[Abcdxxxx]

Okay whatever I read describing this Troika thing in detail seems to have vanished, but as I remember it, the Shiites do take over Baghdad under the plan, and oil is split evenly by a commision. Then I also vaguely recall the oil being controlled by our new puppet Shiite government while the areas in the North would get carved up to appease the neighbors.

The latest stuff I'm reading from various sources is that the US had all factions meet in London last month and this is already well planned out. It sounds like Jalal Talabani, 69 year old chief of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is the number one candidate for the PM of Iraq. He attempted a fail coup against the Baath party in the Seventies, and sought refuge in Iran. So the US has already been putting out feelers on how people feel about this and so far so good...accept for Turkey who seem to be flip flopping (and their back and forth agreements with the allies are proof). Turkey's original role was to secure the oil fields, and air strips in the North... and there were reports that did just that a good 8 months before the actual war (or around the same time out Special Forces went in)

They've planned 18 months for the interim stabalization period during which the US miltary commander and a civilian office will run the government. It solves the problem of losing Iraq's Sunni commanded fighting force by utilizing two US trained Kurdish militias. Talabani's PUK and the Kurdistan Democratic Party led by his rival Massoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic party (who has ties with Iran's Revolutionary Gaurds). These two forces, around 40,000 strong, would become the backbone of the new Iraqi army to defend the Sunni's who we know are a minority against the Shiites. Now that the Sunni rulership has fallen they're realistic about the fears of a Shiite government coming in, so they're supporting this other option instead. What's interesting with that is the Kurds were never considered true Iraqis by ANYONE.

Take all that with a grain of salt. Anything they're going to do out there would be problematic.