[ken5050]

Question for you, AF..Iraq oil production can reatart in a few months..the country will still be under US militry control, with a free-Iraqi advisory council...so, does the "new" Iraq stay in OPEC..and what price does it get for the oil?....the answer to those questions will explain a lot of what happens later...

[ken5050]

My #1582 was for you also...sorry...

[ArneFufkin]

Whether Iraq wants to be in OPEC is going to be their ultimate decision I would say. I think OPEC - i.e. Saudis - just might be shaken up a bit with a new player who is bringing billions of barrels of negotiating heft to the game. Who really knows? We have a fiduciary duty in the short term to get the proceeds directed to their reconstruction.

That's why objective one in this poorly planned Rumsfeld debacle was to secure the fields, pipelines and terminals. That was job one in our quest to survive the aftermath of this ridiculously bold and historic endeavor. We're toppling Hitler ... and it's 1936. The world can thank us later.