No doubt about it. But I have been waiting for this shoe to drop. Cheney was there this weekend rubbing their noses in the absolute necessity for the Iraq Parliament to immediately sign the oil revenue sharing bill. (Remember, they announced, with much fanfare last week, that the bill was drafted and finally ready to sign -- before they all take a 2-month vacation in Paris.)
The Kurds will support oil sharing, they just don’t want it to be tied to a national oil company. As conservatives, we should all oppose a national oil company. But the central government could claim royalties from all oil, and then distribute those royalties throughout the nation in a fair way not tied to where the oil fields are.
From your mouth to god's ear, Sir. The article above definitively states that they will not share their oil revenues with the rest of Iraq. Perhaps -- after 100 years or so of contentious negotiations -- they might consider paying some royalties. (You know how stubborn those Arabs can be.)
Like Alaska gives royalties to all alaskans, not based on whether they live in the provinces where the oil is being extracted.
Why didn't anyone TELL me that people who live in Alaska get oil royalties in their bank accounts because they live there??? Jeesh. I could have been "living" in Alaska and getting free money all this time.
You didn’t know about Alaska Oil Royalties? It’s how they get people to live in that frozen wasteland.
As to your other statement, nowhere in that article does it say the Kurds oppose revenue sharing. They oppose a national oil company. Here’s what they say about revenue sharing:
“”We want to create an automatic payment mechanism where it doesn’t rely on the goodwill of the finance minister or the oil minister for the regions to get their fair share,” he said”
So they are FOR revenue sharing, they want it to be based on free market, not some oil minister, and be an automatic payment to all regions that makes sure they all get their “fair share”. Under Saddam, the Kurds got almost NONE of the oil revenue, and they fear corrupt politicians will take the money and give it to their supporters instead of the Kurds.