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Thursday, July 29, 2004 |
 ChevronTexaco has suffered $750 million in sabotage to its wells, pipelines, and other facilities in Nigeria since March 2003. Production losses due to an inability to safely fix sabotaged pumping stations/wells is estimated at $1 billion.
8:02:56 PM 
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Global guerrilla success in targeting "Halliburton." Meal service in the "Green Zone" is now restricted to military rations and cold cuts.
5:38:44 PM
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AT. Ehsan Ahrari see no major differences between Bush and Kerry on foreign policy/defense too.
11:53:52 AM
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As warned earlier this month on this weblog, the Yukos affair is driving oil prices to new highs. It's clear that resolution of this crisis is not on the administration's agenda. It should be.
8:53:04 AM
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Is convention emotion news? Not really. I am looking for signs that Kerry "gets it" about global guerrillas. I am not sure his team does. Who's running Kerry's defense policy? Who is in Kerry's defense policy "brain trust?" I've gotten some good pointers on this now (thanks!).
UPDATE: From everything I have seen/heard/read, Kerry's approach represents virtually zero change from the Bush policies. To the small extent there are differences, they are:
- Kerry would include more international forces in Iraq and the GWOT. This is more or less wishful thinking at this point. A new administration wouldn't make much of a difference in this area.
- Kerry would accelerate reconstruction and training in Iraq. Again, this doesn't fully appreciate the facts on the ground in Iraq that are slowing down this process.
- Kerry would (unstated) withdraw forces quickly after the Iraqi election in January. This really isn't an option given the current situation. Iraq would quickly fall into full collapse and would quickly begin export of its newly developed, world class product: global guerrillas.
Perhaps I am missing something. However, from what I have seen, Kerry's lack of new ideas (a failure of imagination) means that we are on the road for a difficult four years, regardless of who is in office.
8:32:50 AM
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The US is negotiating to launch a coastal security program for Nigeria. Wants access to bases for training and rapid deployment in case of a crisis. More "free" protection for oil companies. We need to find a way to allocate these costs so that they are incorporated into the price of oil. Currently, we spend $4-5 in naval protection for every barrel that is shipped from the Persian Gulf. Nobody pays for it but the American tax payer.
7:31:25 AM
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© Copyright 2004 John Robb.
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