda, and it results in a public suddenly supporting a war it strongly opposed only a year ago. All it takes is a little repackaging. Propaganda allows those who profit from war to push the American public into a tizzy of trepidation based on a couple of beheadings from ISIS, while not batting an eye over the daily beheadings that were simultaneously occurring in Saudi Arabia. So the power structure and its impotent puppet, Barack Obama, intentionally pushed the American public into a frenzy of fear and finally got their little war. Nevertheless, serious people immediately began to call into question two very significant issues with respect to the aggression. First, it appeared clear to almost everyone without a biased penchant for overseas death and destruction, that the war is completely unconstitutional and illegal no matter how you slice it. As I highlighted in the post, Obama’s ISIS War is Not Only Illegal, it Makes George W. Bush Look Like a Constitutional Scholar: But the 2001 authorization for the use of military force does not apply here. That resolution — scaled back from what Mr. Bush initially wanted — extended only to nations and organizations that “planned, authorized, committed or aided” the 9/11 attacks. Not only was ISIS created long after 2001, but Al Qaeda publicly disavowed it earlier this year. It is Al Qaeda’s competitor, not its affiliate. Mr. Obama may rightly be frustrated by gridlock in Washington, but his assault on the rule of law is a devastating setback for our constitutional order. His refusal even to ask the Justice Department to provide a formal legal pretext for the war on ISIS is astonishing. Senators and representatives aren’t eager to step up to the plate in October when, however they decide, their votes will alienate some constituents in November’s midterm elections. They would prefer to let the president plunge ahead and blame him later if things go wrong. But this is precisely why the War Powers Resolution sets up its 60-day deadline: It rightly insists that unless Congress is willing to stand up and be counted, the war is not worth fighting in the name of the American people. So that’s glaring problem number one. The second problem, which I highlighted in the post, The American Public: A Tough Soldier or a Chicken Hawk Cowering in a Cubicle? Some Thoughts on ISIS Intervention, is that: Did you know that the US government’s counterterrorism chief Matthew Olson said last week that there’s no “there’s no credible information” that the Islamic State (Isis) is planning an attack on America and that there’s “no indication at this point of a cell of foreign fighters operating in the United States”? Or that, as the Associated Press reported, “The FBI and Homeland Security Department say there are no specific or credible terror threats to the US homeland from the Islamic State militant group”? So as quickly as it began, Obama’s little war had some serious PR issues. So what did the chicken-hawks do? They repackaged and resold the entire thing. Enter Khorosan. Yep, just as quickly as ISIS spontaneously generated like maggots on meat from the sands of Mesopotamia to open the door to another Middle East quagmire, another existential threat nobody had ever heard of suddenly emerged. Not only that, but this group supposedly posed an imminent threat to America. How incredibly convenient. Here’s ABC News compliantly pushing the latest propaganda to its lobotomized readership in the article, US Averts ‘Active Plotting Against Homeland’ By Hitting Al Qaeda Cell Khorasan in Syria: American airstrikes in Syria have taken out members of a shadowy al Qaeda unit known as the Khorasan Group who were planning “imminent” attacks against targets including the U.S., the Pentagon said today. Pentagon spokesperson Rear Admiral John Kirby declined to go into specifics, but told ABC News’ George Stephanopolous, “We had very good indications that this group, which is a very dangerous group, was plotting and planning imminent attacks against Western targets to include the U.S. homeland and it was on that basis that we struck targets, Khorasan targets inside Syria.” The Khorasan Group — consisting of about 50 or so hardened fighters of mixed past and current jihadi affiliations — has been holed up in Aleppo, Syria under the protection of al Qaeda’s official wing in the country, Jabhat al-Nusra, developing cutting edge weapons of terror with the help of al Qaeda’s Yemen affiliate to strike Western civilian aviation targets, according to a half-dozen officials with knowledge of the group who spoke to ABC News. So all of a sudden the Pentagon identifies and targets a group of 50 fighters in Syria, which happens to be conveniently tied to al-Qaeda (thus justifying strikes under the 2001 AUMF), planning an imminent attack on the “homeland.” There are two reasons I distrust this meme. First of all, the U.S. government employs an extremely bizarre definition when using the word imminent. As Trevor Timm noted earlier today in the Guardian: Take, for example, this definition from a Justice Department white paper, which was leaked last year, intended to justify the killing of Americans overseas: An “imminent” threat of violent attack against the United States does not require the United States to have clear evidence that a specific attack on U.S. persons will take place in the immediate future. To translate: “imminent” can mean a lot of things … including “not imminent”. Fascinating, and all this time I thought “imminent” meant “imminent.” Someone should let Merriam-Webster know they’ve got it all wrong. The employment of this new definition of imminent was further solidified in my mind after reading an article from the New York Times titled: In Airstrikes, U.S. Targets Militant Cell Said to Plot an Attack Against the West. In it, we learn that: American military and intelligence analysts were still studying damage reports from the initial air assault, but senior Obama administration officials expressed hope