Baghdad's Fissures and Mistrust Keep Political Goals Out of Reach

But the legislation has yet to be introduced in parliament. Politicians from the semiautonomous Kurdish region say measures in the law that would take undeveloped oil fields away from regional governments and have a new national oil company oversee them are unconstitutional.

"Iraq, frankly, does not have the money to invest in oil fields," said Ashti Hawrami, the Kurdish region's minister of natural resources. He added that the Kurds are disputing four annexes to the draft law that would dilute their ability to exploit oil in their territory. If the draft isn't "watered down," Kurdish regional authorities will not support it, he said.

The Kurds also don't trust the central government to distribute oil revenue, saying it has been behind in payments in other instances. Some have suggested that a fund be set up outside Iraq to dole out that money. "We are asking for our fair share and guarantees that we will receive it," Hawrami said.

Sunni Arabs and some secular Shiite politicians, however, stand firm that the central government must control oil production and revenue distribution. "If we want to keep the unity of Iraq, the best way is to keep the oil under the authority of the central government," said Adnan Pachachi, a secular Sunni with the Iraqi National List party of former prime minister Ayad Allawi.

While some Kurds favor allowing agreements that would share production with foreign oil companies, many Sunnis and Shiites are against them on nationalistic grounds. They prefer service contracts in which Iraq would pay for work.

"The oil law needs time to pass in order to become an additional bond in the reconciliation process, and not cleave it," said Mustafa al-Hiti, a Sunni legislator. "If the Americans want national reconciliation, they should postpone this law, and don't force the government to pass it by the right time."

De-Baathification

For the first time in months, Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni, saw hope for reconciling with his Shiite counterparts.

On March 26, then-U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Maliki announced a proposal to allow thousands of additional former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party to rejoin the government or get pensions.

But less than 24 hours later, it quickly unraveled. Religious Shiites in Maliki's ruling coalition opposed key elements of the proposal. Now, at least three additional versions have surfaced, all diluted versions of the original proposal.

"We are suffering a political chaos," Hashimi said. "I thought when Maliki signed and gave his endorsement, he had done his homework and convinced his colleagues."

In the aftermath of the 2003 invasion, the U.S. occupation authority under L. Paul Bremer forced Baathists out of their government jobs and disbanded Hussein's army. Those actions are now widely seen as having fueled the Sunni Arab insurgency. Thousands of low-ranking Baathists have been allowed to return to their jobs, but not enough to satisfy Sunni leaders.

"Everyone agrees we need to reform de-Baathification," said Chalabi. "But there is a great sense the facts as perceived in Washington about de-Baathification are certainly not what they really are here."