Hikmah

RTGS has been in use for years in Iraq, there are over 40 banks right now who utilize it like Rasheed, Rafidian and even Warka.

There are two versions of the HCL. The first was created and put together in 2007, the US helped craft legislation that allowed the provinces to choose who they worked with, where the oil was drilled for and full transparency including revenue sharing for all the citizens of Iraq. Then Maliki became PM. His team took the original HCL apart and centralized everything, the GOI worked with the oil companies, told them where to drill and offered no transparency. This is the version the Kurd's, Christians, Turkmen and Sunni don't want to pass, they want choices when oil is drilled in their backyards. If the HCL gets passed anytime soon, it will be Maliki's Shia version that benefits very few people in Iraq, unless you're part of the government and the Shia religion.

Sounds like they're saying "paying their bills"

Sounds like they're taking the weapons away from the civilians, guess they don't have a second amendment to protect themselves with.

Israel is the fly in this ointment. They'll never agree to losing lands and going back to what is was before the Arabs attacked in 1967. I don't see Iraq dividing either unless it's into autonomous zones, the Iranians won't allow it. http://www.npr.org/2011/05/24/136495202/background-israels-pre-1967-boundaries

The elections will be delayed because of the change in ratio's.

Exactly. This isn't smoke they've been fighting for years.

lol Baghdad is going to blow a gasket, that's a billion dollars they'll never see.

The GOI have drug their feet since 2005 when it comes to Article 140, they've had every opportunity to address and fix this. Instead, they ran in the face of the enemy and essentially handed Kirkuk to the Kurd's and I don't see them returning it with a bow on it. Baghdad's sectarianism is coming home to roost, they lost Anbar Province for three years and they're about to lose Kirkuk permanently. I don't think President Trump is going to allow Syria, Iran or Turkey to dictate terms to the Kurd's, it's going to be up to us. The "trump" card is that the Kurd's have already offered to accommodate US bases in the territory, something the US wants badly.

"Kurdish officials claim there is no real partnership in governing Iraq, and the Baghdad government treats them as guests rather than partners in the country." Truer words were never spoken, Iraq and the Shia have treated the Kurd's like crap for years, who wouldn't want to leave? I agree, Drunk Viking, I don't think this is disastrous for the dinar but it sure doesn't help anything.

Thank you Yota

Clowns like this are exactly why Abadi has to dismantle the militia's, no more armed factions that don't answer to the central government, it's 2017 for crying out loud.

State of Law is starting up in preparation for elections in 2018, look for more of these types of articles.......................in the coming days.

Barzani needs to fix the Kurdish problems first, right now they're divided. He's remained two years past his time as President and he's not keen on giving up any power. If he can unite the Kurd's and state he wants to create a democracy in Kurdistan, I don't know why the west would stop him, there's too much upside. Hopefully Baghdad understands how serious they are and the long range implications of a free Kurdistan, if they do what they've always done, the Kurd's have no reason to stay. I can't imagine it happening let alone how this will effect our dinar.

Thanks, Tiger. The Iranians like to put this stuff out there to get Sadr, Ameri and Badr worked up, they and Maliki want no more troops in Iraq, they can't lie cheat and steal as much when our troops are there.