that they had killed Muhsin al-Fadhli, the leader of Khorasan and a onetime confidant of Osama bin Laden. The officials said they had been contemplating military action against Khorasan in recent months, but President Obama’s decision to hit the Islamic State’s forces inside Syria provided a chance to neutralize the other perceived threat. You’ve got to wonder what other unrelated opportunities the ISIS campaign might allow. But I digress. The air campaign against Khorasan and the Islamic State got underway even as Mr. Obama flew to New York to meet with world leaders gathering at the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly. Mr. Obama did not seek United Nations permission for the military campaign, but he presented the strikes as the collaboration of a multinational coalition that included five Arab nations: Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain. Yeah, well he didn’t seek approval from Congress either. Now here’s the money shot. Most officials speaking publicly on Tuesday characterized the Khorasan threat as imminent. Lt. Gen. William C. Mayville Jr., who is in charge of operations for the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, said the terrorist group was nearing “the execution phase of an attack either in Europe or the homeland.” But one senior counterterrorism official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said the group might not have chosen the target, method or even the timing for a strike. An intelligence official said separately that the group was “reaching a stage where they might be able to do something.” Wait, come again? An attack is imminent, yet you don’t know which gigantic continent with hundreds of millions of inhabitants straddling opposing sides of the Atlantic ocean they were going to hit? Furthermore, they “might not have chosen the target, method or even the timing for a strike,” and they are “reaching a stage where they might be able to do something.” Sure sounds imminent to me. Don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining. So with Americans back to shivering in corners filled with nightmares of Islamists under their beds, the military-industrial complex is set to do what it does best. Get paid. For some details on who will be raking in the big bucks, I turn to Tim Shorrock’s piece earlier today in Salon: A massive, $7.2 billion Army intelligence contract signed just 10 days ago underscores the central role to be played by the National Security Agency and its army of private contractors in the unfolding air war being carried out by the United States and its Gulf States allies against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Under its terms, 21 companies, led by Booz Allen Hamilton, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, will compete over the next five years to provide “fully integrated intelligence, security and information operations” in Afghanistan and “future contingency operations” around the world. INSCOM announced the global intelligence contract two days after President Obama, in a speech to the nation, essentially declared war on ISIS in Iraq and Syria and outlined a campaign of airstrikes and combat actions to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the terrorist group. The top contractors on the INSCOM contract are already involved in the war. Lockheed Martin, for example, makes the Hellfire missiles that are used extensively in U.S. drone strikes (in 2013, it also won a three-year contract to train INSCOM’S “Army intelligence soldiers” in “analytical and operational disciplines”). Northrop Grumman makes the Global Hawk surveillance drone, one of the most formidable weapons in the U.S. arsenal. Both companies have large intelligence units. The role of contractors at the command is spelled out by BAE Systems, which has its own INSCOM website. “We enhance the U.S. Army’s ability to detect, decide, and act on vital intelligence in real-time,” BAE says. “From Intelligence Analysis to Persistent Surveillance, BAE Systems is proud to provide essential and sustainable end-to-end solutions and support to the warfighter.” As I first reported in Salon in 2007 and later chronicled in my book “Spies for Hire,” 70 percent of the U.S. intelligence budget is spent on private contractors. Much of this spending – estimated at around $70 billion a year – winds up at the NSA, where SIGINT operations, particularly for collection and analysis, were heavily outsourced at the turn of the century. “Hayden started the privatization, but it was really Alexander who built it,” said Drake. Alexander’s ties with INSCOM are extensive. One of the winning bidders on the new INSCOM contract is Sotera Defense Solutions. Russell Richardson, its former CEO and a former INSCOM commander, is now one of Alexander’s partners at IronNet and, under Alexander’s command of INSCOM, was its “chief architect.” Before that, Richardson was a vice president of NSA contractor SAIC, where he ran INSCOM’s so-called Information Dominance Center. INSCOM’s ties with Booz Allen, the company that employed Edward Snowden at its top secret site in Hawaii, are equally close. Robert Noonan, who directs the company’s “military intelligence account,” served for 35 years in the military, including a stint as INSCOM’s commanding general and the US Army’s deputy chief of staff for intelligence. Roberto Andujar, the INSCOM contract leader at Invertix Corp., another contract winner, once served as the command’s chief information officer (CIO). The revolving door between INSCOM and its contractors bothers Shaffer. “It’s a cash-and-carry program,” he said. “You go in there and get the knowledge, then you carry it out and get cash.” The Pentagon press office referred all calls on the contract to INSCOM. The command did not comment by press time. Wake up America. You will continue to be raped, pillaged and economically strip-mined until you stand up for yourselves, but for now, it appears the fetal position suits you just fine.

