Not knowing the rules is no excuse!

(Thanks to AK News for photo).

The title of this post is a line from a group email I received regarding policies which govern protocol at my place of employ. And on this occasion, I would have to agree (so long as the rules are arbitrarily shifting rules). It is not acceptable for everyone to do only what benefits themselves, justifying their actions by pleading ignorance. However, I really wonder to what extent such edicts will be heeded in a place such as Kurdistan where the government, while seeking international recognition and support, refuses to be bound by the rules governing transactions in that forum in which it seeks to be a participant.

While enjoying a chat with a friend who happens to be a journalist, I was alerted to the situation facing Norwegian company DNO and the KRG. Is it truly possible that an entire government is unaware that the secret buying and selling of millions of dollars worth of shares in a company which you have intimate knowledge of is considered internationally to be a crime? Moreover, to not know that that the failure to account for huge sums of money which have subsequently gone missing is suspicious and could lead to international investigations... Well, Jhilwan Qazzaz of the Prime Minister's office says it all to Reuters in the article linked above, "Some things that are seen as corrupt are very, very normal ... part of the natural culture here."