Most of the benchmarks set to deem the progress in Iraq have not even come close being met. Of course George thinks we are kicking ass, but there is one benchmark he cares deeply about. It has something to do with Texas Tea, Black Gold....you get the point. Well today was not a good day for our glorious leader. The latest round of talks on the Iraqi oil laws fell apart, and Bush's pals still do not have a firm system to rape Iraq of its sweet crude.
From The New York Times:
“This has been like a roller coaster,” said Mr. Salih, who is Kurdish. “There were occasions where we seemed to be there, where we seemed to have closure, only to fail at that.”
“Given the seriousness of the issue, I don’t want to create false expectations, but I can say there is serious effort to bring this to closure,” he said.
The legislation has already been presented to the Iraqi Parliament, which has been unable to take virtually any action on it for months. Contributing to the dispute is the decision by the Kurds to begin signing contracts with international oil companies before the federal law is passed. The most recent instance, announced last week on a Kurdish government Web site, was an oil exploration contract with the Hunt Oil Company of Dallas.
The Sunni Arabs who removed their support for the deal did so, in part, because of a contract the Kurdish government signed earlier with a company based in the United Arab Emirates, Dana Gas, to develop gas reserves.
All sides in Iraq continue to bicker over their piece of the pie. Yet what they might not want to mention is that there is also a specific game to be played that keeps the oil out of the hands of Multi-national Corporations that will stop at nothing to get the best deal for themselves without giving much back to the Iraqis.
Without the deal however, no one is going to make any money. As long as the Sunnis, Shias and Kurds hate each other with the passion only a civil war can produce, we aren't going to see much in the way of progress.
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