Military Targets Illegal Gas Sales in Iraq- (Wash. Times)

[chlamor]

My Comment: Propaganda 365- This is for the advanced students of PR mania. Just another "unexpected problem" that comes with genocide. The result of... well you know the rest.


Military targets illegal gas sales
By David Axe
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

QAYYARAH, Iraq -- U.S. forces are cracking down on an unexpected problem in this oil-rich country -- gasoline bootlegging.
    On any day in many Iraqi cities, men with plastic containers full of gas line the roads outside gas stations, offering the same product for a much higher price but faster. Motorists pull up, hand a wad of dinars out the window, and wait as the bootlegger fills the tank using a funnel and a hose.
    Filling your tank illegally takes only minutes, but costs as much as 8,000 dinars ($5.50), whereas a legal tank of gas might cost half as much, but requires hours of waiting in lines that stretch as long as a half-mile.
    Long lines at an inadequate number of gas stations -- a result of decades of underinvestment by dictator Saddam Hussein's government -- have given rise to thousands of illicit gas stands.
    In Nineveh and Diyala provinces, U.S. troops are shutting down bootleggers and giving their gas away for free in an effort to control the price of gasoline, protect the livelihoods of gas-station owners and employees, and in the long term, reduce the wait and encourage investment in gas distribution.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20050419-094752-2752r

[bemildred]

1. Well, I'm certainly glad we have the spare troops. nt

[htuttle]

2. LOL! Is that a mob taking out the competition, or the US military?

You know, in America it's generally accepted that convenience and saving time is worth money. When someone sells a product or service in a way that's more convenient for the customer, one would expect they would charge more for that.

The business that satisfies the consumer's needs best is the one that thrives and grows, right? Isn't that how Kapitalism is supposed to work?

But this 'crackdown' is nothing more than one gang taking out the independent retailers. Who owns those gas stations that the US military is trying to protect? Who has the contracts to distribute to them? I recall reading that part of the economic plans for Iraq were to privatize virtually everything (with as much as possible ending up in US corporate hands). So who bought the gas stations (or their distributors)?

It must be important for the US military to make unlicensed gasoline sales a priority right now, what with being busy with training the New Iraqi Army, dodging mortars and IEDs, and building Democracy™ and all... :eyes:

[movonne]

3. Small business at work...have to make a living somehow...

[bushisanidiot]

4. So now the U.S. is ANTI CAPITALIST?

pick a side and stick with it, President NOSEPICKER!

[alcuno]

5. The US military is used to police gas bootlegging in a foreign country?

Its purpose is to protect and defend the United States of America. What an absolute disgrace.

[saigon68]

13. They are there to make profits for the Bush Criminals

This is just another phase of the rape of Iraq. Carried out by 18 year old "troops" from Compton, Watts and Lexington KY.

[Wilms]

6. "decades of underinvestment by dictator Saddam Hussein's"

That's right. 12 years of sanctions punished Hussein, not the Iraqi people.

:eyes:

[flaminbats]

7. So Iraqi gasoline can only be sold now with governmental approval?

I suppose a bootlegger is any person selling gasoline without first contributing to the RNC..:smoke:

[grytpype]

8. what happened to the FREE MARKET??????

Does the Club for Growth know about this????

[ConcernedCanuk]

9. OMG - they're charging almost 30 cents a gallon then !!

.
.
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From the article:

Spc. Harvey Blankenship, 22, checked the price of a gallon of unleaded at the Qayyarah station: 200 dinars (14 cents).

now THAT should get the Murikkan sheeples pissed!

So, question is

Is America fueling it's war machine at the American price of over 2 bucks a gallon - ?

or are they having a "discount" - priced war at 14 cents a gallon -

hmmmm

and Americans giving gas away for free ??

I doubt that that is the whole story - -

[chlamor]

10. 7.5 Billion Gallons of Fuel

requisitioned for this years operation (genocide-globalizing conquest) in Iraq for US military.

Abrams tank comes in at a sleek 4 Gallons per Mile. Not a misprint.

[daleo]

11. Why is this even illegal?

It sounds like free enterprise to me. Bush ought to be touting it as a shining example of all the good the invasion has done in "transforming Iraqi culture".

[thebigidea]

12. yeah, he could crow on and on about "creating jobs"