This One Oil-Rich Region Of Iraq Is Doing Great, And Creating Serious Tension With Baghdad

[xchrom]

http://www.businessinsider.com/this-one-oil-rich-region-of-iraq-is-doing-great-and-creating-serious-tension-with-baghdad-2012-5



Erbil, Iraq - In the capital of the Kurdish region, a gleaming new international airport welcomes visitors to a part of the country that is increasingly striking out on its own amid mounting questions over whether a united Iraq will survive.
Unlike Baghdad, foreign visitors landing on one of the ever-growing number of international flights to Erbil need no prior visa. That's just one of the signs of autonomy in Iraqi Kurdistan, the country's most prosperous and secure region.
Newly discovered oil has fueled the prosperity underpinning Kurdistan's boldness. But it has also heightened tensions with Baghdad that have simmered for decades over land and identity. As Iraqi Kurdistan ramps up oil production that officials say could surpass Libya's output by 2019, Kurdish leaders have warned they could seek full independence if disputes over oil revenues and power-sharing aren't resolved.
"The Kurds will not live in the shadow of a dictatorial regime," Massoud Barzani, the powerful president of the Kurdish region said in a speech in Erbil Friday. "The right to decide our destiny is a legitimate one and we ask others not to try to take this right from us."


Read more: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/world/~3/IJYE_Oqy6YE/Iraq-s-unity-tested-by-rising-tensions-over-oil-rich-Kurdish-region#ixzz1uCAeZQdF

[leftyohiolib]

1. the 1st step toward iraqi civil war?

[leveymg]

2. Carving Iraq up into three ethnic sectors was always the anticipated outcome.

Easier for the oil companies to deal with separately. In the North, they only have to bargain with the Kurds, and in the South with the Shi'ite majority that's close to Iran. The Sunni Center, which has relatively little oil, is now increasingly dependent and beholden to the Saudis.

[polly7]

3. Yes, it was.

I remember reading articles stating just this right from the beginning.