How the Private Sector Affects US Foreign Policy

Iran has expressed interest in buying Boeing commercial passenger planes if the US lifts trade sanctions on the Muslim nation.  

You can bet your ass Boeing and other aircraft trade organizations are flipping through their rolodexes in search of lobbyists in Washington right about now.  

Good Move

The Czech ambassador to Russia made statements today signaling that the EU will begin looking to diversify its gas providers after the most recent dispute between Russia and Ukraine.  He also said the two nations risk losing the EU's confidence in Russia and Ukraine as political and economic partners.  

The ambassador cited the proposed Nabucco pipeline as an alternative -- a $7- to $8-billion dollar project that would bring Central Asian oil to Europe, circumventing Russia.  The project is slated to begin in 2010, though it faces some major challenges and depends on the acceptance of Turkmenistan, an uncertain partner.  

Second Attempt

Russian and Ukrainian officials have agreed to meet for talks over the ongoing gas dispute between the two nations. The meetings will be held on Saturday in Moscow, but some express grave pessimism over the outcome

"(An agreement) is practically impossible," says Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.  "The conditions laid by one and the other side are so contrasting that this simply cannot work."

Retreat!

US military and pentagon officials say they are drawing up plans to draw down troops quicker than anticipated, assuming Obama will reject current plans as too slow, reports the International Herald Tribune (IHT).

Officials with Obama say he's committed to the goals he set out in the campaign but is willing to listen to commanders on the ground and their recommendations.  

Smells Like Desperation

In a showing of just how much falling oil prices are hurting his political ambitions, hard-line anti-West, anti-capitalist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is now courting western oil companies for investment.

Western companies' -- Chevron, Royal/Dutch among them -- interest in investing in Venezuela, says the NY Times, shows the scarcity of oil projects open to investment elsewhere, principally in the Middle East.

Experts are saying that Venezuela's shrinking production capabilities became obvious even a year ago, when the government first began considering Western investment, where companies tend to have more expertise in shoring up higher production rates.

In 2007 Chavez nationalized oil fields and began kicking out Western companies -- matters that Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips have ongoing legal battles over.

Venezuela remains a risky investment and no one seems sure how the bids, expected to be finalized by June, will turn out. "An agreement on a piece of paper means nothing in Venezuela because of the way Chavez abruptly changes the rules of the game," said one anonymous Venezuelan oilman.

Cholera?

At least 27 children between the ages of one and 10 are reported dead in the Nigerian state of Ebonyi following a cholera outbreak.

This Day reports the government has been slow to act, saying they have not concluded that it is truely cholera or contaminated water.  

Tamils in Retreat

Troops in Sri Lanka claim to have taken full control of the northern peninsula that was the last hold out of the rebel Tamil Tigers in the area.  

The area, known as the Jaffa peninsula, has long been seen as a symbolic base for the rebels.  1,700 Tamil civilians in the area fled the fighting for refuge in government-held areas.