Senior U.S. officials say that they hope one benefit of a permanent government in Iraq will be a more systematic effort to reform rules regarding investment in the country’s oil sector.
Oil industry executives say the security situation in southern Iraq isn’t too dire to prevent investment. Rather the oil companies’ biggest concern is that they could lose all their money to a legal system that is still in a fledgling state.
“They need protection of the law… there are some reforms that need to get done,” says Gen. George Casey, the top military commander in Iraq. He says that constantly shifting governments over the last three years have hindered reform efforts. “It is pretty complicated,” Casey says. “They have all the problems of Eastern Europe plus the insurgency.”
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2006/06/15/oil-executives-worry-about-iraqi-legal-system/Why is the top US military commander concerning himself with trade law? Has he developed a way yet to police contractors when Iraqis are killed or injured?