Iraq may be a democratic country in theory but it certainly isn't quick on the political front, especially when it comes to passing a long-delayed hydrocarbon law. Cole, a professor of history at the University of Michigan, described Iraqi politics as anything but stable.
"I wouldn't hold my breath on getting anything accomplished on the oil law," he said.
Maliki may be able to use his hard-ball tactics in an effort to get his way on things like the federal budget, but that doesn't necessarily equate to widespread political influence across the rest of the country, said Cole.
Kurdish leaders objected profusely when it looked like Exxon Mobil would be left out of Iraq's upcoming fourth international auction because of its contracts with the semiautonomous Kurdish government. Deputy Prime Minister Rowsch Nuri Shaways, a lawmaker from the Kurdistan Democratic Party, complained, in a statement, that Baghdad was somehow opposed to "economic openness" and the "promotion of trade." Baghdad protests that any unilateral deals with the Kurdish government are illegal, though Cole said there isn't much that the central government can do about it. LINK
O my poor Kingdom, Sick with civil blows Peopled with WOLVES, Thy old inhabitants...
3/11/2012
Iraq, Oil And Politics
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Sorry but I have to question the educated Mr. Juan Cole.
ReplyDeleteThe Kurds have been making oil deals for some time. They had an oil deal with the Hunt Bros. from texas years ago.
Israel has had ties with the Kurds.
Iraq will align with Iran, while the Kurds run to the West to form their own Kurdistan.
This will not pleas Iraq, Iran, or Turkey.
This is not a matter of if, but when.