Ray--reference the question concerning oil belts and the Shia---in Iraq the majority of the bigger fields were in the south of Iraq and yes in Shia areas, and in the north where they fall under Kurdish control which has led to a minor fight between Malaki and the Kurds because the Kurds released oil drilling contracts without Malaki approval and are shipping oil out of the Kurdish areas earning a solid revenue for the Kurds who are not sharing with Baghdad.Originally Posted by Ray
The Sunni triangle was for the most part oil empty and that led to the open disputes between the Sunni and Malaki over oil revnues the Sunni were not getting for their development.
Then surprise surprise for Malaki---several rather large oil deposits were located, drilled, and the results were extremely good which now could give the Sunni provinces an oil revenue stream they have been missing under Malaki.
What we do not discuss in this thread is not the oil but the good old Silk Road that runs from AFG through Iran, then over Mandali and through Baqubah on to Syria and from Syria into Lebanon.
A large under noticed fight between the Shia and Sunni is actually over control of the old Silk Road ie who controls the Road controls the ME.
Khomeini spoke often about the "Green Crescent" containment theory---meaning there are Shia ranging from AFG through Iran , Iraq , Syria and into Lebanon thus building a wall between the Shia and the Sunni' protecting the Shia.
During his lifetime he did everything possible to implement the Green Crescent theory. Actually if you go back and read just how the Hezbollah ended up in Lebanon there is something to the Khomeini concept.
Bookmarks