From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Is the Iraq War about oil after all?

Hello again, I'm Mormon All, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

The big Western oil companies are coming back to Iraq, 36 years after their assets were nationalized by Saddam Hussein.

No-Bid service contracts will go to British, Dutch, French, and American companies, providing a long-term advantage when production increases.

Russia, China, and India are losing out.

On To the Point, can the Kurds, Sunnis, and Shiites agree on sharing the proceeds?

Will U.S. troops be required to maintain security?

What are the lessons about why the war was begun?

I'm a reporter's notebook later on, myth and history in Homer's Odyssey.

First, here's the news.

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and from the Public Radio International Program Fund,

whose contributors include the Ford Foundation and the John D.

and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Hello again, Warmin Alney, back with To The Point.

Saddam Hussein kicked the big Western oil companies out of Iraq in 1972. Now they're back,

with no-bid service contracts that will put them inside Iraq's redeveloping industry. On To the Point,

will increased Iraqi production help postpone an energy crisis? Will U.S. troops remain for security? Is that what the war in

Iraq is really about? On reporter's notebook, how much of Homer's Odyssey is fantasy? How much is fact?

We'll hear an intriguing account of the day when Penelope's suitors were killed. First, this news update.

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