"A new poll has found that 52 percent of Kurds, 66 percent of Shi’ites and 62 percent of
Sunnis are in favor of government control over the oil sector. Eric Leaver, of
the Washington, DC-based Institute for Policy Studies, a non-profit think tank
that helped pay for the poll, said, “you have a question that’s of vital
importance to the future of the country. Most of the Iraqi budget comes from the
development and sale of Iraqi oil and here we have arguably one of the largest
questions that’s going to be decided for the future of Iraq being done without
any citizens’ consultation or input.”"
Even under the best of situations the nationalization of oil is a questionable idea. The very fact that so much money is involved is the very reason that the government of Iraq should not control it. In the best of situations there is the concern that the government could abuse the power that control of the oil would provide. Inside an Iraqi government the control of oil would mean that whatever office or agency that managed it would be very powerful.
Iraq is not a stable country and it has a weak government, if it is going to get the most out of its oil resources, private firms will do a better job. If a Sunni gets control of the oil, is that person going to hire anything but Sunni's for jobs in the oil industry. Would promotions inside the industry be based and skill or on religious affiliation. A private company would have as its interest of promoting the people who would do the best job. Politics inside Iraq as they are now, point to the suggestion that promotions would not be based on merit.
The oil is too important to be just another political point, or tool in the game.
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