Iraq PSA

Stabilizing Iraq Petition

Stabilizing Iraq Petition

Petition

I have created a petition to stabilize Iraq, it can be found at http://www.petitiononline.com/11ababab/

Letter to a Representative

The Honorable Christopher J. Dodd
448 Russell Building | Washington D.C., 20510
United States Senate

Today, in America, we are using more oil (petroleum) than ever before, in stoves, in heaters, and most noticeably in cars, trucks, and airplanes. Our oil price is constantly rising making it harder than ever to drive to school, work, or just joy ride. Currently, approximately 73% of Americans own cars, and the number is only increasing. In Iraq, oil is constantly mismanaged, whether by the government, criminals, or gangs. There is a problem because the more oil in Iraq is mismanaged, the more it affects us here in the United States. If we can solve Iraq’s oil problems we can stabilize America’s oil crisis.
The easiest way to solver Iraq’s oil problems are to create a strong supported government for Iraq. In Iraq, there is currently fighting between three groups trying to control power, the Shiites, the Sunnis and the Kurds. With these three groups fighting the government has little control over the oil fields. Many oil reserves are targeted for bombs, others have smugglers stealing oil, with this resource being mismanaged the way it is the Iraqi government lose billions of dollars of profit each year. The fighting between these three groups in Iraq has left the government unable to regain control of its economy; oil production is unable to rise to a steady amount.
I propose to unite the Shiite, Sunni and Kurds, though this will not be easy, the benefits of uniting them are great enough to put the time, effort, and money into this cause. If the three groups are united the oil fields would be targeted less often, the Iraq could form a powerful government that would stop smuggling of oil out of Iraq, and allow Iraq’s government to profit off of all of its oil exports. The oil in Iraq could be worth up to $2.937 trillion each year. If a strong government is created, the three groups would be happier and less likely to fight (as long as they support the government). The three groups fighting are destroying Iraq, but if they got along the mismanagement of oil in Iraq would drop quickly, and the price of oil here in the United States would decrease.
You can help ensure that Shiite, Sunni, and Kurd find a way to get along and end the fighting. They may want money, oil, or something else, but it would be worth it in order to stabilize Iraq’s economy, and stop the mismanagement of oil.

Sincerely,
Eitan Gil

Abstract

The resource that I am looking at is oil in Iraq. Oil has been mismanaged, especially in Iraq, for decades and may continue to be mismanaged for many more years. Without any help from the United States government, Iraq’s oil could profit the wrong people or fall into the wrong hands.

There have been laws to restrict Iraq after the gulf war in 1991. Many of these laws were put in place to regulate Iraq’s income (which is largely based on oil exportation profits). Even with the regulations, Iraq failed to maintain records, measure the amount of oil they withdraw from the ground, and withheld information from the United Nations.

Many of these laws were put in place to ensure that Saddam Hussein or Iraq did not try to invade another country after Kuwait. The United Nations allowed Saddam to remain in control of Iraq after his defeat in the first gulf war. Many of the laws regulating oil would have helped stopped oil smuggling, and benefited the government, yet the corrupt government Iraqi government did not follow these laws.

The United States have drafted a new set of laws regarding oil which Iraq is still considering at the moment. These laws force Iraq to sell oil to America at a reasonable price, trying to weed out as much corruption and mismanagement as possible. The problem is, with the state that Iraq is in now, even should the government agree to such a proposal, the different groups that are fighting for supremacy in Iraq care little for the government.

My solution is to find a reasonable way to unite the 3 warring groups in Iraq (Sunni Shiite and Kurd) into a peaceful solution, allowing each of them to gain profit from the oil. If this does not work, America will need to find a way to switch to another energy source, removing dependency on Iraq and its oil.

Social Deviance

My group (which consisted of Jesse, Sam, Dan and me) chose to do our social deviance video on what would happen if we fell asleep at the mall. We brought an inflatable matress and a blanket and put it in the middle of Fashion Valley mall, while secretly recording people. A link to the video can be found at Sam's blog. http://sgraye.blogspot.com/2009/10/man-and-bed-sociology-experiment.html

In Defense of Food

Why do people choose to eat products that are unhealthy for them?

People choose to eat unhealthy food for two main reasons. One of them is taste, unhealthy food generally tastes good. The second reason is availability and price. Unhealthy food is almost always available at cheap prices and combined with the fact that it tastes good, many people choose to eat it.

What roles/responsibilities does the gov't have in framing your choice?

I belive that the government should be responsible for educating us on our choices in farming, what types of food to eat, etc. They should not control what food we can eat, but give us the knowledge to make those choices for ourselves. It should be our choice weather to eat genetically modified food, yet the government has to educate us about the advantages and disadvantages of eating the crop.