http://rt.com/op-edge/168064-isis-terrorism-usa-cia-war/ ISIS in Iraq stinks of CIA/NATO ‘dirty war’ op William Engdahl is an award-winning geopolitical analyst and strategic risk consultant whose internationally best-selling books have been translated into thirteen foreign languages. Get short URL Published time: June 24, 2014 10:22 Iraqi Kurdish forces take position near Taza Khormato as they fight jihadist militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) positioned five kilometers away in Bashir, 20 kms south of Kirkuk (AFP Photo / Karim Sahib) 9.7K83175 Tags Intelligence, Iraq, Syria, Terrorism, USA For days now, since their dramatic June 10 taking of Mosul, Western mainstream media have been filled with horror stories of the military conquests in Iraq of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, with the curious acronym ISIS. ISIS, as in the ancient Egyptian cult of the goddess of fertility and magic. The media picture being presented adds up less and less. Details leaking out suggest that ISIS and the major military ‘surge’ in Iraq - and less so in neighboring Syria - is being shaped and controlled out of Langley, Virginia, and other CIA and Pentagon outposts as the next stage in spreading chaos in the world’s second-largest oil state, Iraq, as well as weakening the recent Syrian stabilization efforts. Strange factsThe very details of the ISIS military success in the key Iraqi oil center, Mosul, are suspect. According to well-informed Iraqi journalists, ISIS overran the strategic Mosul region, site of some of the world’s most prolific oilfields, with barely a shot fired in resistance. According to one report, residents of Tikrit reported remarkable displays of “soldiers handing over their weapons and uniforms peacefully to militants who ordinarily would have been expected to kill government soldiers on the spot.” We are told that ISIS masked psychopaths captured “arms and ammunition from the fleeing security forces” - arms and ammunition supplied by the American government. The offensive coincides with a successful campaign by ISIS in eastern Syria. According to Iraqi journalists, Sunni tribal chiefs in the region had been convinced to side with ISIS against the Shiite Al-Maliki government in Baghdad. They were promised a better deal under ISIS Sunni Sharia than with Baghdad anti-Sunni rule. According to the New York Times, the mastermind behind the ISIS military success is former Baath Party head and Saddam Hussein successor, General Ibrahim al-Douri. Douri is reportedly the head of the Iraqi rebel group Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order as well as the Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation based on his longstanding positions of leadership in the Naqshbandi sect in Iraq. In 2009, US ‘Iraqi surge’ General David Petraeus, at the time heading the US Central Command, claimed to reporters that Douri was in Syria. Iraqi parliamentarians claimed he was in Qatar. The curious fact is that despite being on the US most wanted list since 2003, Douri has miraculously managed to avoid capture and now to return with a vengeance to retake huge parts of Sunni Iraq. Luck or well-placed friends in Washington? The financial backing for ISIS jihadists reportedly also comes from three of the closest US allies in the Sunni world—Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. US passports?Key members of ISIS it now emerges were trained by US CIA and Special Forces command at a secret camp in Jordan in 2012, according to informed Jordanian officials. The US, Turkish and Jordanian intelligence were running a training base for the Syrian rebels in the Jordanian town of Safawi in the country’s northern desert region, conveniently near the borders to both Syria and Iraq. Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the two Gulf monarchies most involved in funding the war against Syria’s Assad, financed the Jordan ISIS training. Advertised publicly as training of ‘non-extremist’ Muslim jihadists to wage war against the Syrian Bashar Assad regime, the secret US training camps in Jordan and elsewhere have trained perhaps several thousand Muslim fighters in techniques of irregular warfare, sabotage and general terror. The claims by Washington that they took special care not to train ‘Salafist’ or jihadist extremists, is a joke. How do you test if a recruit is not a jihadist? Is there a special jihad DNA that the CIA doctors have discovered? Militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) parading with an Iraqi army vehicle in the northern city of Baiji in the in Salaheddin province. (AFP Photo / HO / Youtube) Jordanian government officials are revealing the details, in fear that the same ISIS terrorists that today are slashing heads of ‘infidels’ alongside the roadways of Mosul by the dozens, or hundreds if we believe their own propaganda, might turn their swords towards Jordan’s King Abdullah soon, to extend their budding Caliphate empire. Former US State Department official Andrew Doran wrote in the conservative National Review magazine that some ISIS warriors also hold US passports. Now, of course that doesn’t demonstrate and support by the Obama Administration. Hmm... Iranian journalist Sabah Zanganeh notes, "ISIS did not have the power to occupy and conquer Mosul by itself. What has happened is the result of security-intelligence collaborations of some regional countries with some extremist groups inside the Iraqi government." Iraq’s Chechen commanderThe next bizarre part of the ISIS puzzle involves the Jihadist credited with being the ‘military mastermind’ of the recent ISIS victories, Tarkhan Batirashvili. If his name doesn’t sound very Arabic, it’s because it’s not. Tarkhan Batrashvili is a Russian - actually an ethnic Chechen from near the Chechen border to Georgia. But to give himself a more Arabic flair, he also goes by the name Emir (what else?) Umar al Shishani. The problem is he doesn’t look at all Arabic. No dark swarthy black beard: rather a long red beard, a kind of Chechen Barbarossa. According to a November, 2013 report in The Wall Street Journal, Emir Umar or Batrashvili as you prefer, has made the wars in Syria and Iraq “into a geopolitical struggle between the US and Russia.” That has been the objective of leading neo-conservatives in the CIA, Pentagon and State Department all along. The CIA transported hundreds of Mujahideen Saudis and other foreign veterans of the 1980s Afghan war against the Soviets in Afghanistan into Chechnya to disrupt the struggling Russia in the early 1990s, particularly to sabotage the Russian oil pipeline running directly from Baku on the Caspian Sea into Russia. James Baker III and his friends in Anglo-American Big Oil had other plans. It was called the BTC pipeline, owned by a BP-US oil consortium and running through Tbilisi into NATO-member Turkey, free of Russian territory. Batrashvili is not renowned for taking care. Last year he was forced to apologize when he ordered his men to behead a wounded ‘enemy’ soldier who turned out to be an allied rebel commander. More than 8,000 foreign Jihadist mercenaries are reportedly in ISIS including at least 1,000 Chechens as well as Jihadists Saudi, Kuwait, Egypt and reportedly Chinese Uyghur from Xinjiang Province. Jeffrey Silverman, Georgia Bureau Chief for the US-based Veterans Today (VT) website, told me that Batrashvili “is a product of a joint program of the US through a front NGO called Jvari, which was set up by US Intelligence and the Georgian National Security Council, dating back to the early days of the Pankisi Gorge.” Jvari is the name as well of a famous Georgian Orthodox monastery of the 6th century. According to Silverman, David J. Smith—head of something in Tbilisi called the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, as well as the Potomac Institute in Washington where he is listed as Director of the Potomac Institute Cyber Centerr—played a role in setting up the Jvari NGO. Silverman maintains that Jvari in Rustavi, near the capital, Tbilisi, gathered together Afghan Mujahideen war veterans, Chechens, Georgians and sundry Arab Jihadists. They were sent to the infamous Pankisi Gorge region, a kind-of no-man’s lawless area, for later deployment, including Iraq and Syria. Batrashvili and other Georgian and Chechen Russian-speaking Jihadists, Silverman notes, are typically smuggled, with the assistance of Georgia’s Counterintelligence Department and the approval of the US embassy, across the Georgia border to Turkey at the Vale crossing point, near Georgia’s Akhaltsikhe and the Turkish village of Türkgözü on the Turkish side of the Georgian border. From there it’s very little problem getting them through Turkey to either Mosul in Iraq or northeast Syria. Silverman believes that events in Northern Iraq relate to “wanting to have a Kurdish Republic separate from the Central government and this is all part of the New Great Game. It will serve US interests in both Turkey and Iraq, not to mention Syria.” Very revealing is the fact that almost two weeks after the dramatic fall of Mosul and the ‘capture’ by ISIS forces of the huge weapons and military vehicle resources provided by the US to the Iraqi army. Washington has done virtually nothing but make a few silly speeches about their ‘concern’ and dispatch 275 US special forces to allegedly protect US personnel in Iraq. Whatever the final details that emerge, what is clear in the days since the fall of Mosul is that some of the world’s largest oilfields in Iraq are suddenly held by Jihadists and no longer by an Iraqi government determined to increase the oil export significantly. More on this aspect in an upcoming article. More links: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/14/america-s-allies-are-funding-isis.html http://www.crescent-online.net/2014/06/us-saudi-funded-isis-spreads-terror-in-iraq-crescent-onlinenet-4513-articles.html

