BIG WAVE
06-22-2006, 03:10 PM
Analysis
The big question for the Kurds in Iraq is the division of oil revenues -- a subject that has remained on the back burner while the insurgency has absorbed the country's attention. While Sunni and Shiite factions in Iraq have been embroiled in internal disputes over how to proceed with a shaky political arrangement, the Kurds have stayed out of the fray and remain focused on preserving their oil rights.
The Kurds face a growing dilemma as the political process moves forward in Baghdad. Any political arrangement by the Sunnis, Shia and Kurds ultimately will revolve around power and money. Momentum toward such an arrangement, which advanced considerably following the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is what will enable the United States to set a timetable for withdrawing from Iraq. Both the Sunnis and the Shia must bring something tangible to the table in order for the insurgency to be reduced. For the Sunnis, this means containing the insurgency, while the Shia must rein in the militias.
http://www.kurdmedia.com/pix/iraq_map_oil.jpg
Oil is money, and money is power. In the case of Iraq, the entire notion of a federal Iraqi republic rests on the question of whether the country's oil revenues can be equitably divvied up, and the complications surrounding this question are piling up by the day.
http://www.kurdmedia.com/news.asp?id=12693
The big question for the Kurds in Iraq is the division of oil revenues -- a subject that has remained on the back burner while the insurgency has absorbed the country's attention. While Sunni and Shiite factions in Iraq have been embroiled in internal disputes over how to proceed with a shaky political arrangement, the Kurds have stayed out of the fray and remain focused on preserving their oil rights.
The Kurds face a growing dilemma as the political process moves forward in Baghdad. Any political arrangement by the Sunnis, Shia and Kurds ultimately will revolve around power and money. Momentum toward such an arrangement, which advanced considerably following the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is what will enable the United States to set a timetable for withdrawing from Iraq. Both the Sunnis and the Shia must bring something tangible to the table in order for the insurgency to be reduced. For the Sunnis, this means containing the insurgency, while the Shia must rein in the militias.
http://www.kurdmedia.com/pix/iraq_map_oil.jpg
Oil is money, and money is power. In the case of Iraq, the entire notion of a federal Iraqi republic rests on the question of whether the country's oil revenues can be equitably divvied up, and the complications surrounding this question are piling up by the day.
http://www.kurdmedia.com/news.asp?id=12693