…a principle is being established that does great credit to the Iraqis who signed it and to the coalition forces that made it possible. If it were not for the general American feeling that oil is a substance too dirty even to be mentioned in polite society, this consideration might even influence the current debate about an “exit strategy.” One would like to know, of those who advocate leaving Iraq, whether they are happy to abandon the control of its fabulous wealth to be parceled out between the highest or most ruthless bidders…
It’s not actually law yet, as the hydrocarbon law has been passed by the Council of Ministers but not yet by the Iraqi Parliament. The Maliki government set for itself a deadline of May 31 to complete the Parliamentary approval, so keep a sharp eye on the calendar.
I’ve long considered this the litmus test for the elected government. This law is the foundation of a federal Iraq — if the law goes on the rocks in Parliament I would suggest preparing the lifeboats.
The recent hydrocarbon law, approved after much wrangling by Iraq’s council of ministers, deserves a great deal more praise than it has been receiving. For one thing, it abolishes the economic rationale for dictatorship in Iraq. For another, it was arrived at by a process of parley and bargain that, while still in its infancy, demonstrates the possibility of a cooperative future. For still another, it shames the oil policy of Iraq’s neighbors and reinforces the idea that a democracy in Baghdad could still teach a few regional lessons.
To illustrate my point by contrast: Can you easily imagine the Saudi government allocating oil revenues so as to give a fair share to the ground-down and despised Shiite workers who toil, for the most part, in the oil fields of the eastern region of the country?* Or picture the Shiite dictatorship in Iran giving a fair shake to the Arab-speaking area of Khuzestan, let alone to the 10 percent of Iranians who are both Sunni and Kurdish? To ask these questions is to answer them. Control over the production and distribution of oil is the decisive factor in defining who rules whom in the Middle East…
Dear Sir:
The “Hydrocarbon Law” will make available to Exxon/Mobil, Chevron/Texaco, BP/Amoco, and Royal Dutch/Shell about 4/5’s of the petroleum reserves in Iraq. The Iraqi people get to share the rest.
Michael,
The Hydrocarbon Law will allow foreign investors to both contribute advanced technology and to invest badly needed foreign capital. Both are essential to bringing Iraq into the modern world of rapidly growing wealth [i.e., GDP per capita; i.e., growing personal wealth for every Iraqi].
If you mean to imply that foreign oil companies will be able to steal Iraqi oil reserves then I confess I don’t know what you are talking about. That sounds like the familiar left-wing “the Iraq war was all about oil”.