https://news.yahoo.com/al-qaida-breakaway-formally-declares-islamic-state-184155646.html BAGHDAD (AP) — The al-Qaida breakaway group that has seized much of northern Syria and huge tracks of neighboring Iraq formally declared the creation of an Islamic state on Sunday in the territory under its control. The spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, made the announcement in an audio statement posted online. Islamic extremists have long dreamed of recreating the Islamic state, or caliphate, that ruled over the Middle East for hundreds of years. Abu Mohammed al-Adnani said the group's chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is the new leader, or caliph, of the Islamic state. He called on those living in the areas under the organization's control to swear allegiance to al-Baghdadi and support him. "The legality of all emirates, groups, states and organizations becomes null by the expansion of the caliph's authority and the arrival of its troops to their areas," al-Adnani said. He said that with the creation of the caliphate, the group was changing its name to just the Islamic State, dropping the mention of Iraq and the Levant. It was unclear what immediate practical impact the declaration would have on the ground in Syria and Iraq, or among the wider global jihadi community.

Wednesday April 30, 2014 - 11:28 After receiving up to two billion dollars since the beginning of 2014 Kuwait: 6.879 billion dollars demanding compensation from Iraq The State of Kuwait in Geneva yesterday that the compensation remaining on Iraq up to 6.879 billion dollars after receiving 1.03 billion last January and 990 million in April this year. said the chairman of the Public Authority for Assessment of Compensation for the so-called loss of Iraqi aggression Khaled Ahmad Al-Mudhaf before session 77 of the Commission UN Compensation «that enhance further the Kuwait receipt of these payments depends on the continued flow of resources into the Compensation Fund in accordance with the decisions of the relevant Security Council» and stressed «the need to continue filing regular undertaking by Iraq in the Compensation Fund to 5% of the revenue derived from all sales Iraq's exports of oil and petroleum products, natural gas, according to the UN Security Council Resolution 1956 as well as a similar proportion of the value of any payments other than cash for oil and petroleum products and natural gas ». added Almudaf «Kuwait also stresses the importance of continuing to maintain a transparent mechanism to ensure the audit in the amounts transferred to the Compensation Fund as it will bring the continuation of the deposit of such amounts from the final completion of the task of the Board of Directors regarding the payment of full compensation to the State of Kuwait, which was approved by the Board that the right of the people of the State of Kuwait », explained« that since the beginning when it was agreed in 2008 to meet Iraq and Kuwait under the auspices of Committee for the United Nations Compensation to discuss the remaining funds and payable to Kuwait remained the Government of Kuwait is committed to the process ». also pointed to «the renewal of the State of Kuwait in different connections commitment and willingness to discuss this issue under the umbrella of the United Nations Commission on Compensation», and added, «We would like to recall that ensure payment of the amounts The remaining owed ​​to Kuwait is the responsibility of the Board of Directors, according to its primary functions and this should not be on the United Nations Commission on Compensation shrinking of its efforts until the payment of the full amount, especially since the committee and always stood ready to provide experts and provide technical assistance in order to help to make real progress in this regard ». He said «that the Kuwaiti government has made ​​a political guarantees to the Board of Directors was the release of the amounts withheld under the scheduled 258, Kuwait going since the received program successfully provided and will provide the State of Kuwait in the month of May 2014 report on the basis of the agreement between the point of the link Kuwait National Board of Directors». The transfer Almudaf welcome the Government of the State of Kuwait, new members of the Board of Directors, which now houses the Jordanian ambassador to the United Nations here Recep SUKAYRI counterparts and Chad's ambassador to blame Bamnga Abbas and Ambassador of Chile Josaa Luis Balmaceda and the Ambassador of Lithuania Rytis Paulausks and Ambassador of Nigeria Omona Humphrey Orjiako.

Secrets revealed for the first time: the ladder Maliki as prime minister is on Iraq to 'Iranian colony'? 25-04-2014 12:04 PM Radio Sawa / 04.24.2014 report prepared by the U.S. magazine The New Yorker highlights the secrets and mysteries of politics in Iraq

http://www.thenational.ae/business/markets/end-of-a-long-process-nears-as-chief-predicts-bright-future More will start to come out with the ESX, just wanted the forum to be ahead of the curve. There is an isx section. Could the name of that either be changed to isx/ESX or a seperate ESX section added? I have attached the above article to start things off Thanks!

Greetings, The Price of Oil and Gasto head downward by 2020? Iraq, Iran Plot Oil Revolution, Challenge Saudi Posted on 29 January 2014 Iraq and Iran, which together hold more oil reserves than Saudi Arabia, are planning to challenge Saudi Arabia's grip on OPEC and its status as the "swing producer" in the cartel, according to a report from The Telegraph. With Iraq poised to triple its capacity to 9 million bpd by 2020, the result could be a dramatic fall in oil prices. Hussain al-Shahristani, Deputy Prime Minister for Energy, said: "We feel the world needs to be assured of fuel for economic growth ... It's very difficult to predict actual world (oil) demand by 2020 because the world economy is unpredictable ... Iran has been in touch with us; they want to share our contracts model and experience."

Hey everyone, Happy Wednesday! I’m sure you’ve all noticed, but there’s a LOT going on in the news regarding oil, Kurdistan, Erbil… this is ALL good for progress on the HCL, which I mentioned last week (and the week before I believe!). Example: http://iqd.me/l/v-t0 With that said, most of what I want to say will be answered in the weekly dinar questions… so here we go! Hey eburt - that's been floating around for a while now on various news channels. The opposite has also been making the rounds... I don't see any reason to worry about it any more than any other news reports. I don't think it will happen. What I was referring to was the progress on the HCL! The Kurds meeting in Baghdad to discuss oil and the recent discussions on Erbil are EXACTLY that... this is good stuff! The name below: Obviously the HCL isn't resolved yet, but we're seeing a major flurry of news on it. I'm pretty excited about it right now. And "1166 to 1165"... , yes I guess that is *technically* a move in the right direction, but I don't believe that will be the case! I can't give an exact date on Parliament, and even if I did they could change it. They are indeed making progress towards resolving the oil laws and I don't think the WTO is a requirement, either legally or fundamentally. Note: they don't have to be in full agreement on the oil situation in order to RV. They can RV and still continue to argue, just like they did before the value dropped. Anyone who thinks they have to all hold hands and sing a happy song together before they will raise the value is simply wrong. First, the HCL: Look for oil news in the News Forum here at dinarvets. Second, WTO: If they raise the value of their dinar, who here thinks they won't be ushered into the WTO shortly after? WTO doesn't have to come first! Make sense? Like I said above, they will always dig their heels and bicker, even after the RV. That's just their culture. Richard Sherman, the guy who singlehandedly made every undecided fan an instant Broncos supporter? That guy obviously has no class, and he showed it right there. I feel bad for his teammates. (Except for the fact that he is actually really good ) That's a great question, and believe it or not... it's been asked and answered a bunch of times in the past. I'll give you my opinion. First, these "trillion dollar contracts" aren't paid out in lump sums - they are paid in installments, just like any other contract. So when the value of the dinar spikes drastically, the future value of the unpaid work is like the future value of a loaf of bread. A loaf of bread that's worth 2000 dinar today is not going to be worth 2000 dinar after the RV. Second, the contracts that are paid in trillions of dinars aren't kept in dinars under some contractors bed.... they are converted to another currency. Therefore the "trillions" of dinars have already been converted to millions of (USD or some other currency), which really makes this question a fun brain teaser... but not much of an argument against an RV. And as I'm sure you all know about me... I don't waste my time arguing about it anyway. We will all see how it pans out one way or another, and hopefully pretty soon!

