Iraq is falling apart
by Ben Van Heuvelen
The news out of Iraq is very bad, but it’s important to understand it all. Why is Iraq falling apart? What and who is ISIS, and how is it different from al-Qaida? What can the U.S. do? What might the future look like?
I’ve been engaged in answering these questions a lot over the past couple of days. I’ve written an article for the Washington Post and spoken with Brian Lehrer at WNYC in New York and Warren Olney at KCRW in Los Angeles. And my colleagues and I at Iraq Oil Report have been continuing to report.
Have a read/listen:
Unity meeting seeks to defuse tensions as refinery targeted
The biggest oil refinery in Iraq
Amid turmoil, Iraq’s Kurdish region is laying foundation for independent state
Iraq Falls Apart
The Emergency in Iraq Rocks Washington
Kurdish military redraws map as ISIS surges
Why did you say Iraq oil was safe in the South when this is happening?http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/iraq-turmoil/iraqs-biggest-oil-refinery-shut-wake-militant-attacks-n132956
Hi David. It’s true that parts of Iraq’s oil sector are threatened by ISIS, including several oil fields in the north and the Baiji refinery, which is a bit more than 100 miles north of Baghdad. However, for the past several months, all of Iraq’s oil *exports* have come from southern oil fields, where production has been unaffected by the violence. Thus, although there are disruptions to fuel supplies within Iraq, the country’s oil sales to world markets have remained unchanged. I hope this clarifies things.