Oil Rich Iraq May Not Aid Iraq That Much

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3012415,00.html


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But even if the administration meets its goals to
have Iraq's battered, looted oil infrastructure
pumping petroleum at pre-war levels of 2.5 million
barrels a day early next year, some Iraqis are
certain to be disappointed. Washington wants to
use those revenues to repair the damage done
since the war, not just write checks to Iraqis.

Oil exploration is enormously expensive, but once
oil is found, it doesn't require much labor to get
out of the ground. Once flowing, it produces huge
revenues for governments.

Yet there is little precedent that enormous
government oil wealth trickles down and finds its
way into improving education and health care, and
diversifying the economy to create jobs that don't
rely on the swings in the oil markets.

``The temptations are enormous,'' said Ron Gold,
vice president of the nonprofit, New York-based
Petroleum Industry Research Foundation and
author of a recent report titled ``Going Where
the Oil is.'' ``Where institutions are sturdy the
odds are that the oil bonanza can be had to
enhance the country's welfare.''


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America's company town now.

They get about 5 cents to the ton. The Peabody Coal company sells it for over $100 a ton. Or something along those lines. It's been years since I heard the figures. But, the entity behind that wonderful deal is our wonderful government. You can bet the Iraqis are going to get the same deal