Iraq's Oil example essay topic

Mesopotamia, whose territory was roughly equivalent to that of modern Iraq, fell to the Ottoman Turks in the 16th century and remained part of the Ottoman Empire until a British invasion during World War One. As a method for ensuring the success of the uprising against the Ottoman Turks, the British supported the national independence movement within Iraq. However, in 1920 the Treaty of S'e vres established Iraq as a mandate of the League of Nations under British administration. The delay in attaining independence provoked a revolt in 1920, which was subsequently suppressed by the British.

The containment of the rebellion was costly to the British, who soon realised the expediency in terminating the mandate, and promoted an interim government in 1921 headed by King Faisal I. In 1924 Iraq reluctantly agreed to a treaty with Great Britain whereby Britain was granted the right of veto over legislation and maintenance of British military bases. A further treaty, signed in 1930, provided for a 25-year alliance with Britain. In 1932 the British mandate was terminated and Iraq entered the League of Nations as an independent state. 1936 saw the first of seven military coups over the following five years, providing an indication of the future role of the military in Iraqi politics. In April 1941, Rashid Ali al-Gilani (leader of a radical nationalist anti-British movement) seized power from the pro-British government of Prime Minister Gen. Nuri as-Said. In response the British reinforced their garrisons and defeated the revolt.

In 1943 Iraq declared war on the Axis countries. Iraq formed part of the Arab League's unsuccessful war against Israel in 1948. In the mid-1950's the Iraqi regime implemented a national development programme, financed mostly through oil revenues. The US extended technical aid to the country and, after 1956, military assistance. Iraqi diplomatic relations with the USSR were severely damaged in 1955, following Soviet support for Kurdish nationalism. In 1955 the Baghdad Pact, a mutual security treaty, was agreed between Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, and Britain.

During the 1956 Suez crisis the Iraqi government expressed unequivocal support for Egypt. In 1958, as a counter-measure to the federation of Syria and Egypt into the United Arab Republic (UAR), Iraq and Jordan announced their merger into the pro-Western Arab Union. On 14th July 1958 General Abd al-Karim Kassem led a revolution deposing the royal family. Kassem proclaimed Iraq a republic and declared Islam the national religion. King Faisal, Crown Prince Abd al-I lah, and Nuri al-Said were executed, and the Arab Union was dissolved in favour of establishing closer relations with the UAR. Iraq formally withdrew from the Baghdad Pact in 1959.

Relations with the USSR improved but Iraq maintained a stance of non-alignment during the Cold War. Iraq claimed sovereignty over Kuwait and Iranian territory along the Shatt al Arab, ant agonising relations with neighbouring states. In 1962 Kurdish groups, led by Mustafa al-Barzani, revolted demanding an autonomous Kurdistan, eventually gaining control of much of northern Iraq. The Kassem regime was overthrown in 1963 in a revolt led by Colonel Abdul Salam Arif. The new regime was dominated by Ba " at party members (a socialist group whose overall goal was Arab unity), despite President Arif himself claiming no links to the party. Indeed soon after the coup President Arif expelled all Ba " at party members.

Three years later Arif was killed in a helicopter crash and his brother, Gen. Abdul Rahman Arif, assumed office only to be overthrown two years later in a bloodless coup. The new regime, led by yet another military official, Major General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, was once again dominated by the Ba " at party. During the Arab-Israeli Six Day War in 1967, Iraq provided logistical support to the Arab cause, resulting in the severance of US-Iraqi relations. The following years were characterised by improved relations with the USSR, and in 1972 a 15-year friendship treaty was signed.

Also during the 1970's, Iraq fully nationalized the foreign-owned oil companies operating within Iraq, and, as a result of dramatically rising oil prices, enjoyed a considerable increase in oil revenues. Iraq once again took an active role during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, opposing the subsequent cease-fire and agreements negotiated by Egypt and Syria with Israel. 1974 saw the eruption of major clashes between Iran and Iraq. These were directly triggered by Iranian support for Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, but followed years of more general conflict over border issues.

Iraq eventually agreed to concessions over border disputes in return for the cessation of Iranian support for the Kurdish rebellion. The agreement was a major blow to Kurdish opposition seeking improvements on a 1970 Kurdish autonomy law. During this time opposition was also growing among the Shiites in the south, who despite forming the majority of the population were mostly excluded from political power. In 1979 Saddam Hussein at-Takriti, a Sunni Muslim and member of the Ba " at party, became President following the resignation of Bakr.

Hussein immediately purged the Ba " at party of leftist rebels. Also at this time, relations with the newly established Islamic government of Iran were put under increasing strain following the spread of Kurdish unrest in Iran across the Iraqi border. Iraq officially withdrew from the bilateral agreement establishing national borders along the Shatt al Arab, claiming complete authority of the whole waterway. Small border clashes soon flared into full-scale war between the two countries. During the following eight year war, oil production in both countries fell drastically. Chemical weapons were reportedly used by both sides, and by Iraq on Kurdish villages in their own country.

