It would be a big step forward if Iraq actually approved and carried out long-promised and never-delivered legislation equitably sharing the nation’s oil revenues among all Iraqis. Unfortunately, the draft oil agreement approved by Iraq’s cabinet on Monday is still a long way from that. There are a host of political hurdles that must be overcome and there is no assurance that Iraq’s Shiites and Kurds are suddenly willing to share the wealth equitably with the Sunnis.

There’s little surprise that the White House is trying to claim the draft oil law as progress. There is no other good news to report.

The most important steps need to be taken by the Iraqi government itself.

Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and his cabinet need to take responsibility for unifying a nation torn apart by decades of dictatorship and insurgency, rather than further inflaming those divisions by exacting vengeance on the formerly dominant Sunni Arab minority.

The security forces have to be purged of sectarian fighters bent on revenge and transformed into national forces committed to protecting all Iraqis.

And oil must be equitably shared without regard to geography, religion or ethnic group. An oil law should be one of the benchmarks Washington insists on as a condition of continued support.