by white

I hate the wordage of this headline...

Iraq's ambitious plan could see it clash increasingly with the regime in Saudi Arabia, which has used its influence in OPEC over the last decade to keep oil prices above $100 a barrel. Saudi itself is now under pressure to boost output to maintain market share. The kingdom pumped 9.8m bpd in December up by about 100,000 barrels from the previous month.

Shiite majority states getting more buddy-buddy. I don't think this is particularly breaking news, but it seems as though Shiites and Sunnis are solidifying the gaps between the two groups. Also because there is no doubt Saudis provide significant funding to Sunni groups; I've heard rumors of rich Saudis paying large sums of money for combat videos for their own enjoyment. They do weird things with their wealth.

Sunni tribal leaders in Al-Anbar province seem to believe there is an overarching plan on some level.

“We are all against the Iranian regime because this plan is being implemented on behalf of the Iranian regime, its rulers in Tehran and it agents in Baghdad. We say to Maliki war will reach areas near Baghdad if he doesn’t release Dr. Ahmed al-Alawani.”

Alwani being a big player in Sunni anti-government protests who was arrested. On top of Iranian officials supposedly entering the Iraqi army.

It will be interesting to see how this continues to develop.