Eleven Iraqi exiles, as well dressed as they are well connected, flew into Washington late last month for a private two-day meeting at a nondescript downtown hotel. The Iraqis--engineers and economists invited by U.S. officials and intimately familiar with their country's oil industry--spoke in English, not Arabic, for the benefit of American observers. Most of the Iraqis insisted on keeping their identities secret to avoid retaliation from Baghdad. But there was no mystery as to their purpose: the men had gathered to prepare for the struggle over Iraq's oil riches that will start the day U.S. forces drive Saddam Hussein from...
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