U.S. Drilling Companies Stand to Earn Billions in Iraq Oil Deals
A group of U.S. drilling companies, including Halliburton, stand to make tens of billions of dollars in Iraq under new oil deals. International oil companies have signed contracts with four largely American oil service companies to drill for oil and build wells. The four companies are Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Weatherford International and Schlumberger.
U.S. Mayors Set to Approve Resolution Calling for End to Iraq, Afghanistan Wars
Mayors from cities across the United States are expected to approve a resolution today calling on Congress to end funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and to spend the money at home instead. A group of nine mayors signed off on the resolution on Friday. The resolution states, “The United States Conference of Mayors calls on the U.S. Congress to bring these war dollars home to meet vital human needs, promote job creation, rebuild our infrastructure, aid municipal and state governments, and develop a new economy based upon renewable, sustainable energy.”
New York Times Reporter Alleges Obama Government Harassment, Surveillance
A New York Times reporter who helped uncover the Bush administration’s secret domestic spying program says he continues to face government surveillance and harassment under President Obama. In a new affidavit, James Risen says government monitoring of his incoming and outgoing phone calls has carried over from the Bush years. Risen has been subpoenaed twice to reveal his sources for a 2006 book on the CIA, in which he detailed the CIA’s role in disrupting Iran’s nuclear program. Risen writes: “I believe that the efforts to target me have continued under the Obama administration, which has been aggressively investigating whistleblowers and reporters in a way that will have a chilling effect on freedom of the press in the United States.”