War over oil in Iraq is a rather old issue, but as Iraq seems to be drawn ever near to an open civil war setting the central government against the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) oil is once again the principle justification.
Oil and the contracts for them, anyway. Exxon Mobil has signed a pact with the KRG to drill in oil fields along the nebulous line of control between the two sides, near Kirkuk and the Maliki government insists it controls this region, in theory though clearly not in practice.
“The prime minister has been clear: If Exxon lays a finger on this territory, they will face the Iraqi army,” noted MP Sami Alaskary, a close aide of Maliki, adding that “we will go to war, for oil and for Iraqi sovereignty.”
Moving militarily against a major American oil company is risky in and of itself, but doubly so in this case, because the KRG has a military of its own, the Peshmearga, and has shown a willingness to deploy them against the central government’s military when they get too close to the line of control.
The KRG has regularly expressed concern about Maliki’s moves against them, saying they believe his efforts to buy large amounts of US military hardware are a prelude to an invasion of their semi-autonomous region, while warning that if Maliki continues to try to centralize power the Kurds may choose overt secession over waiting around for an invasion.
Exxon had initially had an oil deal with the Iraqi central government for the southern Qurna-1 oilfield, but believes the fields along the line of control, where they could deal with the KRG instead of the Iraqi National Oil Company, to be more profitable. As Iraq has often moved against companies that do separate business with the Kurds, Exxon has made no secret of its intention to unload its portion of Qurna-1 onto some other company.
Iraq has already gone to war with Exxon twice in the last 22 years, and lost badly both times.
This time, however, it could be different. How could Iraq -the "good" Iraq, the one that the US fought for so gallantly sacrificing blood and treasure in the process- be so naughty and ignore US's wishes? So this means that American criminals waged war, lied through both sides of their mouths, assassinated people wholesale, plundered and maimed, and ruined a country's future for this?
This is all bs created by outside influence intent on complicating potential long lasting alliance between Kurds and the Shiite Maliki. Oil is clearly gold and potentially worth sending sides to die over. More importantly, both Kurds and Shiite Iraqi align with Syria regarding American-NATO proxy war. Iraq under Maliki had previously secured a anti-air missile defense with Russia but reneged on it last minute. What other behind the scene NATO decisions could be made to entice Iraq? Who knows. All that is for certain is 1)Erdogan is politically weak as Turkish populace wavers; 2)Syrian Kurds are tacitly aligned with Iraqi Kurds, the former potentially securing autonomy if NATO proxy war continues to collapse.3)Maliki aligns Iraq with Syria.
In the meantime, Exxon will either work or won't work. But screw them. They have no options.
What would happen if Texas made a deal with Mexico … Would the Feds intervene ? Now why would we chastise Iraqi central government ?
Would not be surprised if keeping oil offline was part of their decision making process.
Don't forget the RARE EARTH OXIDES …… Nuclear Batteries and all those Chevy Volt and Cell Tower and Submarine and Consumer Electronic BATTERIES …… Don't Forget to Mention The RARE EARTH OXIDES <—-<<<< Good Old EXXON
https://sites.google.com/site/thegreattexasbankjo…
Jason, I could have told you more than 10 years ago that thee is a plan afoot to remap the middle east; and, as part of that remapping, there would arise a new country, Kurdistan, carved out of part of Turkey, Iraq, and Syria. Which is why I suspect that the clique running Turkey, the Kurds, Iraq, and Israel are in alliance on this project, even though they are publicly decrying each other as an enemy. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2350182688…