According to Steve Forbes...
In the November 13, 2006 issue of the Forbes magazine Steve Forbes, the Editor In Chief, has offered a very sensible “Fact and Comment” article concerning Iraq. In part he said, “In September Iraq’s political leaders agreed to postpone until 2008 any moves to “carve up” the country into autonomous states. The principal reason for the delay was the ever divisive question of who would control the country’s immense oil wealth. Most of the oilfields fall in Kurdish and Shiite areas. The Sunnis are afraid that regional autonomy will mean they will be bereft of their share of the black gold.”
Mr. Forbes goes on discussing the Alaska solution: “About a quarter of Alaska’s oil and gas royalties goes into an entity called the Permanent Fund, the assets of which are managed by investment professionals. About half the revenue stream is distributed to the state’s citizens each year; the remainder is reinvested. The Alaska approach has two powerful advantages. Virtually the entire Iraq population would have a stake in making sure insurgents didn’t disrupt oil production, and almost every Iraqi would have an incentive to have a bona fide address at which to collect the checks. This would be a great boon to security.”
He went on to say, “Our patience with Iraq is not infinite. The Iraqi government's recent statement that it won't crack down on local militias, and its reluctance to clean out the multiplying death squads infesting its police forces, are the latest examples of a regime failing to acknowledge that we are not going to be there forever.”
But I believe there are some underlying factors that contribute to the civil war currently in progress
Mr. Forbes' comments make perfectly good sense to me. All Iraqis are concerned about how they will live if and when things settle down (i.e. the civil war ends). But I believe there are some underlying factors that contribute to the civil war currently in progress. The real question is---who will come out on top? Who will be privileged? Who will become wealthy and who will suffer?
If there is a way to generate cash for everyone, it could possibly stop the civil war and be the exact solution needed. Everyone will have a hand in it and be motivated to protect the oil production fields and its infrastructure, so it could work.
...the ongoing struggle in Iraq (the civil war) is all about who will eventually rise to the top
Native American tribes that have developed successful casinos have a system of sharing profits and proceeds with members of the tribe. It is working for the greater benefit so why not try this system with Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds? Let me tell you why---the ongoing struggle in Iraq (the civil war) is all about who will eventually rise to the top. It is about several aspiring despots testing the waters, shoving, pushing looking for weak spots in their opponent’s armor with the ultimate goal of taking over everything. Someone will make it to the top and the “in place government” will be gone.
However, let us get “out of the box” and think this one through at a slightly deeper level. Is it possible that the in-place government is also involved (silently) in the civil war? If not, then why did that very same government set aside a perfectly good solution, the so called divisive issue of carving up the country into autonomous regions? Why did they not go to the people and tell them of this option? Why did they not consider a referendum on this issue? Tell me America, who is the duly elected government siding with, and who is siding with the government and more importantly to what end?
The fly in the ointment might be the Kurds
Below all the issues of the ongoing civil war lies the foundational reason, the bottom line rationale for the war. And that underlying issue is greed and control. Those are the factors that are driving the war---selfish greed and an insatiable need for the power to control the entire nation and its oil reserves.
The fly in the ointment might be the Kurds. They continue to gain economic strength, enjoy relative peace and calm in their region and slow but sure control of their oilfields. Might they become so powerful that they will set the model for Iraq? That model would be something like the Alaska model that Mr. Forbes has so eloquently described. The progress of the Kurds could be very positive.
Goodbye Saddam and hello to the development of autonomous regions and the division of oil revenues to the people
As a private citizen and an observer of events, I believe the US Government must push the Alaska/Kurd model. I don’t mean give the Iraqi government another boring power point briefing about what the Alaska idea can do for them. What I am talking about is a set of tough, saber tooth lined, demands that this idea be implemented within six months and if not we are leaving town. And while the government is being educated we must also bring the solution to the attention of the general population. Turn on the public information system and let them know that such a solution does exist so they can get involved. It is time for Uncle Sam to kick some behind.
This solution involves real living people with something at stake---their piece of the oil revenues. This total involvement will enhance security and we will see if the Iraqi man on the street can impact his world if given the opportunity. If he cannot change his world, no outsider (American) can do it for him.
Goodbye Saddam and hello to the development of autonomous regions and the division of oil revenues to the people.
