In Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraqis paid first wages since war in BBC: War in Iraq
The silencing of dissent on graduation day (22 May 03) in Radio Free USA
Iraq Oil Output Predicted To Double Soon: "This from ABC News (US) :
The acting oil minister of postwar Iraq predicted Saturday that crude production would double within a month and oil exports would resume "within three weeks.""
Thamer al-Ghadhban said Iraq was currently producing 700,000 barrels of oil a day and working hard under U.S. occupation to increase that number as quickly as possible.
"It is a matter of a few weeks, and we can reach 1.3 or 1.5 million barrels a day," al-Ghadhban said at a coalition-sponsored news conference in the capital. Prewar production under Saddam Hussein was about 3 million barrels daily.
In Command Post: Irak
Iraq Liquor Trade Becomes Casualty Of Chaos: "Democracy! Whiskey! Sexy! The New York Times reports that:
Mr. Hussein shuttered Basra's dance halls and bars in the early 1990's, though he allowed the minority Christian population to keep their liquor stores open under government oversight. Since his fall, however, the owners of the liquor outlets have seen their livelihoods victimized by a series of attacks on the alcohol industry.WHAT?! I don't know how y'all feel, but for me, this may be the most compelling reason to fear a non-secular majority government in Iraq. And I KNOW how Michele feels about her margaritas ..."
One store owner recently had a firebomb thrown into his shop. At least two others have been shot dead and several have received warnings from armed men that the new Iraq does not allow alcohol.
In Command Post: Irak
