President Bush can now accelerate the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, on
a schedule determined by GEN. Petraeus, Prime Minister Maliki, and Muqtada
al-Sadr. A Petraeus-Sadr initiative on US troop withdrawals would reinforce
the breakthrough to victory made possible by Operation Surge.

Within the past few days, the Iraqis have made stunning gains in
reintegrating their economy and political system. Thus, a weak and
ethnic-based Iraqi confederacy is now out the window, despite wishes by the
PKK, Kurdish president Barzani, and Iran’s Nazi president Ahmadinejad. They
all want to seize Iraq’s oil by partitioning Iraq into ethnic mini-states,
with the PKK taking Kirkuk while Iran and Ahmadinbejad’s Revolutionary
Guards (IRGC) would take Basra.

Instead of rolling over for the PKK and IRGC, Petraeus and Sadr pushed back
and won a decisive victory for Iraq. Petraeus and Sadr first signed wide
ranging political agreements — See LA Times 12 September 2007. Both agreed
on keeping Basra and Kirkuk in Iraqi hands, and to postpone Kirkuk’s
referendum that would shift Kirkuk and its oil reserves to control by
Barzani and the PKK.

For their part, Barzani escalated with his decision to bypass Baghdad’s
state oil company by negotiating an oil exploration agreement directly with
the Texas-based Hunt Oil Company. By signing this agreement, Barzani has
alienated Petraeus and Sadr. Barzani has also alienated Iraqi PM Maliki,
President Bush, as well as the major international oil companies, who prefer
dealing with Baghdad.

The main answered question is what Sadr will demand for his cooperation on
US troop withdrawals. It is obvious that Sadr will look for help for
Baghdad’s troubled oil ministry. The US will respond to Sadr’s needs by
rebuilding Baghdad’s centralized oil ministry and opening relations between
Sadr, Barzani. and the Iraqi Sunnis.

By strengthening Baghdad’s oil ministry the US will enhance US relations
with Sadr, who is the unofficial mayor of Baghdad; restore Sunni confidence
in the Baghdad government as Sunni access to Iraq’s oil revenues is
restored; and pacify the Kurds, who are now challenging the Baghdad oil
ministry’s authority.

Finally, cooperation between Sadr and Petraeus will send a clear signal to
Iran to back out of interference in Iraq’s internal affairs.

In short, thanks to Bush, Petraeus, and Sadr, Iraq has quickly moved from a
zone of crisis to a zone of opportunity. Congratulations all around!

Scott Sullivan is a former Washington government employee. Petroleumworld not necessarily share these views.

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Forget Iran and Turkey — they do not deserve to govern the Middle East. Iran is unfit to rule the Middle East because it has embraced the Nazi doctrine. Plus, Iran’s top priority is not to advance the Middle East but to disrupt the Middle East by establishing a Strategic Corridor that would provide a safe haven for terrorists and their weapons to move from Germany to the pro-German Balkan states, to Turkey, Iran and Pakistan;

Iraq’s top priority today is to pressure President Obama to send Gen Petraeus to Baghdad to warn Barzani, Talabani and Ahmadinejad that the US will no longer tolerate Kurdish and Iranian interference in Iraq’s internal affairs!

Op-ed: Obama to assign Gen Petraeus to Baghdad?

Obama will regret his decision to replace Gen McChrystal with Gen Petraeus as commander of all US forces in Afghanistan. Obama’s stated rationale for the switch to Petraeus — that Petraeus would be able to duplicate the success of his Iraqi surge stategy in Afghanistan — does not hold water. Today’s Washington Post carries a front page story that Petraeus’s surge strategy failed in Iraq because it has been unable to gain support from Iraq’s Sunni Arabs in Mosul. The Iraqi Arabs in Mosul, with strong support from al Qaeda and Saudi Arabia, continue to attack the Kurdish militias because Kurdish leaders like Barzani and Talibani, with tacit support from Iranian and US leaders like Gen Petraeus, make clear their intention to annex Kirkuk and its oil as soon as the US withdraws its forces from Iraq. If Mosul explodes into civil war, thanks to Gen Petraeus’ inability to acknowledge or fix this problem, Mosul’s conflict will bring down the Iraqi Accords in other parts of the country.

In short, if Obama wants to be helpful he should appoint Petraeus as his envoy to Iraq to restrain Kurdish and Iranian aggression against Iraq, so as to protect the huge US investment there. Meanwhile, Obama should reinstate Gen McChrystal as commander of US forces in Afghanistan, where McChrystal could build a powerful domestic and international United Front against fascist Pakistan and Iran.

- Scott Sullivan

ISSUES.… 07/26/2010 / — Send Us Your Issues

ISSUES.… Inside, confidential and off the record

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