Monday, February 07, 2005

Good news from Iraq!

Iraq expects to restart its northern oil export pipeline in five or six days, ending a stoppage of more than seven weeks because of sabotage attacks, an Iraqi oil official said on Monday....

Exports have been idle since Dec. 18, when saboteurs blew up a section of the pipeline, which runs from the Kirkuk oilfields to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan...


--Daily Star (Lebanon)

... Er, maybe not:

A pipeline carrying crude oil from Iraq's northern Kirkuk hub to the key refinery of Baiji was attacked Monday, an official from the North Oil Company said.

"Preliminary reports indicate that a rocket was fired at a cluster of pipelines near Al-Fatha, just on the edge of the Tigris river," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"This 16-inch pipeline was already sabotaged three weeks ago and is crucial in providing the oil needed for the Baiji refinery," itself key to much of Baghdad's power supply, the source said....


--AFP/Turkish Press

Here's the map. The pipeline to Turkey runs through Baiji.

And, of course, people are still getting killed, just like before January 30.

But hey -- according to CENTCOM, 49 Iraqis just graduated from highway patrol school!

Tasked with providing law enforcement and security along Iraq’s highways and major roadways, the IHP [Iraqi Highway Patrol] will also respond to incidents involving anti-Iraqi forces, foreign terrorists, car bombs and attacks on convoys.

Hey, and do you know how long they train you before CENTCOM declares you ready to take on those tasks?

Three weeks.

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