[1] During the war, Israel bombed Iraq's Os irak nuclear reactor in 1981 in a widely condemned surprise attack. The UN eventually brokered a cease-fire in 1988, and diplomatic relations were restored between the two countries in 1990. Despite the devastation caused during the eight year war (and international statements of concern over the Hussein regime's repressive domestic policies and increased hostility towards Israel), the nation managed to partly restore its massive military capacity during the late 1980's, largely thanks to loans and technology from Western Europe and the US. [2] Declining prices for oil caused real economic problems for war-torn Iraq and in 1990 Hussein accused neighbouring Kuwait of flooding world oil markets and thereby driving down prices.

On 2 August 1990 Iraqi troops invaded Kuwait and declared the country's annexation, citing long-standing territorial claims. UN-established trade sanctions failed to induce Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait and so a US-led coalition force began intensive air strikes on Baghdad on 16 January 1991. Iraqi forces were soon overpowered by the coalition and were eventually forced to withdraw. Much of Iraq's military was destroyed during the Persian Gulf War, with the remainder positioned in northern and southern parts of the country trying to suppress Kurdish and Shi " it rebellions. In an effort to stem these activities, international forces set up no-fly zones in both the north and south extremes of the country. UN inspections imposed after the Gulf War found evidence of an established chemical weapons programme and the beginnings of a program aiming to produce materials for nuclear weapons.

Trade sanctions, initially imposed by the UN to induce Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait, were held in place and would remain so until Iraq met specific conditions, including the eradication of weapons of mass destruction programmes. Confrontations continued in Iraq after the Gulf war, with parties from the original international coalition claiming Iraqi violations of cease-fire terms. In response to an alleged 1993 Iraqi plot to assassinate former US President George Bush, US bombers twice struck Iraqi targets. In October 1994, following an Iraqi build up of troops on the Kuwaiti border, coalition forces were once again augmented forcing an Iraqi withdrawal. Also in 1994, Hussein pursued a policy of crushing internal dissent.

This was particularly focused upon the Kurdish and Shi " it populations within the country, following both groups' post-war uprisings. Shi " it rebels were swiftly crushed by a strong domestic military campaign, but Kurdish uprisings were complicated by conflict between the two major Kurdish political organisations, the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Iraqi troops intervened in the fighting at the request of the KDP, by entering the UN protected Kurdish region, which provoked US missile strikes again not southern Iraq. Kurdish infighting continued until 1999 when the two groups agreed to end hostilities.

The UN-imposed trade sanctions crippled Iraq economically, reducing the country's ability to rebuild following the extensive damage caused during the war. In 1995, in recognition of an impending humanitarian crisis, the UN introduced an oil-for-food programme whereby Iraq could sell $1 billion worth of oil every 90 days, with the money set aside for food and medicine, compensation to Kuwaitis, and other purposes. [3] In October 1997 the UN disarmament commission concluded that Iraq was hiding information about biological and chemical weapons. US weapons inspectors were expelled from Iraq in November of the same year, and in response the US massed military forces in the Persian Gulf. US and British forces began air raids against military targets and oil refineries in December 1998.

In January 1999 the US admitted that US spies had worked undercover as weapons inspectors while in Iraq gathering intelligence on Iraqi weapons programs. [4] In December 1999 the UN devised a new weapons inspection plan including the suspension of sanctions, but this was rejected by Iraq, who refused to contemplate the resumption of inspections. Society Life centres around the southeast-flowing rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, which come together in the Shatt al Arab at the head of the Persian Gulf. The region is purported to be the legendary location of the Garden of Eden, and has been home to many flourishing early civilisations.

Today the majority of the population is of Arabic ethnicity (75-80%). The largest minority group comprises of Kurds (Sunni Muslims, accounting for approximately 15-20%) primarily inhabiting the northeastern areas of Iraq. Other large minorities include Turks, Armenians, and Assyrians (Nestorian Christians). Islam is the major religion in the country, accounting for almost 97% of the population, and is divided between two distinct traditions, Shi'a and Sunni Muslims (65% and 35% respectively - although Sunnis are more numerous throughout the majority of Arab countries). Economy "Iraq is potentially one of the richest Arab and developing countries, with big deposits of oil, phosphates and other minerals, skilled industrial and managerial staff, a well established farming sector with excellent irrigation and a strong industrial base. It has the biggest domestic market in the Persian gulf region".

[5] Oil dominates the modern Iraqi economy, traditionally accounting for nearly 95% of the country's foreign exchange earnings. [6] Oil production is particularly focused in two main regions: in the mountainous north, Mosul and Kirkuk, and in the southeast, inland from the Persian Gulf, near Ar Rumaylah. From these areas the oil is piped to Turkey, Tripoli (Lebanon), Baniyas (Syria), and the Persian Gulf. As well as oil, Iraq has a small industrial sector, including chemicals, textiles, cement, food products, construction materials, leather goods, and machinery.

