Summary

The United States has bought itself a world of aggravation in trying to turn Iraq into something that will pass for a representative government. The U.S. has bought itself another headache in trying to figure out how oil, the curse of nations, can be turned into a source of peace and prosperity for the Iraqi people. Happily, the answer to one quandary may be the answer to the other. If the U.S. can solve the oil conundrum, fumbling its way to a survivable and decent political system in Baghdad will be that much easier. Hence a proposal that we honed over two subway rides and now ...