What a telling medley of articles in the New York Times June 19. First this, from the front page:

Deals With Iraq Are Set to Bring Oil Giants Back
BAGHDAD — Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power.

From the Iraq Freedom Congress, June 16:

On the US-Iraqi Treaty
The US administration plans to tie Iraq to a treaty that will guarantee a US military presence and political interference with absolute control of the wealth and resources of Iraq.

A car bombing that killed 63 June 17 at a bus-stop in Baghdad's predominantly Shi'ite Hurriya area may have been carried out by a militant trying to incite Shi'ite violence against Sunnis, the US military said. Lt. Col. Steve Stover said, "Our intelligence, corroborated through multiple sources, is this atrocity was committed" by Haydar Mehdi Khadum al-Fawadi, leader of an Iranian-backed militant cell. "We believe he ordered the attack to incite Shia violence against Sunnis," he said, adding that al-Fawadi is a "murderous thug." (CNN, June 18)

A statement from the Iraq Freedom Congress, June 7:

IFC Members Find and Arrest the Killers of Dr. Mohammed Jassim, Sana TV Program Director
In coordination with IFC safety force and police, the leadership of Iraq Freedom Congress (Wasit Chapter 180 km south East of Baghdad) was able to arrest the two criminals who carried out the assassination of Dr. Mohammed Jassim on June 2, 2008.

A statement from the General Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq, via the Iraq Freedom Congress, June 7:

The Ministry of Industry and Minerals Privatizes Its Companies
Brothers and sisters in the working class: Amid chaos and lawlessness, surprisingly the Ministry of Industry and Minerals decides to privatize its affiliate companies. The ministry announced privatization of a number of corporations, including manufacturers of cement, pharmaceutical and petrochemicals companies, despite the fact that these enterprises are economically feasible and substantially profitable.

Patrick Cockburn claims in The Independent June 5 that a "secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election in November." Speaking to several anonymous Baghdad politicians who oppose the deal, he writes: "Iraqi officials fear that the accord, under which US troops would occupy permanent bases, conduct military operations, arrest Iraqis and enjoy immunity from Iraqi law, will destabilise Iraq's position in the Middle East and lay the basis for unending conflict in their country." The anonymous politicians call the deal "a terrible breach of our sovereignty," and dismiss US denials that it seeks permanent bases in Iraq as "just a tactical subterfuge."

Turkey's military is cooperating with Iran by sharing information and coordinating strikes against PKK guerillas in northern Iraq, commander of the Turkish Land Forces Ilker Basbug said on June 5. "We are sharing intelligence with Iran, we are talking, we are coordinating," CNN-Turk TV quoted Basbug as telling reporters on the sidelines of a security conference in Istanbul. "When they start an operation, we do, too. They carry out an operation from the Iranian side of the border, we from the Turkish side... We haven't done it for one or two months but we would do it if necessary." (AP, Hurriyet, June 5) Such claims have been heard before.

A statement from Hassan Juma'a Awad, president of Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, via US Labor Against the War (USLAW), May 28:

Statement by Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions
to 2008 Chevron and ExxonMobil Shareholder meetings
On May 28, 2008, Chevron and ExxonMobil Corporations will each conduct their annual shareholder meetings. Chevron will convene its meeting at its world headquarters in San Ramon, CA. ExxonMobil will conduct its meeting in Dallas, Texas. Antiwar, environmental and other social justice organizations will conduct protests at each event.