Striking Iraqi Pipeline Workers Surrounded By Troops - Al Maliki Threatens "Iron Fist" Response

[hatrack]

The Iraqi military has surrounded striking oil workers in southern Iraq, labor organizers report, as the workers’ remained defiant in their action to block strategic pipelines near Basra. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed a harsh response as the shutdown’s effects begin to ripple through Iraqi markets, and at least one neighboring province braces for worsening fuel shortages.

Prime Minister Maliki has ordered the arrest of union leaders, UPI reports, citing the British-based Naftana, an activist organization that supports the union’s demands. Hasan Juma' Awad, the head of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, said that no arrests have been made, communicating with UPI via mobile phone, but that the Iraqi security forces were present and had informed him that they would be the ones making any arrests.

The arrest warrant reportedly accuses the union organizers of "sabotaging the economy," and Maliki said that an "iron fist" would brought against those who interfered with Iraq’s petroleum trade, UPI reports, citing Naftana.

The strike began Monday with the Iraqi Pipelines Union, which organizes workers who transport petroleum products via Iraq’s pipeline system, targeting pipelines that deliver refined products to Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq.

EDIT

http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/3122/Pipeline_Strike_Reaching_Crisis_Point

[phantom power]

1. How dare those selfish Iraqis interrupt the flow of oil into my Volvo?

[hatrack]

2. I couldn't help thinking: we paid $1 trillion for THIS?!?

:wtf:

[phantom power]

5. A trillion and counting. Didn't take them long to run out of roses and confetti, did it.

[fasttense]

3. Forcing "free trade" onto workers

one Union at a time.

[shain from kane]

4. Does Iraq have a Posse Comitatus Act?

"The Posse Comitatus Act is a United States federal law (18 U.S.C. § 1385) passed on June 16, 1878 after the end of Reconstruction. The Act was intended to prohibit Federal troops from supervising elections in former Confederate states. It generally prohibits Federal military personnel and units of the United States National Guard under Federal authority from acting in a law enforcement capacity within the United States, except where expressly authorized by the Constitution or Congress. The Posse Comitatus Act and the Insurrection Act substantially limit the powers of the Federal government to use the military for law enforcement."

[sinkingfeeling]

6. Ain't freedom grand? I bet those Iraqi union workers thought they were in a democracy because

Dim Son keeps saying that.