Oil Law

It's got to have been over a year now since it became absolutely entrenched dogma in Washington, DC that the situation in Iraq fundamentally required a political solution, and that part of the key to a political solution was a law governing the distribution of Iraq's oil assets that was broadly acceptable throughout that country. In 2003, emphasizing the need for a political solution was something only crackpot liberals did. In 2004, same deal. By 2005, people were cracking. By 2006, this was the Bush administration's line. Only they also wanted to have 130,000 troops in the field and so forth.

By 2007, though, still nobody's acting like they mean it. So, now, today we read "Iraqi Blocs Opposed to Oil Bill". Oops! Getting a compromise oil law has been the top political priority for the U.S. in Iraq since at least the Zalmay Khalilzad days, and we keep not making progress toward that goal. Nevertheless, the military's still there in Iraq fighting away even though nobody thinks their efforts can succeed without success -- permanently elusive success, it seems -- on the political track.