Sharing the Wealth in Iraq
HARRIS: Suicide bombers in Baghdad believed to be shifting tactics in response to the Iraqi government's new security plan. At least 10 deaths are reported today in bombings in the Iraqi capital. A car bomb exploded in a parking lot, a suicide bomber rammed an ice cream shop, and a hidden bomb went off inside a restaurant. All of the attacks in central Baghdad. The new security plan forbids parking on Baghdad's main streets. So police now believe suicide bombers are shifting tactics and targets. Also in Baghdad, officials say they've arrested a suspect in yesterday's attempted assassination of one of Iraq's two vice presidents. Adel Abdul Mahdi suffered minor injuries when a bomb killed a dozen people at the Public Works Ministry.</s>COLLINS: Iraqi oil -- a proposed new law could lead to greater distribution of wealth in Iraq. But will it lead to peace? CNN's Michael Holmes takes a look.</s>MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): All roads to Iraq's economic recovery come from one place, the oilfields. There have been a couple of problems, however -- a war that won't quit and furious political squabbles over who gets what. The United States has been pressing the government of Nuri al- Maliki to come up with an oil plan for his oil rich but underproducing country, and that plan is about go to the parliament.</s>ZALMAY KHALILZAD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: This is the first signs since 2003 that all major Iraqi communities have come together on a defining piece of legislation. This law is a major pillar of a national compact among Iraqis.</s>HOLMES: If passed, it will end decades of total government control over the nation's massive oil reserves and distribute oil income among all the country's regions.</s>HUSSAIN AL-SHAHRISTANI, IRAQI OIL MINISTER (through translator): This law will guarantee for Iraqis not just now, but for future generations, too, complete national control over this natural wealth, and that the benefits of this natural wealth will be distributed to all Iraqis in all regions, provinces and districts. And that it will be under the control of the United council of Oil and Gas that will make all decisions and the development for this wealth.</s>HOLMES: At the heart of the new plan and after months of argument will be a high council for oil that would include representatives of the oil-producing provinces, the ministers of oil, finance and planning, and the central bank governor. It may be headed by the prime minister himself.</s>BARHAM SALIH, IRAQI DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: We have reached what I consider to be a very good deal that will satisfy the needs of all the regions of Iraq and will turn oil from the curse it has been for Iraq into a blessing.</s>HOLMES: Barham Salih is a Kurd, and it is the Kurdish region that has some of the biggest reserves. Kurds wanted to develop and sell those reserves the way they want, but now a complex compromise is in place that would give Baghdad veto power.</s>SALIH: It will be based on sharing revenues and redistributing oil revenues equitably among all Iraqis, and to ensure that the best business practices will be adopted in developing the oil sector in Iraq.</s>HOLMES: Western oil companies are rubbing their hands in glee at the potential windfall, at least those companies who would be willing to come to a country where hundreds of contractors have been killed and pipelines are regularly blown up by insurgents.</s>SABAH MUKHTAR, ANALYST: In fact, this is -- this is an obscene exercise we're going through. Who cares about the oil? If the American soldiers, in their tanks and their armored vehicles, are afraid to move around Iraq and they are being killed, you want to tell me some idiotic geologist or an oil company will go and prospect for oil in Iraq? This is an absolute nonsense.</s>HOLMES: Still, the stakes are enormous, with oil prices hovering near historic highs and estimates of Iraq's oil reserves ranging from 120 billion barrels to 250 billion barrels, making them the world's third or second largest. (on camera): Now, the new law is far from passed, of course, and regional and sectarian self-interest still very much part of the game. Many ordinary Iraqis fear their country's oil wealth will be robbed by the Americans. Shiites and Kurds who have most of the reserves feel it's their turn to take a slice of the cake, and Sunnis, who have few reserves, fear getting left out. (voice over): Oil smuggling and corruption are still major issues, too, with insurgents often the beneficiaries of the cash. In any event, passage of the law won't mean wholesale oil exploration and development overnight. There is, after all, a war on. Michael Holmes, CNN, Baghdad.</s>HARRIS: And still ahead, ready to fight on another front. Is the U.S. military stretched too thin? A closer look at the concerns, ahead in the</s>NEWSROOM. COLLINS: And we are "Minding Your Business," like we always do. Ali Velshi here now with a preview. Hi there, Ali.</s>ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, good morning. We are just moments away from the open of markets in the United States, and investors are bracing for a very rough day. I'll tell you why when we come back in the NEWSROOM.