Oil does matter

Oil does matter in Iraq. We may forget that, as the press seems to – or perhaps the national media just think discussion of oil in Iraq to be some kind of unseemly Marxist ranting. But stuff is happening in Iraq that has to do with oil, and it seems to be critical even if it is below the radar.

This is a must-see review of what has been happening on this front. It seems to be very factual and straightforward. In particular, Iraqis of all stripes, in and out of the government, seem to be united in opposing the U.S.-created “Hydrocarbon Law.” Via so-called Production Sharing Agreements normally justified by extreme difficulty in getting to the oil -- i.e., high reward incentive to undertake highly risky investment -- the current draft of the law, done in the U.S. with oil company participation and without Iraqi involvement, would dictate long-term control of the Iraqi oil fields by foreign corporations far beyond anything necessary to jump-start the industry. In Iraq it seems, you more or less dig a hole and up it comes.

It gives a whole new slant on what Bush and Cheney are up to there. But then, it seems the Democrats in Congress approved it as well. It reminds me of Nicholson's line in "Chinatown": Why was he fascinated with the place? "You never know what's really going on."