Never mentioned by the MSM:
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/oil/2005/crudedesigns.htmBasically a scheme for the privatization of what, under the Ba'ath Arab Socialist Party, was always the property of the people of Iraq. Unless the American invaders are decisively driven out of Iraq and their collaborators imprisoned, exiled or executed, this huge rip-off of a Third World country's ony natural resource will proceed to line the pockets of the American ruling class.
This is a ripoff which affects all Iraqis but they are still fighting each other at the same time as some of them fight the invaders. the mistake that some Shi'a are making is to ally themselves to the invaders. Perhaps their leaders are of the old-fashioned collaborationists and sell-out artists, such as the late Shah of Iran or the current Saudi royal family, selling out the nation's patrimony for personal gain. Or perhaps they don't see a nation, only a Shi'ite resource that shouldn't be shared out with Sunni anyway.
The Americans are certainly adept at exploiting local differences and worming their way in through the cracks. But what if that's an oversimplification and the differences are irreconciliable in any event?
Somehow, for the people of the region, I think this always comes back to pan-Arabism. Or maybe the concept of a Caliphate which takes in the powerful non-Arab peoples of the region as well - - Turks, Persians, maybe ultimately even the Jews. As long as they are split by political, national and religious lines, the region will always be vulnerabe to predators such as Great Britain in the past and now, the USA, particularly in a unipolar world. What they need is a visionary movement towards unity, and preferably under secular leadership.
