Iraq Has No New Oil Law, and No Gas

While US officials on all sides criticize the Iraqi Parliament’s failure to pass an oil law, no one is asking a more critical question to the government’s local credibility and functionality, where is all the gas?Recently many officials in the US have been criticizing the Iraqi Government’s failure to meet certain benchmarks imposed by US officials. One such benchmark has been the passage of a National Oil Law. Although Parliament went into recess without passing such a law, it is not necessarily the most important issue for Iraqis when considering the strength or weakness, and failure or success of their government.These days much of Baghdad and the rest of Iraq is lucky to have even a few hours of electricity per day. Our sources tell us 1 hour per day is the average norm around the country, particularly Baghdad, where the large population center has greatly overstretched its resources and infrastructure are degrading rapidly.Iraqis are now left wondering not just about the daily violence and whether they will survive until tomorrow, they also wonder why they elected a government that seems powerless except in the area of internal squabbling. Over a year ago we produced a short piece about the gasoline shortages in Iraq at the end of 2005. As we near the end of 2007, those same problems still grip Baghdad, and as we’ve shown in recent videos, in the case of electricity and social services, many consider them worse than ever.Although we offer our work free to viewers, we have begun offering the opportunity for you the viewer to support our work by voluntarily subscribing at five, ten, or twenty-five dollars. Thanks for your continuing support and we hope you will return for more news about life in Iraq each week!