More proof how the Iraq war was a trillion dollar failure.
44
Affectionate-Act61273 days ago
+17
Excuse you.
You misspelled fivetrillion.
17
AOFSI_GlennGaffney2 days ago
+8
More like a trillion dollar WIN for the contractors and special interest groups.
8
Ready_Data52062 days ago
+2
For sure for sure
2
Specialist-Garbage943 days ago
+6
Good thing we got their WMDs though /s
6
comeonbjxgo3 days ago
-11
It actually isn’t a failure..but of course you just read headlines so not worth explaining the success Iraqi democracy has been and how it is light years better than the dictatorship under Saddam. Why Listnook wants people in developing countries to live in dictatorships is baffling
-11
Ready_Data52063 days ago
+12
Having elections doesn't equate to a democracy. Iraq is a place with no constitutionalism, no rule of law, no human rights.
Oh by the way, the biggest supporter of dictatorships in the Mideast is the US. Even Saddam Hussein was not a problem for America as long as he was working on American interests.
12
wanderlustcub3 days ago
The U.S. literally wants to put the Shah’s son back on the throne in Iran.
Because the U.S. is all about restoring Monarchy to the world.
0
wanderlustcub3 days ago
+4
Wait wait,
We did not go into Iraq for some noble purpose of taking out a dictator out of the goodness of our hearts and for the sake of world Democracy.
And it wasn’t to stop “Weapons of mass destruction”
We went in to secure oil and took advantage of the goodwill and unity of Americans post 9/11. We almost lost the country to civil war and the current “Democracy” in Iraq looks much the same as before - with the exception of a clear dictator.
The party in power still limits freedoms and rights when they want to.
Remember, taking Saddam out just helped with the propaganda.
4
comeonbjxgo3 days ago
-3
Still light years better and freer by leaps and bounds compared to life under Saddam. Also democracy takes time to flourish. It isn’t an overnight process. It isn’t even perfect in the West yet you expect perfection overnight. Keep on simping for brutal dictators
-3
isthereadrwho3 days ago
+7
So you didn't plan for terrorist attacks either? Did y'all even have a single conversation about possible consequences?
7
Unlikely_Tax_11113 days ago
+8
Dang where can I get this shipment? Would be nice to not have any worries, you know especially since its our tax money
8
jews4beer3 days ago
+20
>The cash is generated from Iraq's oil revenues and routed through the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to the Central Bank of Iraq, under a complex system in place since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of the country.
It's not your tax money.
20
Fumquat3 days ago
+5
This is where I’m confused.
Did the US stop sending physical cash notes, leaving Iraqi businesses stuck doing credit and e-transactions, but no net effect on their money supply? How would this be impactful against the problem of some Iraqis siding with Iran?
Did the US stop a flow of money to Iraq that happened to be offset by Iraqi oil revenues, basically pulling out of an agreement made in the past? If so what else was tied to it and how is this helping?
Or did the US stop sending Iraq money they were literally owed in exchange for oil? In which case this is just another, “haha we don’t pay our bills” moment for the Trump administration?
5
Holiday-Energy12483 days ago
+1
Last statement. And yes it's a confusing way of applying pressure.
1
son_et_lumiere3 days ago
+4
No, you see, I am entitled right-wing American. I believe everything is mine and nothing is yours. I built this whole world myself, and every other lazy person did nothing and deserves nothing.
4
Obvious-Science-71193 days ago
-1
But we do give the Iraqi's money
-1
jews4beer3 days ago
+7
Okay, maybe? I actually don't know. But that doesn't change that OC was wrong about saying "but my tax dollars" for this.
7
Potential-Field-61323 days ago
+1
we give iraq iraqs money that they earn while pumping oil.
1
Obvious-Science-71193 days ago
+2
We give them straight up USD out of our own pockets
Edit: to be clear, like the other guy said. It's doesn't matter to the original comment. Just clarifying that we pay Iraqi's
2
Potential-Field-61323 days ago
+1
no we dont...not out of our own pockets....its their money that goes through our country so we can take a cut. are you not following any of this? its not hard to get accurate informaion.
1
Obvious-Science-71193 days ago
+2
Clearly it is
2
Potential-Field-61323 days ago
+1
Clearly you can’t admit when you are incorrect about something. Not out of our pockets.
1
Obvious-Science-71193 days ago
+1
Because I've seen it. Sorry you're ignorant.
