The expected withdrawal of British forces from southern Iraq highlights a critical but little discussed aspect of the conflict: The security of the southern oil sector, which is essential to Iraqi stability and important to the international oil market. The…

On March 27, 2003, Paul Wolfowitz, then deputy secretary of defense, predicted that Iraq’s oil revenue would “finance” its reconstruction and do so “relatively soon.” With wise investment and management, Wolfowitz might have been right. Even though its oil sector…