former Energy Analyst, US State Department
Manager of Oil Intelligence for PFC Energy consultants in Washington, DC; former energy analyst with the US State Department (2003)
PROFILE
David Kirsch
Guest
FROM David Kirsch
To the Point
Was the Iraq War about Oil after All? Iraq has the fourth largest known oil reserves in the world. Big western oil companies were in charge of development until 1972, when Saddam Hussein seized their assets and threw them out of the country. Now, 36 years later, the big Western oil companies are coming back. The Maliki government has agreed to sign no-bid service contracts with ExxonMobile, Chevron, British Petroleum, Dutch Shell and the French company, Total, providing a long-term advantage when production increases. Companies from Russia, China and India are not in on the deal. Can the Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites agree on sharing the proceeds? Will US troops be required to maintain security?
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To the Point
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
To the Point
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.
To the Point
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?