News ping!
Sure appears on the surface that more positive progress is being legislated by the central government of Iraq. A region so long fragmented and torn between stronger ethnic entities and state powers may in the long haul fair better to be fully incorporated into this new Iraq. Just from the point of view regarding trade barriers, tariffs, if the region is a province of Iraq it may have better access for imports and exports of its goods, oil, manufactured articles, whatever, then if it where a separate country. Why not have huge oil/gas pipelines connecting the north and the southern oil fields where the free slow of drilled oil can make it’s way quickly into refinery and oil/gas exportation terminals with minimum transport cost, and pass the gained revenues unto those major provinces directly contributing to the countries future oil wealth. Same can go for al Anbar that is suspected of having a lot of oil. Call it a tri-lateral oil/gas distribution system. All win in the end.