New Iraqi Dinar News - Iraq Decides To Make Ethanol From Dates

One of the largest oil producing countries in the world, and they have a project to make ethanol from dates?

Huh?

One of the most oil-rich countries in the world will be making ethanol from excess dates. Iraqi government has approved a plan to produce the clean burning alernative in attempt to boost their economy.


“This project will support Iraq’s economy by encouraging farmers to expand date palms farms,” an Iraqi cabinet member said.


Prior to the US-led invasion of Iraq, the country produced more than 900,000 ton of dates per year. The country only used about 150,000 ton so the remaining was exported. However, since 2003 the market for Iraqi dates has dried up to the point where only about 350,000 ton of them are produced annually.


Iraq’s excess dates end up rotting in storage or being fed to animals. An undisclosed United Arab Emirates company has been given the rights to make the date ethanol. Exact cost estimates and projected ethanol production have not been disclosed.

Iraqi Dinar Rate - Dollar to Dinar? Coming Sooner Than You Think

About time, you should see plenty of changes...

Dollar to Dinar? Coming Sooner Than You Think

Multi-National Division Baghdad
Story by Staff Sgt. Mark BurrellDate: 07.16.2009Posted: 07.16.2009 05:41

BAGHDAD – "Can I get fifty bucks in Iraqi dinar?" That may sound like an odd request from an American Soldier at a finance office in Baghdad, but in the next few months it will be as natural as buying DVDs or energy drinks from the Iraqi shops here. However, the Army and Air Force Exchange Services run shops and the military postal services will still only accept U.S. dollars, explained Maj. Timothy Lancaster, the commander of the 208th Finance Company, 10th Sustainment Brigade Troops Battalion.

"The goal is to migrate from using primarily U.S. dollars to primarily Iraqi dinar by, Oct. 1," said Lancaster. He stressed that October isn't a deadline, but a reasonable goal.Lancaster, from Mannheim, Germany, is in charge of six finance detachments from all over the world that support finance in Multi-National Division – Baghdad."Iraq is their own country and sovereign," Lancaster added.

"Their currency is the Iraqi dinar, so we need to respect that and start adopting what we can to support them."As coalition forces have left the cities and Iraqi security forces have taken over security, Army finance is trying to transition the economy back to the shoulders of Iraqis using the dinar to lessen CF visibility here, according to Lancaster."The advantage of switching over is we inject their economy and that makes the dinar stronger," said Capt. Jason Hempstead, the 828th Financial Management Detachment commander, 208th Financial Company.

The Pennsylvania National Guard Soldiers from the 828th run the Camp Liberty Finance Office. "It helps us accomplish our mission and it helps Iraqis become more economically stable," added Hempstead, who hails from, Richmond, Va.In theory, the goal to lessen the CF footprint, help stabilize the Iraqi economy and spend more local currency in markets in Baghdad should be easy, but that isn't the case, said Lancaster."

The switch from the dollar to the dinar has been harder than expected because it's been so ingrained in Iraqi vendors," explained Lancaster. "Vendors are so used to seeing cash and U.S. dollars, there has to be a mental shift."

That shift is already starting to take place around bases in Baghdad as more and more local shop owners don't bat an eye when asked if they take dinar, said Lancaster."It shouldn't be a problem, the vendors usually accept local currency," added Hempstead.Though many Soldiers come in to request money from their Eagle Cash card, the need for U.S. currency is mostly coming from paying agents that pay their contractors, added Hempstead."We issued about four million U.S. dollars from this office last month," said 1st Lt. Donald Warren, a disbursing agent from, Indiana, Pa., assigned to the 828th Financial Management Detachment. "

But for every day operations, we have both types of currency to fulfill the need for the mission."In the market, the price of the Iraqi dinar fluctuates daily, but for the past seven months the military exchange rate has held at 1,170 Iraqi dinars to one U.S. dollar, explained Lancaster. Differences in on base and off base exchange rates can lead to black market currency prices and fear of counterfeit currency coming into circulation."

We have guaranteed currency from trusted sources, like the National Bank of Iraq, so it's safe to get your dinar from our finance offices," said Lancaster. There are also security measures that Lancaster's offices take that check for watermarks among other things.Using the dinar will also cut out steep costs of transitioning cash from the United States to Iraq with Soldiers carrying it every step of the way, added Lancaster."

Is it a simple flip of a switch? No, it really isn't," said Lancaster. "We will always be here for the Soldiers, but we want the banks here to do the banking for the Iraqis."As word spreads and more Soldiers start to take advantage of the dinar, the easier it will be to transition out of Iraq when the time comes, the easier it will be to get a better deal on those DVDs and energy drinks at the markets.

Bring Home Dollars from Oil Rich Iraq

Should Iraqi Oil money be used to pay back the US for blood and treasure spilt on Iraqi sands?

Since OIL MONEY returned to Iraq, following its flow has been an exercise in frustration. Those plentiful dinars were supposed to bring succor to Iraqis weary of war and deprivation, and were promised to ease the strain on the U.S. pocketbook.

The money has done neither.

Whether siphoned off the pipelines, shoved deep in a pocket or sliced off the top, billions of dollars that were supposed to rebuild Iraq have simply disappeared.

In their place, America has been forced to prop up Iraq and its government with billions of dollars that could have - and should have - been spent on pressing needs closer to home.
Sen. John Warner wants to know why. With Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, he has sent a letter to the top official at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, asking where all the money has gone.

Corruption in Iraq is nothing new. Neither is poverty.

But at a time when Americans are paying $3.25 for a gallon of gas, when oil is at the record price of $108 a barrel, patience with Iraq's oil accounting problems has grown vanishingly thin.
It grows thinner with news that the country's oil revenues were over $41 billion last year, and are on track to reach $56 billion this year, or that U.S. expenditures in Iraq total more than $200 million each and every day.

"In fact," reads the letter, "we believe that it has been overwhelmingly U.S. taxpayer money that has funded Iraq reconstruction over the last five years, despite Iraq earning billions of dollars in oil revenue over that time period that have ended up in non-Iraqi banks.... (T)he Iraqi Government is not doing nearly enough to provide essential services and improve the quality of life of its citizens."