£70 a week for taking on the oil saboteurs

[legin]

<<snip>>

Iraq's precious oil is kept flowing in these troubled times by worried men such as Nadhem Fadhel.

As it is pumped from creaking wells and carried across deserts in thousands of miles of rusted pipelines, security guards are the first line of defence against saboteurs.

Mr Fadhel, 33, is one of the 14,500 guards protecting Iraq's oil infrastructure for £70 a week.

<<snip>>

The £40 million contract to protect the Iraqi oil industry, and for hiring and training guards such as Mr Fadhel, was won by a British security firm, Erinys, founded by a former SAS officer.

(more...)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2004%2F05%2F17%2Fwirq317.xml&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=118466

[Sinistrous]

1. 40 million? How sporting of Halliburton

to toss the Poodle's pups a few lumps of kibble. Of course, trying to guard the pipelines is one of the jobs most likely to get somone killed, but what the hell.

[struggle4progress]

2. This caught my eye:

"Paul Wolfowitz, the US deputy defence secretary, told Congress last month that Iraqi oil production had reached 2.5 million barrels a day, exactly pre-war levels. Industry experts have questioned this, saying the real amount is closer to 1.5 million."

Gee, it sounds like somebody doesn't believe Paul.