Al-Ghad

As the July Fourth recess approaches, the Bush administration goes into top gear to push through the Iraqi Oil Law. The NY Times reported, June 12, that:

The top American military commander for the Middle East has warned Iraq’s prime minister in a closed-door conversation that the Iraqi government needs to make tangible political progress by next month to counter opposition to the war in Congress.

In a Sunday afternoon discussion that mixed gentle coaxing with a sober appraisal of politics in Baghdad and Washington, the commander, Adm. William J. Fallon, told Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki that the Iraqi government should aim to complete a law on the division of oil proceeds by next month.

It went on to explain that:

Iraqis are aware that the Bush administration has promised to report to Congress in September on what its new Iraq strategy has accomplished. Indeed, the Bush administration is obliged by Congressional legislation to issue an interim report in July on Iraq developments.

In the meeting, Admiral Fallon focused on Iraq’s oil law, assuming it was closest to completion. “Is it reasonable to expect it to be completed in July?” he asked. “We have to show some progress in July for the upcoming report.”

To make sure that Maliki got the point, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, suddenly appeared in Baghdad and met Maliki on Tuesday to discuss the status of an oil revenue-sharing law, constitutional reforms, a law ending a ban on former Baathists holding public office and provincial polls.

Reuters’ correspondents threw more light on what is going in the Baghdad:

Negroponte followed the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, Admiral William Fallon, who held similar talks with Maliki on Sunday and, according to a New York Times reporter who sat in on the meeting, urged the prime minister to make measurable political progress by next month.

However in Basra, faraway from the Baghdad Green Zone, more humble Iraqi people were making history. Hassan Jumaa, chairman of the General Syndicate of oil workers in Basra, said that if the government refused to meet the workers demands they would expand the strike to include all oil installations in Basra, including export and production. Students in Basra University went on strike, and the unemployed and dispossessed went on demonstration on the ground of the giant Majnoon oil field to demand jobs and livelihood.

Who will have the upper hand in the end may not clear yet in the confused and desperate Iraqi situation. But the beginnings of the mass movement in Iraq against the occupation are not mistakable.

Al-Ghad