1
ObjectOfMyEffection3 days ago
+8
You didn't get your $5k, $6k or $7k refund?
8
Shoddy-Solution48153 days ago
+4
Oh good, another crack in the petrodollar system. I’m starting to think Trump isn’t a Russian puppet, he’s a Chinese one.
4
AggravatingJudge70923 days ago
+2
No petrodollar also benefits Russia which previously had been barred from settling transactions in dollars and also had 300 billion dollars of its foreign reserves frozen
2
Shoddy-Solution48153 days ago
True, but there will never be a petroruble… the petroyuan is growing
0
ProteinFarts_3 days ago
+1
There will also never be a petroyuan. China's economy is not currently setup to be a reserve currency - they devalue their currency to make exporting more attractive. The increased demand from a petroyuan would raise the value of the yuan and shift then into an import economy, which the CCP absolutely does not want. So, there will never be a petroyuan. Maybe something like a petrobitcoin would work though.
1
Shoddy-Solution48153 days ago
+2
They’re already settling contracts in yuan and Dubai is threatening to increase their use of it. Is it a bluff to get concessions out of the US? Probably. Doesn’t mean it isn’t a risk to be taken seriously.
Petrobitcoin is an even more remote possibility. Too volatile.
2
ProteinFarts_3 days ago
They are not settling contracts in yuan, other than those contracts that they were settling in yuan with China prior. They initially threatened to use yuan exclusively but backed off that within a week and migrated to bitcoin or USDT instead.
Seriously, China's economy cannot support the use on yuan to settle all Iranian oil trades. It would destroy their export based economy. All world reserve currencies have transformed the issuer into an import service based economy, until the world moves to a new currency.
They can threaten all they want but China will step in.
0
Torodong2 days ago
-2
Did you miss the news that UAE is negotiating with Beijing on selling oil in Yuan because the USA is no longer trustworthy?
The petroyuan and petroeuro are weeks away. The UK and Europe have agreed a Eurocentric payment mechanism.
That, combined with the decline in fossil fuel consumption thanks to renewables (dominated by China) means the USA is toast.
I reckon the USA will be in a depression by November and the rest of the world won't.
-2
ProteinFarts_2 days ago
The petroeuro is reasonable, but increased demand for the yuan will destroy China's economy. They literally cannot support that without 50 years of additional economic planning and turn around. The UAE may be seeking new partners due to the US' failure to protect them and the pressure from Iran, but that doesn't mean it will happen.
You can be as anti-US as you want, and anti petrodollar as you want, but the yuan is not a suitable candidate for a reserve currency, nor does China want it to be. A different chinese denominated currency would better fit the bill, one that they would have to create (probably backed by gold) that would allow them to move away from the petrodollar without destroying their society.
0
Torodong2 days ago
+1
How is the US any better placed? Crushing debt, chronic fiscal mismanagement and a new Fed chair who's yet another mouth-breathing halfwit Trump appointee. China has been sneakily dumping US treasuries and building a mountain of gold for almost a decade.
Half the CCP central committee have PhDs. This, surely, is the Chinese endgame.
1
ProteinFarts_2 days ago
+1
China would like to see the end of the petrodollar given a reasonable alternative is available, because it would mean decreased military spending and less effective sanctions by the US. But, it will not nominate the yuan to fill it's place. China is an export economy and reserve currencies always transform the lending country into an import economy on virtue of the increased demand for the currency - it becomes much cheaper to import goods than it is to manufacture them at home. China is the world's manufacturer and they spent the last 100 years working to that. Electing to be the world's world reserve currency would undo all their societal progress. They are simply not prepared for a petroyuan, it would launch them into a recession/depression that would take another 100 years to get out of and would render the country instable in a way that is incompatible to be a reserve currency.
The US is absolutely better placed to be the petrodollar and world reserve currency, even with the crushing debt and poor leadership. Largely by virtue of the rest of the world investing in ways that make their currencies unacceptable alternatives. It's kind of the best of the worst situation.
What we will likely see happen is a gradual decline of the world's reliance on dollars over the next decade and another currency moving to fill the role, similar to how the british pound was slowly marginalized. It could be bitcoin, it could be the euro, it could be a BRICs denominated currency, it could be a freshly minted Chinese currency. Likely it will be a combination. But it won't be the yuan.
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