The Central Bank of Iraq announced on Sunday that it has received a memo from the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) in Basel Switzerland announcing that it will accept more deposits from Iraq. “This procedure will contribute in increasing Iraq’s money revenues after keeping it in a very secure location,” the Central Bank explained. The BIS is an international organization for central banks aiming to strengthen monetary and financial cooperation worldwide.

TAQA holds 39,9%, Shamaran 20,1% and Marathon 15%, KRG has 25% of the field. Abu Dhabi's TAQA to invest $1.2bn in Kurdistan oil field By Reuters Monday, 20 January 2014 7:25 PM Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) plans to invest about $1.2 billion developing the Atrush oil and gas block in the autonomous Kurdistan region, the head of Taqa's Iraq operations said on Monday. Taqa, which is majority owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, won approval from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to develop the block in late 2013. It expects to invest more than $300 million in the first phase of the project, with first oil from the 30,000 barrel per day (bpd) first phase expected in early 2015. Subject to KRG approval and further field appraisals, a second phase could add 30,000 bpd of oil production, along with some associated gas for the domestic market. "Iraq is very much core to Taqa," Leo Koot told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a conference in Abu Dhabi. "The investment in the next three phases will be similar to the first phase and production should be around 100,000 to 120,000 bpd of oil in four years," he said. Deals between foreign investors and the KRG to develop oilfields have angered the federal government in Baghdad, which rejects them as illegal. Abu Dhabi's former state utility is expanding a power plant in Kurdistan, which should be completed in mid-2015, but it also hopes to build gas-fired power plants in southern Iraq to help Baghdad to overcome power shortages. "We've had good discussions with the Iraqi government," Koot said, declining to go into details about the plant talks. http://m.arabianbusiness.com/abu-dhabi-s-taqa-invest-1-2bn-in-kurdistan-oil-field-535417.html

Three Indicted for $23m Dinar Fraud Posted on 01 January 2014. Tags: Corruption, dinar, IQD, iraqi dinar, re-denomination, re-valuation, Redenomination, revaluation A federal grand indicted three men from the Toledo area for their roles in the operation of a $23 million fraud scheme involving the sale of Iraqi dinar currency and two non-existent hedge funds, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and Kathy Enstrom, Special Agent in Charge, IRS-Criminal Investigation, Cincinnati field office. Those indicted are: Bradford L. Huebner, 66, of Ottawa Hills, Ohio; Charles N. Emmenecker, 66, of Sylvania, Ohio, and Michael L. Teadt, 67, of Maumee, Ohio. Rudolph M. Coenen, age 47, of Jacksonville, Florida, has already pleaded guilty to crimes related to his role in the conspiracy. The men are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. Huebner is also charged with multiple counts of money laundering, structuring and willful failure to file currency and transaction reports. As a result of the defendants’ conduct, investors lost about $23.8 million from dinar sales and more than $700,000 from the sale of non-existent hedge fund “seats” and “placements,” according to the indictment. “These defendants made false statements time and again to convince people to part with their savings and hard-earned cash,” Dettelbach said. “The fact that they falsely claimed one member of the conspiracy was wounded while fighting in Iraq is particularly egregious.” “Illegal activity involving the investment industry has brought financial ruin to many Americans,” Enstrom said. “IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to unraveling complex investment schemes to ensure that the promoters of these schemes do not use the financial-services industry for personal gain.” The indictment charges that beginning about August 2010, Huebner, Coenen, Emmenecker and Teadt conspired to operate “BH Group” in Toledo and “Bayshore Capital Investments” in Jacksonville in order to defraud investors through investments in the Iraqi dinar currency and two non-existent hedge funds. The conspirators promoted the dinar and non-existent hedge funds through the dissemination of a series of material falsehoods conveyed primarily through weekly interstate conference calls and through the conspirators’ web site, according to the indictment. False claims included statements about the U.S. Treasury Department’s holdings of dinar and involvement in the Iraqi dinar investment market, according to the indictment. Additional material false statements made by all the defendants include, but are not limited to, portrayal of Coenen as a former vice president at JP Morgan Chase and a former Marine who was awarded the Purple Heart after being wounded in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. Coenen worked for JP Morgan Chase for one day as an account executive/loan officer. He never served in the first Gulf War, was never wounded in combat and never received a Purple Heart, according to the indictment. If convicted, the defendants’ sentence will be determined by the court after a review of factors unique to this case, including the defendants’ prior criminal record, if any, the defendants’ roles in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. The sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases will be less than the maximum. This case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Gene Crawford and Matthew W. Shepherd following an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilty. The defendants are entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. (Source: US Department of Justice)

Member of the Commission on oil and energy: the attack on the British oil company employee would negatively affect the company's work in Iraq 16-11-2013 06:54 AM Baghdad (news) .. Criticized a member of the Oil and Energy Committee MP / coalition in Iraq / Mutashar al-Samarrai, the silence of the federal government over the attack on the employees in the oil company British in Basra, warning the vulnerability of this action on the work of companies in Iraq. Samarrai said (of the Agency news): that the assault incident on one of the staff of the British company operating in the Rumaila oilfield in Basra is unacceptable because the employees of companies who are not from the people of the country, but came to provide service to the country. Through Samurai: surprised at the silence of the federal government over the assault incident, noting it was the first on the Iraqi government to issue a statement commensurate with the customary international law condemns this action and emphasizes that the ايعبر from the perspective of the Iraqi people. warned: the vulnerability of this work on the bilateral relations between Iraq and the British, because the British government will not tolerate not keep quiet about what happened to an employee of her company operating in Iraq from insult and continued beating , as well as it will reflect negatively on the work of foreign companies operating in Iraq and thus hurt the Iraqi economy. continued: It was better for those who attacked the company employee that reflect the image of Imam Hussein, with white as pure and his courage and his eminence and the fight against injustice and tyranny, and behave better job than that. / Finished / 8.'s. m /

Greetings, Here is a Smile for your day: Reuters reports that China's state-owned Sinochem Corp plans to use Iraqi crude oil for 40 percent of the capacity of its new refinery, in what the article describes as "the latest example of Iraq beating Middle Eastern rivals in the competition for new markets in Asia". The deal wold replacing a preliminary agreement to use more expensive oil from Kuwait, and make Sinochem one of Baghdad's top oil buyers next year, when the company starts its first wholly-owned refinery. I keep reading in my Iraq Business Week points that shine on mid 2014 or before for long awaited moment for RV!!! Sincerely, BradyBear

Great news! Pipeline connects AFTER Baghdads meeteringstation! "The Kurdistan pipeline joins Iraq’s main export pipeline to Turkey after a Baghdad-controlled metering station, Hayward said. That will give the Kurds full control, bypassing the federal government." http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-10-25/hayward-says-completed-pipeline-turning-point-for-kurdistan So now ICG can choose, are you in or out? Great decision Hawrami!