New industries are also being established in electronics products, fertilizers, and refined sugar. Agricultural production is the mainstay of the population, including crops of wheat, barley, rice, vegetables, dates, and cotton. However, even prior to the imposition of sanctions, Iraq was dependent on imported food to account for about 70 percent of all proteins and calories. [7] Most of Iraq's oil is produced by the Iraq Petroleum Company, which was owned by an international group of investors until it was nationalized in 1972, along with the other major foreign-owned oil companies. The subsequent rises in oil prices, masterminded by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), in 1973, dramatically increased Iraq's oil revenues, from $1 billion in 1972 to $8.2 billion in 1975.

[8] These revenues enabled the government to pursue modernization programmes and improve public services throughout the country, they also solidified the role of the government in the economy. "Beginning in the 1970's, the Iraqi government came to be the primary determiner of employment, income distribution, and development, both of economic sectors and of geographical regions. It carried out extensive economic planning and exercised heavy control over agriculture, foreign trade, communication networks, banking services, public utilities, and industrial production, leaving only small-scale industry, shops, farms, and some services to the private sector". [9] All sectors of the Iraqi economy suffered during the 1980's as a result of the Iran-Iraq war, with the oil industry hit by an international oil glut, which continued into the 1990's.

Oil exports began to improve in the late 1980's but then seriously decreased as a result of economic sanctions imposed by the UN following Iraq's annexation of Kuwait. The result of these factors upon the Iraqi economy was devastating, leaving the country financially bankrupt and with much of its basic infrastructure destroyed. Between 1991 and 1999 Iraq's real gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 75% to levels experienced in Iraq in the 1940's, before the country's oil boom and subsequent modernization. [10] The government's policy of printing money to finance its spending commitments has exacerbated inflation.

UN sanctions against Iraq have reduced both exports and imports and have contributed to a sharp rise in prices and severe shortages of previously imported commodities, including medicines. Despite a burgeoning black market in smuggled Iraqi oil, the country has become highly dependent on foreign economic aid. In 1996, in recognition of a potential humanitarian crisis in the country, the UN allowed Iraq to export oil for the first time since 1990. The oil-for-food programme sought to halt the growing levels of disease and malnutrition as a result of internal shortages and damaged infrastructure.

By 2000, oil exports were up to nearly 90% of the 1989 pre-Gulf War level. [11] Despite these export improvements, the softening of sanctions programmes has not solved the fundamental economic problems of a country impoverished by two successive wars, a decade of economic sanctions, and an autocrat who persists in using the country's official foreign reserves for personal gain. [12] Government Iraq is a republic with 18 muhafazat (provinces): Al Anbar, Al Basra h, Al Muth anna, Al Qadisiyah, An Najaf, Arb il, As Sulaymaniyah, At Ta " mim, B abil, Baghdad, Dah uk, Dhi Qar, Di yala, Karbala', Mays an, Nina wa, Salah ad Din, Wait. Iraq's governmental system is separated into three branches, the executive, the legislative, and the judicial, although in practice neither the legislative nor the judiciary are independent of the executive. [13] Saddam Hussein is currently Iraq's president, prime minister and Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC). The RCC is the main executive and legislative body in accordance with the Provisional Constitution of 1970.

Membership of the RCC corresponds to membership of the Ba " at Party Regional Command, indicating the party's dominance in governmental affairs. Presidential elections are held every seven years, with the victor receiving two-thirds of the vote of the Revolutionary Command Council. The last election in 1995 saw the unopposed re-election of Saddam Hussein, who has been president since 1979. The President, in turn, appoints the Council of Ministers, which acts as the presidential executive arm The Majlis Wa tani (National Assembly) is the legislative body and consists of 250 members; 220 of whom are elected by majority vote from 59 multi-seat constituencies, and the remaining 30, reserved for the Kurdish region, are appointed by the President for a term of four years.

At the last elections in March 2000 (turnout 83.6%), only members of the Al J abha al Wataniyah al Wahdwamiiyah (Progressive National Front) based on the Hizb al Baath al " Arabiyah al Ishtiraki (Socialist Arab Rebirth Party) and non-partisans supporting the Ba " at government were allowed to run. [14] The Assembly meets twice a year and exercises legislative functions in conjunction with the RCC, which has ultimate decision-making authority. The judiciary in Iraq consists of courts with specific jurisdiction over civil, criminal, administrative, religious and other matters. Secular courts are a modified version of the French model introduced during Ottoman rule before 1918. Sharia courts decide disputes arising within the boundaries of Islamic law. The court of last resort in Iraq is the Court of Cassation, which also resides over crimes committed by high government officials, including judges.

The lack of constitutional direction for organisation of the judiciary in Iraq has meant that in practice the legal system operates on the basis of laws promulgated by the RCC. [15].