Fresh off yesterday’s story of US rice farmers being “furious” that Iraqis are buying their rice from other countries now that the US occupation is over, twelve members of Congress have fired off a letter to Iraq’s Trade Minister pressing for him to get Iraqis back on the American long-grain variety.
Rep. Ted Poe (R – TX), one of the Congressmen in question, said the Iraqis should be more grateful. “We liberated their country for one thing,” Poe insisted, adding that “we would think they would consider the United States in trade since we spent billions of dollars not only to liberate their country, but to rebuild their infrastructure.”
Interestingly, the Congressional letter makes a complaint seemingly opposite to the complaint made by American farmers yesterday. The farmers protested that Iraq’s Trade Ministry had lowered standards to the point where Uruguay and other nations suddenly had access to the market. The letter, by contrast, claims Iraq’s standards are “too high” and put American companies at a disadvantage by requiring them to bag up all the rice before they ship it out.
Iraq’s Trade Ministry has said that much of the shift is a function of the Iraqi public preferring Basmati rice, which the US doesn’t produce. There is no law keeping the US out of Iraq’s rice market, but American farmers simply aren’t growing the right kind of rice for the Iraqi dinner plate.
Rep. Ted Poe (R – TX), one of the Congressmen in question, said the Iraqis should be more grateful. “We liberated their country for one thing,” Poe insisted
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA.
Iraqis should be grateful? Like Jews should be grateful to the Nazis for solving their population problem? One and a half million Iraqis dead. A million maimed, 4 million homeless and displaced! We rebuilt their infrastructure!? After utterly destroying it (including civilian drinking water facilities and sewage treatment plants (7 times in Basra under Clinton). From uninterrupted supply of electricity pre-1991 to only 4 hours a day even in Baghdad.. From full employment to 50% unemployment! From every child attending school to half of them begging on the streets! And carnage in Fallujah that reduced its population from a quarter million to 25,000 in a span of 10 days to avenge killing of 4 mercenaries (does it remind you of Lidice, only 25 times bigger)? All because Saddam would not disarm of his WMDs? Sure, Iraqis are ungrateful, those wretches.
Guess a thank-you note from the Iraqi parliament for the selfless importation of DU dust would be in order.
Maybe they're waiting for the resultant deformities and deaths to decide how much they should pay us for these gifts…
I also wonder what became of Iraq's copyright law:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/04/29/riaas_ros…
Poe is a slow-witted statist. In DC, the quicker-witted statists already understand that Syria will soon be buying lots of American rice. Globally, the prospects for American rice appear to be unlimited.
On first reading this article, I wondered why Poe, a Texas Republican, hadn't talked to Ron Paul about this. But I realized Poe wouldn't understand a non-statist explanation.
Maybe President Obama will force the Iraqis to voluntarily buy OUR rice.
The only thing the American government and by extension it's military ever "liberates" is someone of either their treasure and/or their life. It isn't any good for anything else.
would be hilarious if the whole thing werent so damn tragic
Oh my poor farmers. Blaming the iraqis for lowering import standard. Anyone who has had a bowl of rice will say that rice produced in US is without an aorta of doubt the worst tasting.
"With less demand from overseas, prices have dropped while production costs, including for fuel, have risen." says the Time article quoted by Mr Ditz.
Why can't this be a lesson a-la-Ron-Paul? War speculation is raising fuel prices. War hype is costing rice growers in the pocket book.
We liberated Iraq, like Katrina liberated New Orleans…..
well, basmati rice is some good rice. can't say i disagree with iraqi taste on this one.
I agree, Chris. Basmati rice is the only rice I eat. (YES, I am an American).
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Poe is a slow-witted statist. In DC, the quicker-witted statists already understand that Syria will soon be buying lots of American rice.