Greetings, Here is yet another good reason we have not had the RV yet. I keep reading logial reasons that Iraq is rebuilding and shall continue to do until they are firmly grounded and up and completely functioning. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says Iraq has signed a $6 billion deal with Swiss company Satarem to build and run southern Iraq’s first new, large-scale refinery in 30 years. The oompany will set up the 150,000 barrel-per-day refinery near Amara, in Missan [Maysan] province, on a 50-year build-own-operate (BOO) contract. Satarem was created in 1992 by Mr.Jérôme Friler and Mr.Adolf Wong, registered in Switzerland and operating across the globe providing solutions for heavy engineering industries. Sincerely, BradyBear

Greetings Adam and Friends, Here is some Positive news for us: Shell has officially inaugurated Iraq's huge Majnoon oil field on Sunday, and said it aims to reach 175,000 barrels a day in the coming weeks. Production from the field's first well started on 20th September, and Hussein al Shahristani, the Iraqi deputy prime minister for energy, said in Dubai that output is expected to rise to almost 200,000 barrels a day before the end of the year. Shell owns 45 percent of the venture, with Petronas owning 30 percent, and the Iraqi state holding 25 percent. They have pledged to eventually raise production to 1.8 million barrels a day. Have a Great day, BradyBear

I know enough to know that I don't know enough to know how accurate the information is in this video but I believe the premise is plausible. While the video primarily addresses the MIddle East and Petro Dollars it inadvertently explains why Venezuela earlier in the year transferred their gold from Europe to China.

This is all shown in graphics, I don't know how to bring that kinda stuff over, so just follow the link folks: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-07-11/visualizing-uncle-sams-missing-money

http://rt.com/usa/ron-paul-syria-iraq-890/ Ron Paul: ‘Obama’s Syria policy looks a lot like Bush’s Iraq policy’ Get short URL Published time: June 18, 2013 18:07 Former US Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) (AFP Photo / Joe Raedle) Share on tumblr Trends Syria unrest Tags Bashar Assad, Iraq, Obama, Syria, USA,War Did the White House’s remarks about Syrian President Bashar al-Assad using chemical weapons sound familiar? Former congressman Ron Paul says the build up to a likely strike on Syria reminds him of the days before the invasion of Iraq. Paul, the longtime Republican lawmaker from Texas who retired last year following an unsuccessful attempt to gain the GOP nomination for the presidency, published a statement on his website this week criticizing the White House for their latest remarks regarding Syria. US President Barack Obama said months ago that any proof of Assad using chemical weapons against Syrians would constitute the crossing of a “red line” that would spur American intervention. Last week, the White House said evidence linked Assad’s government to using chemical warfare to kill as many as 150 opposition fighters during the bloody civil war that has so far costs more than 90,000 Syrians their lives, according to United Nation estimates. Washington is now likely to begin arming Syrian rebel fighters and is pondering a possible no-fly zone over Syria. According to Paul, the latest rhetoric from the White House is something he’s seen before. “Because of this use of gas, the president claimed, Syria had crossed his ‘red line’ and the US must begin to arm the rebels fighting to overthrow the Syrian government,” Paul wrote. But at the same time, Paul called into question a previous report from the Washington Post, in which the paper cited White House officials as having decided “weeks ago” to arm Syrian rebels. “[I]n other words, it was made at a time when the intelligence community did not believe ‘with high confidence’ that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons,” Paul said of that decision. “Further, this plan to transfer weapons to the Syrian rebels had become policy much earlier than that, as the Washington Post reported that the CIA had expanded over the past year its secret bases in Jordan to prepare for the transfer of weapons to the rebels in Syria.” On his website, Paul wrote that things are starting to seem all too similar to what preceded the invasion of Baghdad in 2003. “The process was identical to the massive deception campaign that led us into the Iraq War,” Paul claimed. Just like under President George W. Bush, Paul said the Obama administration is “fixing the intelligence and facts” so it can justify an already determined policy. “And Congress just goes along, just as they did the last time,” Paul wrote. Congress has not formally decided how it will heed any calls to arm Syrian rebels just yet, but a number of influential politicians on the Hill have raised their voices already, particularly in light of the White House’s recent claim. Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), an outspoken supporter of the efforts to aid the rebels, said last week that the United States’ failure to act already in the civil war is “disgraceful.” “For us to sit by, and watch these people being massacred, raped, tortured in the most terrible fashion, meanwhile, the Russians are all in, Hezbollah is all in, and we’re talking about giving them more light weapons? It’s insane,” he said. “Frankly, every day that goes by and we don’t get rid of Bashar Assad, it becomes more and more complicated and difficult.” Indeed, even Pres. Obama has said that removing Assad from office has been a priority within Washington for quite some time now. But just as with a decade earlier, he’s already finding some opponents in Washington uninterested in opening up another war. Speaking on CBS’ Face the Nation over the weekend, House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Michigan) equated the news coming out of the White House as a lot of huff. "It seems to me they have a great media strategy," Rogers said. "They don't have a great Syrian strategy, and I don't believe any of our members - and we had both Republicans and Democrats on the committee - express concern about where they think we are today, and where we think the administration wants to go.” "What is the plan? Where are we going in Syria? And what do you want to accomplish?" Rogers asked. "Some of the things that they've told us - told the Intelligence Committee - in the past doesn't comport with what they're presenting as the direction they want to go. So we've asked them to come up and say if we're going to move in this direction, you're going to have to come up with a more comprehensive plan." "They've got a lot of explaining to do to come up and say, 'Here's our comprehensive plan on how we move forward on what is a catastrophic situation that's getting worse every single day in Syria,'" Rogers said. Speaking to PBS host Charlie Rose in an interview that aired late Monday, Pres. Obama dismissed the claims from the likes of Mr. Paul that the unrest in Syria would spark another war for his administration to be entwined in. "It is very easy to slip slide your way into deeper and deeper commitments," Obama told Rose, referring to the possibility of another war in the Middle East. "Now, on the other side there are folks who say, you know, 'we are so scarred from Iraq. We should have learned our lesson. We should not have anything to do with it,'" Obama said. "Well, I reject that view as well because the fact of the matter is, is that we've got serious interests there." "The goals are a stable, non-sectarian, representative Syrian government that is addressing the needs of its people through political processes and peaceful processes," added the president. "We're not taking sides in a religious war between Shi'a and Sunni. Really, what we're trying to do is take sides against extremists of all sorts and in favor of people who are in favor of moderation, tolerance, representative government - and, over the long-term, stability and prosperity for the people of Syria." Mr. Obama is currently overseas discussing the Syrian situation with other world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the Russian parliament’s International Affairs Committee, said in a tweet last week that the White House’s information about the usage of chemical weapons by the Assad regime “is fabricated in the same way as the lie about Hussein's weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq.

