Reply #13: I think you are right. If it were not for the enormous oil reserves in [View All]

[mike1963]

the south and the north, there doesn't seem to be any good reason NOT to allow the partition of Iraq into 3 states, but there is essentially no way to reconcile the political reality with what will ultimately be the determining factor: who controls the assets. Maybe it could be worked out so that there are SIX "provinces"...northeast and northwest, central east and central west and southern east & west...draw the north/south line from Mosul to Basra, more or less, splitting the oil fields evenly and allow a Kurdish share in the north, a Sunni one in the middle and a Shia one in the south. Or some variation on the theme. Give each region a fair amount of autonomy and the option of electing/selecting their leaders.

Of course I have absolutely no expertise in this, just spiffballing...
:eyes: