Oil pumps slowly in Iraq

Frequent sabotage keeps revenue below expectations

BAGHDAD – Iraq’s most valuable resource is going up in flames. Oil is supposed to bankroll reconstruction and provide 95 percent of government revenue. But even with record prices, annual revenue is less than one-third the $50 billion forecast by the Bush administration.

The problems? A crumbling infrastructure created by a decade of neglect during U.N. sanctions, and then looting after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

“Add the poor shape to begin with and what is happening now on the ground, and you have a very, very crippled industry,” says Gal Luft of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security.

What is happening now is sabotage