Remember the guy who got on a plane with a bomb built into his shoe and tried to light it? Did you know his trial is over? Did you know he was sentenced? Did you see/hear any of the judge's comments on TV or Radio? Didn't think so.!!! Everyone should hear what the judge had to say. Ruling by Judge William Young, US District Court. Prior to sentencing, the Judge asked the defendant if he had anything to say His response: After admitting his guilt to the court for the record, Reid also admitted his 'allegiance to Osama bin Laden, to Islam, and to the religion of Allah,' defiantly stating, 'I think I will not apologize for my actions,' and told the court 'I am at war with your country.' Judge Young then delivered the statement quoted below: Judge Young: "Mr. Richard C. Reid, hearken now to the sentence the Court imposes upon you. On counts 1, 5 and 6 the Court sentences you to life in prison in the custody of the United States Attorney General. On counts 2, 3, 4 and 7, the Court sentences you to 20 years in prison on each count, the sentence on each count to run consecutively. (That's 80 years.) On count 8 the Court sentences you to the mandatory 30 years, again to be served consecutively to the 80 years just imposed. The Court imposes upon you for each of the eight counts a fine of $250,000, that's an aggregate fine of $2 million. The Court accepts the government's recommendation with respect to restitution and orders restitution in the amount of $298.17 to Andre Bousquet and $5,784 to American Airlines. The Court imposes upon you an $800 special assessment. The Court imposes upon you, five years supervised release simply because the law requires it. But the life sentences are real life sentences so I need go no further. This is the sentence that is provided for by our statutes. It is a fair and just sentence. It is a righteous sentence. Now, let me explain this to you. We are not afraid of you or any of your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid. We are Americans. We have been through the fire before. There is too much war talk here and I say that to everyone with the utmost respect. Here in this court, we deal with individuals as individuals and care for individuals as individuals. As human beings, we reach out for justice. You are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist. To give you that reference, to call you a soldier, gives you far too much stature. Whether the officers of government do it, or your attorney does it, or if you think you are a soldier, you are not-----, you are a terrorist. And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not meet with terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice. So war talk is way out of line in this court. You are a big fellow. But you are not that big. You're no warrior. I've known warriors. You are a terrorist. A species of criminal that is guilty of multiple attempted murders. In a very real sense, State Trooper Santiago had it right when you first were taken off that plane and into custody and you wondered where the press and the TV crews were, and he said: 'You're no big deal. ' You are no big deal. What your able counsel and what the equally able United States attorneys have grappled with and what I have, as honestly as I know how, tried to grapple with, is why you did something so horrific. What was it that led you here to this courtroom today? I have listened respectfully to what you have to say. And I ask you to search your heart and ask yourself what sort of unfathomable hate led you to do what you are guilty, and admit you are guilty, of doing? And, I have an answer for you. It may not satisfy you, but as I search this entire record, it comes as close to understanding as I know. It seems to me, you hate the one thing that to us is most precious. You hate our freedom. Our individual freedom. Our individual freedom to live as we choose, to come and go as we choose, to believe or not believe as we individually choose. Here, in this society, the very wind carries freedom. It carries it everywhere from sea to shining sea. It is because we prize individual freedom so much that you are here in this beautiful courtroom, so that everyone can see, truly see, that justice is administered fairly, individually, and discretely. It is for freedom's sake that your lawyers are striving so vigorously on your behalf, have filed appeals, will go on in their representation of you before other judges. We Americans are all about freedom. Because we all know that the way we treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own liberties. Make no mistake though. It is yet true that we will bear any burden; pay any price, to preserve our freedoms. Look around this courtroom. Mark it well. The world is not going to long remember what you or I say here. The day after tomorrow, it will be forgotten, but this, however, will long endure. Here in this courtroom and courtrooms all across America , the American people will gather to see that justice, individual justice, justice, not war, individual justice, is in fact being done. The very President of the United States through his officers, will have to come into courtrooms and lay out evidence on which specific matters can be judged and juries of citizens will gather to sit and judge that evidence democratically, to mold and shape and refine our sense of justice. See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of America . That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten. That flag stands for freedom. And it always will. Mr. Custody Officer. Stand him down." So, how much of this Judge's comments did we hear on our TV sets? We need more judges like Judge Young. ==================================================================================== (CNN) – The following is a partial transcript of Thursday's court hearing in which Richard Reid was sentenced to life in prison for his confessed plan to try and blow up a jetliner with explosives he had hidden in his shoes. The exchange is between Reid and Judge William Young. http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/01/31/reid.transcript/

