(U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Ahmed Chalabi)
There are some interesting strategic advisory firms out there — Kissinger McLarty Associates, The Albright Group LLC, The Scowcroft Group, The Ashcroft Group LLC, Wesley K. Clark & Associates — and others that as part of their portfolio of services offer “risk analyses” of foreign market and investment conditions.
Well, here’s a call for any of these firms to outsource to TWN an assessment of Iraq: BAD DEAL under current conditions.
This just in from AP:
Dozens of heavily armed attackers raided an open air market Monday in a tense town south of Baghdad, killing at least 41 people and wounding 42, police and hospital officials said.
The article goes on to note that U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez was in Baghdad at the time:
The attack occurred as U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez arrived in the Iraqi capital for meetings aimed at jump-starting Iraq’s economy. Gutierrez signed an agreement with the Iraqis to encourage foreign investment, acknowledging that the country’s deteriorating security made that goal a challenge.
As my friend and colleague Jim Pinkerton noted in an email to TWN this morning, this belongs on something like “UNDERSTATEMENT WATCH.”
— Steve Clemons
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