One should not expect a deal anytime soon, certainly not by September, as Brian Ross outlines.
I think some readers confuse, or deliberately conflate U.S. "national interests" with profiteering corporate interests. They are not one and the same. To date, nearly $1 trillion in blood and treasure has been appropriated to execute Bush Executive Order: 13303. The consensus among loyal patriots holds this enterprise is not, and never has been in the national interest.

Further, a full reading shows the Iraqi parliament and their constituenicies balk as they come to understand what lies ahead. Even if the three provinces agree to split oil revenues equitably, this amounts to a meager 2.3 cents for each dollar of revenue generated. U.S. oil companies take 93 percent of the revenue and leave the Iraqis fighting over pennies.

It is logical to assume this corporate racket and the prospect of indefinite occupation is what fuels Iraqi resistance. Reason dictates it is time for U.S. forces to be withdrawn from an increasingly untenable situation.

The proposed Iraqi oil law will give 70% to 80% of oil revenue to American and British oil companies for a period of thirty years. Why is this feature of the law never mentioned by the MSM? The Iraqis get to "share" the rest. Bush does not want to leave Iraq until this sweet deal is signed for his big oil cronies. Every American soldier dying now is doing so for big oil companies and no other reason.

Bush admitted in a speech less than a year ago that we are there for the oil. I couldn't believe he made that statement. The mass media didn't bother to follow up on this admission. By locking down the Iraqi oil fields Cheney and buddies can keep the price of oil high. So we're not there to make sure we keep gasoline prices down. We're there so Cheney and buddies can keep oil prices sky high and the profits soaring.

The Iraqis may be divided over how to tun their country, but they are not stupid and will not simply hand over their major source of national wealth to BushCo blessed Western oil companies.

And good for them and their nation's future.

Every time I hear an MCM* pundit or politician speak of the importance of agreening to the oil "distribution" law the maladministration thinks is so vital, I ask--from whose perspective is it important? BushCo's? Big Oil's? Maliki's desire to stay in power? Not the Iraqis' benefit.

*MCM--Mainstream Corporate Media

I fear for all of you folks posting here. Some simply are ill informed, or hate USA political scenes, however blight it may be. Most forget 9/11, and fact you are infidels, and the AQ guys want to kill you and me for enjoying the American dream.

As we speak, the Kurds to the north, the most stable providences of Iraq, has production sharing contracts with Norwegian oil/gas company. They have drilled 3 wells so far, all good producers. They are trucking the oil out now, since can not hook up to a major processing facility or pipeline. Bet their oil is worth more than $74/barrel!

In the south, SW of Badghad, a small non-USA indepedent company is active there, to restore oil production in those fields.

Hey Jawbone, it is confused citizens like you we fear.

Reason 1: The mass media propaganda still has millions of citizens like you still believing Iraq is connected with the 9/11 attacks and Bin Laden. WRONG!

Reason 2: Extreme Islamic terrorist groups that call us "infidels" do not want to kill us because of our "freedoms", they want to attack us to change the historical and continuing US foreign policies that benefit the "west" and hurts the majority of the average middle eastern muslim populations.

You should not refer to this as: "...a law to divide oil revenues equitably among the provinces..." You should refer to it as "The attempt to steal 80% of Iraq's oil for US oil companies for the next 35 years!"

Iraq better not let us broker this oil deal. And you think they hate us now? This will ensure many decades of Iraq instability and revenge on us for our oil heist. Just as we did to Iran in 1953, and look how nicely our relationship turned out.

The US started planning for this back in Feb 2001 with Cheney's Energy Task Force. Cheney and PNAC had it planned out for many years. Thanks to the corporate media many Americans are suprised to hear about this.

Oil oil oil. There is no way we are there for a small group of people to get rich. Oil is linked to the value of the American dollar. If America does not control a portion of the oil, it risks the oil being valued on another currency. If the oil is priced using another currency (other then the US dollar) the US dollar will crash. Does anyone understand this?

I never thought it would come to this, the United States, invading, occupying and stealing oil from a sovereign country. Since we are suppossed to be a free market country, why can't we just buy oil on the world markets like everyone else and pay for the oil they will sell us? We are not free marketers we are simply economic imperialists who will use our power to gain resources.

It is true that this power grab for oil has everything to do with propping up the U.S. Dollar. Has anyone noticed how weak the U.S. Dollar has been lately? If we didn't have Iraq's huge oil reserves under our control, the U.S. Dollar would be significantly weaker. We are there to control the oil and keep our Dollar from crashing and devaluing.

We are acting like a big bully in a schoolyard. Shame on Bush and the rest of our "leaders", including the Democrats, who refuse to set us on a new course of action. We need leadership to find alternatives to oil to end this madness in the Middle East. But the Republicans and Democrats alike seem to only care about short term monetary interests, like controlling oil to make obscene profits. Yes, the new Iraqi Oil Sharing law will give mutinationals, mainly American oil companies, highly unusual amounts of the oil revenues via the PSAs, up to 75%. That is what the Iraq War is about in a nutshell, and it has been planned ever since Bush decided to run for President. He told his biographer in 1999 that he intended to invade Iraq. The Cheney Energy Task Force was just the planning meeting to work out the logistics of the invasion. The 9/11 attacks were the convient excuse to put those plans into motion. What a con game!

df. You are like Ralph Cramdon, YOU ARE The Greatest. Both Iraq and Iran are interested in selling for Euros, which are backed by Gold. Our money, that is backed by The Federal Reserve Notes, which is known as Fiat Currency (Backed by nothing), just hot air. When the World starts selling their oil for the Euro, instead of our counterfeit money it will cause the collapse of Our American Empire.
President Kennedy and (www 11110) will further explain our problem.

