Updated: It goes like this, there are 2 bills/proposed laws. One is about how the revenue (left over after big oil et al have their way) will be shared out to the country. This is the law that supposedly is to calm the fighting because all groupings get a cut. That bill is not the one they are talking about now, the bill now -the hydrocarbons law- is the one that gives the Iraq oil over to big oil and it’s chums (hereinafter referred to as Bushco). Accompanied by much union busting and minimising the nationalised oilfields. This bill being pushed through now and being hailed by corporate media has a small mention of revenue sharing (and is ineffective without a subsequent bill), that the morons latch onto this (press, Dems -who enabled this in the war supplemental bill- included) and pretend that is the focus of this bill is appalling, part of the same lying deference to power that cheer led the invasion. This bill right now is the key part of the invasion oil grab:
Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, former commander of the Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq, forwarded claims made by the Bush administration and Congress that if Iraq passes an oil law, the fighting factions there will come together because revenue from oil sales will be distributed to all.
The oil law (also known as the hydrocarbons law), however, does no such thing. A separate revenue-sharing law would decide how the oil revenue is spread around the country. It is currently being negotiated, though far behind the hydrocarbons law in the Iraqi legislative process.
Only a small portion of the law mentions revenue, and explicitly states that, according to the Iraqi Constitution, a separate “federal revenue law” is required to dictate how the revenue is spent.
President Bush, during remarks with visiting Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on May 21, said, “We’re working very hard, for example, on getting an oil law with an oil revenue-sharing code that will help unite the country.”
Such a law was included in Bush’s “benchmarks for reconciliation” in Iraq. The Democratic-led Congress, despite calls from the more progressive members, enshrined the oil law benchmark for the Iraqi government in the Iraq war-spending bill…
“The draft hydrocarbons framework law does not define specific terms for the distribution of Iraq’s oil revenue,” Christopher Blanchard, Middle East policy analyst for the Congressional Research Service, told United Press International. “The law would require Iraq’s Council of Ministers to submit a separate federal revenue law to regulate a central Oil Revenue Fund and ensure the fair distribution of oil revenue.”
As an occupying power in a country rocked by instability after more than four years of war, the misguided pressure on the oil law from the U.S. government actors is likely to work against their stated aims — ensuring Iraqis reap the benefits from their oil.
Because as ever the stated aims are a pleasant lie for sheeple so they think -we are the good guys- how did Bushco’s oil get under the Iraqi’s feet? The process is so murky that key groups still have not seen the draft law, pushed through by a boycotted parliament by puppets (likely bribed or in fear of their lives). One of the main objectives of the invasion is closer to being realised.
Iraq’s Kurdish and Sunni leaders have complained that they have not yet seen the draft oil legislation which is to be put to parliament.
The amended oil bill was approved by the cabinet of Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister, on Tuesday and forwarded to parliament for a first reading, but the debate is not likely to take place for a week.
It was unclear how many ministers were present at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, as six ministers from Muqtada al-Sadr’s group and six ministers from the Sunni bloc are currently boycotting the government.
Additional Update: (via, Crooks&Liars) The privatisation of the rest of Iraq’s assets is also speeding onwards with the hydrocarbon law acting as a symbol and catalyst:
The Iraqi government has begun preparing the groundwork for what could be one of the biggest privatisations of state-owned assets.
The Sunday Telegraph has learned that officials from the government have recently held talks with banking and legal advisers in London. City sources said Iraq’s minister for industry, Fawzi Hariri, was looking to appoint advisers to draw up a memorandum of understanding to sell off the country’s non-oil assets, ranging from petrochemical plants to construction companies, hotels and airlines, as early as this month.