The following link (cached) indicates just how excited many countries are to invest in Iraq. Please note that this is nearly a month old article but one of many that seem...completely overlooked. Besides South Korea's $7 billion housing project and multiple Asian phone network companies competing for bids, Iraq's infrastructure is rebuilding faster than most realize (or will admit). It seems the Brits have also played it big for their own projects that will increase Iraq's global trading system (even more) very quickly. Why some suggest Iraq (and the dinar) is decades from becoming a global commodity, I don't understand. Perhaps looking for good news topics on more than the key word "currency"...they'd find all of the economic recovery markers needed to feel very comfortable with dinar potential. Enjoy the read...I know I did http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:vxq-WAZDLZ4J:www.iraq-businessnews.com/tag/nic/+KOTRA+iraq+housing+project&hl=en&gl=us&strip=0 by the way...it seems that EVERYone might not be chillax'n during Ramadon. I know when I worked in the Royal Hospital in Ryiadh, Saudi Arabia, back in the Gulf War (1991-92)...not all work ended. Perhaps the constraints of that holiday are not as binding these days (in Iraq) as they might once have been? RV or not...June does seem to be an exciting month for progress. Biggest Ever British Trade Mission to Iraq Posted on 07 May 2013. The Executive Chairman of the Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC), Baroness Nicholson (pictured), has announced the biggest ever British trade mission to Iraq. In a massive push to boost UK business in Iraq the IBBC will take a 100 companies to Baghdad, Basrah and Erbil in mid-June. A senior UK government minister will co-lead the delegation with Baroness Nicholson who said: “The British are coming! For a long time UK companies have lost out to competitors from countries in the Far East and even those closer to home like the French and the Italians. “We have to fight back and Iraq-100 is a bold and courageous bid to put British firms in the vanguard of Iraq’s reconstruction.“ The first stop for the delegation will be Baghdad for a conference and a mini trade fair at the Al Rashid Hotel. The delegation will then move on to Basrah and Erbil. In a speech at the IBBC’s Mansion House conference, UK Foreign Minister Alistair Burt praised the mission and said trade between Iraq and Britain has increased by 40% in the last year and is now £1 billion annually. (Now THAT, my DinarVet friends...is serious progress) During the five day visit delegates will meet Iraqi government officials and senior politicians. In the coming weeks IBBC staff will fly to Iraq to meet with members of Iraq’s National Investment Commission (NIC) to finalise details of the visit including transport and security arrangements. Baroness Nicholson said: “In trade terms this is the biggest event the IBBC has participated in and we are honoured to have the lead role.“ (Source: IBBC) ___________________________________________________________________________________ best wishes everyone crossfire

Why are we waiting on the Iraqi Dinar to RV before any other currency RV's? Why can't the Dong or any other currency RV first? What makes the Dinar so important?

Hello! You may call me INSIDER_JL! I have lurked around here for a long time now and decided I would join in on the discussions. A lot of you I feel like I already know from reading so often. I have been in this investment for about 4 years now and still eagerly waiting with the rest of you! Let's keep our fingers crossed for the upcoming weeks! It's nice to be a part of the forums here! Thanks in advanced for the welcome, Safe travels.

Living in an RV Full-Time: What You Need to Know Thinking about living the life of a nomad? Want to brave the open road in an RV? There’s a lot to love about throwing caution to the wind and exploring the world on wheels, but it’s not without its own set of complications. Before you put your house up for sale and pawn off all your worldly possessions for a mobile existence, take this guide to living in an RV into consideration. (See also: How to Travel Full-Time for $17,000 a Year (or Less!)) 1. An RV May Not Be Cheaper Than Traditional Housing Think the only costs you’ll incur living in an RV is the monthly loan payment and gas? Think again. While RV living can be less expensive than a home mortgage and the regular maintenance costs that are associated with home ownership overall, there are plenty of other costs to consider. In addition to the loan payment (unless you have the cash to buy it outright) and fuel (gas ain’t cheap these days, y’all), you’ll need to pay for insurance, site rentals if you plan to stay in an RV park (which can run $300 to $500 a month), propane and electricity (which are available at RV rental sites for an additional fee), and maintenance. Considering these costs, you’ll still be paying about the same per month as you would living in a small apartment. 2. The RV Will Require Much More Gas Than a Car Many factors play into the amount of fuel consumed by an RV — the weight of the vehicle, engine size, fuel, driving habits — but even the most frugally minded RVers can expect to pay a pretty penny keeping the RV running. Smaller RVs get about 10-15 mpg while larger RVs come in at about 6-13 mpg. Most regular RVs hold between 40 and 85 gallons of gas (depending its class), which translates to between $148.12 and $314.75 per tank, based on the current average regular unleaded gas price of $3.70. 3. RV Insurance Is Not Regular Auto Insurance Because you’ll being using your RV as a mobile home, insurance considerations are different than those associated with a regular vehicle. A specialized policy may require you to cover things like total loss replacement, replacement cost of personal belongings, full-timer liability, campsite liability, emergency expenses, medium-duty tow trucks, all of which will rack up that insurance bill quickly. 4. Can You Live Without Wi-Fi and Phone Service? While many modern RV parks and campsites have Internet access on-site, Wi-Fi may not be an option. And if you’re in a remote area, you can probably forget about cell phone service, too. You’ll be able to get online from time to time, but it may be days or even weeks between access availability. So you have to ask yourself, can you live a life without being connected 24/7? Something to ponder before embarking. 5. Where Does the Mail Carrier Deliver Your Mail? If you’re not staying in one place for more than a couple weeks, how will you get your mail? You can give your personal contacts the address of the park in which you’re staying if you plan to stay in a park, but it’s not feasible to expect your bills and other important mail to arrive at each of your destinations. Thus you’ll have to cancel most of your mail and set up online bill pay so you don’t get behind on payments because you didn’t receive them. Out of sight, out of mind is an easy way to forget about your obligations, but it’ll catch up with you in a bad way eventually. 6. You Have to Drain the Sewage Yourself One of the great things about RV traveling is that the vehicle is self-contained. You can make meals in it, you can sleep comfortably in it, and you can do your 1s and 2s in it without having to pull into a rest stop or fast-food joint. Your 1s and 2s have to go somewhere though, and that somewhere is in a septic tank attached to the underside of the vehicle that will need to be emptied — and that can get messy. If you’ve got a weak stomach, definitely think hard about this necessary evil. 7. Can You Manage All the Other Stuff, Too? RV living isn’t just driving from one location to the next, parking, and propping your feet up in nomadic bliss. There are lots of little things to remember, such as checking the battery water level monthly, lowering one corner of your awning to permit easier draining when there’s precipitation, and stocking up on rectangle storage boxes so you make efficient use of limited space. Once you arrive at the RV park, there's lots more to do, starting at the front office (requesting park maps, asking about discounts, and inquiring about Internet service), and then locating your RV space and setting up, which includes deploying decks and other heavy external features of the RV, connecting electricity, turning on water pumps, and raising roof-mounted accessories, among a host of other duties. 8. You’ll Need to Earn Money Unless you’re embarking on your RV existence with a bank account full of money, you’ll need to work along the way, so you can ensure that there’s a consistent cash flow in case of emergencies, which, in an RV, can be quite costly. If you have the luxury of working remotely in your normal life, that’s still an option while living in an RV, but chances are you’ll need at least somewhat consistent Internet access. Otherwise you’ll have to find new ways to make money — helping out at the RV park, finding odd jobs on Craigslist, and other one-off projects — to bring in dough on the regular. http://www.wisebread.com/living-in-an-rv-full-time-what-you-need-to-know