Impeach Bush and Cheney

Now there's a clear thinking chickenhawk. Let's fight in Iraq to save the dollar, cuz our economy is going in the dumper. If Bush would just tell the truth and say the same thing.

Remember this, 14 of the 19, 911 high jackers were Saudi Arabians. Although Saudi Arabia has been the largest producer of Oil, and has been a country for less than a hundred years was they still have people living in mud huts with no electricity of running water for just as long. So much for the trickle down effect of wealth.

Now you should understand why the Bush Klan is not going to change course.

Yes, the dollar is based on oil. That is why we went into Iraq because Saddam was going to switch from the dollar the the Euro. That would have crashed America;s economy. That is why the US is also rattling swards against Venisualia. Just in case we don't secure the oil we need to run the military witch uses 60% of the oil the US imports. Yes, the economy runs on oil. Yes, the military uses most of it to secure more. Yes you pay for it at the pump. The only question is, do you think it's worth having a oil thirsty military and economy run by former executives of the Oil industry and the cronies. Remember where Condi Rice came from Standard Oil of California. The very same company that set up the Saudi government and ARAMCO.

Can someone please explain how OUR OIL got under THEIR sand.
Am I hearing that because another country has more of a given resource than the US we can just step in and take it.

Are our sons and daughters dying so we can steal another countries oil ?
Is there any chance that if we poured 1/2 a trillion dollars into alternative energy sources we could free ourselves from foreign oil or any foreign power for that matter ? Or is it necessary to kill half a million people, destroy a good % of their country and waste our finest resource, our sons and daughters so those oil barrels end up with U.S.A. stamped on them ?
Anyone who feels that Iraqi oil is our oil ought damn well be over there fighting for it or do you all have "Medical Conditions, or more important things to do then to put your mouth where your beliefs are ? "

Robert R

robert, jazz is clear on the point: "we need it because we want it; therefore it becomes our interest; therefore we are justified in stealing it. that is because u.s. interests (i.e., transnational corporate interests based in the u.s.) are worth more than any other interests. "

yes, they are saying that. tens of thousands u.s. soldiers killed and maimed; hundreds of thousands of dead iraqis, going on a million; 4 million who have left the country or have been displaced internally; a generation of children traumatized and of people left maimed or disfigured. isn't it all worth it for the trillions of dollars the oil companies can make on the deal, the guaranteed supply of oil to the pentagon so that we can go on to take the war to iran, lebanon, syria, and the rest of the middle east?

we are empire, says jazz, and we do not need to stop using a hugely disproportionate share of the world's energy resources. we need a greater share still. we deserve it. war is good.

LatAm, please do not attempt to paraphrase what I had posted; what you said in your post does not even come close to what I said, and you know it...

The only reason this deal isn't signed yet is because the Shi'a, who make up 60% of the country's population and have a majority of the oil fields located in their territory, do not believe they should be forced to share that oil 'equitably' with Sunni who were not so generous under Hussein. And by the way (and this comes from a Democrat living in the Mideast who has never voted for Bush)... since when do we expect multi-national oil companies to go into a war zone and spend massive amounts of money on oil infrastructure and NOT receive any return on that investment? Democrats... are we still capitalists or has Bush added "the radicalization of the Left" to his already crummy legacy?

It's all been oil & greed from the beginning. Cheney knows that, & it is the only reason why he was choosen as Bush running mate.

President Ford was surprised on how Cheney handle the situation in Iraq & was surprise that Cheney not Bush invaded Iraq.

Bush is not smart enough to think for himself. Go back to the energy policy that Cheney crafted with the oil executives. That has'nt been made public. Since that time, gas prices never went below $2.50.

The oil profits are waiting to be invested and develop the oil fields of Iraq with Bush & Cheney having the major stake.

The problem with politics today is the fact that we have a bunch of buffoons on both sides. They are all spouting rhetoric back and forth, but no one has ideas or issues. And if they do have an idea, once it is put through the political machine, it comes out as nothing. Sometimes it seems they disagree for the sake of disagreement.

I really do not care why we went into Iraq. Any dwelling on that is a waste of time. What we need here is a solution and to get out. I think we all agree on that, whether democat, republican or independent. Problem is that all politicians are using this war as a tool to get elected. I say solve the problem now and get elected later.

I see two possible solutions. Make Iraq the 51st state. Disarm the masses, close the borders and educate them. Not realistic, I agree. I guess colonialism is dead.

I thought this war was going to pay for itself based upon the oil revenues? Or so that was the line of pap feed the american people.

More information in the prelude to war that now with a little more analysis and due diligence turns out to be inaccurate.
Good Times