"The Iraq National Oil Company would have exclusive control of 17 of Iraq's 80 known oil fields, leaving two-thirds of known and as of yet undiscovered oil fields open to foreign control.

"The foreign companies would not have to invest their earnings in the Iraqi economy, partner with Iraqi companies, hire Iraqi workers, or share new technologies. They could even ride out Iraq's current 'instability' by signing contracts now, while the Iraqi Government is at its weakest, and then wait at least 2 years before even setting foot in the country. The vast majority of Iraq's oil would then be left underground for at least 2 years rather than being used for the country's economic development.

"The international oil companies could also be offered some of the most corporate-friendly contracts in the world, including what are called production-sharing agreements. These agreements are the oil industry's preferred model but are roundly rejected by all the top oil-producing countries in the Middle East because they grant long-term contracts, 20 to 35 years in the case of Iraq's draft law, and greater control, ownership, and profits to the companies than other models. In fact," this kind of contract is "used for only approximately 12 percent of the world's oil.

What if the left wing conspiracy theories about a war for oil turned out to be right? I mean, if you aren't paying attention, than whats to stop the oil companies from extracting the stuff from Iraq and unloading it on the international market without paying a lick of taxes to the Iraqi government and keeping all of the profits for themselves? Their honor?

I'm not completely sure, but it sounds like there might be something to this story.

What if the reason that we aren't seeing "political progress" to go along with the security progress is that the benchmark for "political progress" involves their agreement to hand over their natural resources to us, and they don't want to.