From: "John Beamish" 

It is difficult for most people to believe that the government of Iraq is
not a quasi-puppet government.  While I'm sure that, in pubic statements,
it appears to be an independent government, it is well aware that its claim
to legitimacy rest on US military support and that support is conditional
on ... well, you can fill in the blank.

As was pointed out upthread, it makes emminent sense to offer the oil
development to the open market and let Iraq get the best deal it can. Since
that apparently isn't going to happen, the question "why not"
bubbles to the surface.

On Tue, 09 Jan 2007 18:57:01 -0500, Geo.  wrote:

> How do you figure the US is dictating the laws?
>
> Geo.
>

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