Pipe Dreams
The Plundering of Iraq's Oil Wealth

In this short work Mr. Banco sets out to expose corruption, not just in Baghdad but in Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government. This is an important work, as with all of the corruption and scandal in the Iraqi capital, the northern autonomous region is often overlooked by the West, unles......more

With all the political squabbling,, Kurdistan corruption, and shady government dealings with less-than-honest energy companies that are covered here in this book, I personally would have liked to see a little more attention given to the growing suffering among the people that is the result of it all......more

While the topic of this book is of little interest to me, I found that the author does an excellent research and a succinct analysis of how the Kurdish landlords that appeared in the aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq exploit most of the oil reserves in northern part of the country (through variou......more

Well I will never think the same inconsequential thoughts when filling up my gas tank anymore. This book gives you a base of what led to the demise of the failing oil market in the Middle East. This book discusses outside political entaglements, military involvement, and the war all taking its piece......more

The title is misleading, because it's really a deep dive into Kurdish-Iraqi relations, the impact of ISIS, and the Kurdish local authorities in the light of oil issues. It does not talk about the broader issues of Iraqi oil with any detail. Nonetheless, as an investigative book on Kurdish corruption......more