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TechnoratiSlick Connections: U.S. Influence on Iraqi Oil
"The oil belongs to the Iraqi people. It's their asset," declared President George W. Bush in a press conference on the White House lawn in June 2006. He had just returned from a surprise visit to Baghdad, in which oil had been one of the main subjects of discussion.
"We talked about how to advise the government to best use that money for the benefit of the people," he clarified.
But by January 2007, the euphemism of "advice" had been dropped, as passage of an oil law became a "benchmark," an instruction to the Iraqi government.
Violating the very notions of freedom and democracy Bush invokes in nearly every speech on Iraq, the U.S. government has actively intervened in the restructuring of Iraq's oil industry since at least 2002. At different times, the Iraqi government has been threatened that passing the oil law was a pre-condition for partial reduction of Saddam Hussein's debts, for the provision of reconstruction funds, and even for the continued survival (through U.S. military support) of the al-Maliki government itself.
The issues could hardly be more important for Iraq. Oil accounts for more than 90% of government revenue, and is the main driver of Iraq's economy. And decisions made in the coming months will not be reversible-once contracts are signed, they will have a major bearing on Iraq's economy and politics for decades to come.
No wonder polls have shown that roughly 75% of Iraqis think one of the main reasons why the United States invaded Iraq was "to control Iraqi oil."1
Attempting to reverse this perception and change U.S. policy, lawmakers passed legislation stating that the United States should not exert "control over any oil resource of Iraq." But contradicting this sentiment, the Congress also passed a law that required reporting on a set of U.S. imposed benchmarks, which included language for the Iraqi parliament to pass " legislation to ensure the equitable distribution of hydrocarbon resources." The administration has used this benchmark to push a law that has almost nothing to do with revenue distribution among Iraq's sectarian groups, and everything to do with creating highly profitable opportunities for multinational oil corporations.2
Under pressure from the U.S. government, the Iraqi cabinet has endorsed the controversial oil law, which now awaits approval in the Parliament. Yet among Iraqis, the law faces extensive opposition, including from two of the law's three original authors-as well as more than 100 of Iraq's most senior oil experts, the powerful oil unions, and other religious and secular civil society organizations.
Ironically, the law deemed to be needed to bring the country together, instead has the potential to violently rip it apart.
Oil Pressure: A History of U.S. Involvement in Iraq's Oil Development
Feb.-March 2001: White House Energy Taskforce produces a list of "Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts."3
December 2002-April 2003: U.S. State Department Oil and Energy Working Group brought together influential Iraqi exiles, U.S. government officials, and international consultants. The result of the project's work was a "draft framework for Iraq's oil policy" that would form the foundation for the energy policy now being considered by the Iraqi Parliament. The final report noted that Iraq "should be opened to international oil companies as quickly as possible after the war.4 Later, several Iraqi members of the group became part of the Iraqi government. The Group included future Iraqi Oil Minister, Bahr al-Uloum.
January 2003: The Wall Street Journal reported that representatives from Exxon Mobil Corp., ChevronTexaco Corp., ConocoPhillips, and Halliburton, among others, were meeting with Vice President Cheney's staff to plan the post-war revival of Iraq's oil industry.5
January 2003: Phillip Carroll, a former chief executive with Royal Dutch-Shell, and a 15-member "board of advisers" were appointed to oversee Iraq's oil industry during the transition period. According to the Guardian, the group's chief executive would represent Iraq at meetings of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).6 Carroll had been working with the Pentagon for months before the invasion-even while the administration was still insisting that it sought a peaceful resolution to the Iraq crisis-"developing contingency plans for Iraq's oil sector in the event of war."
Carroll, in addition to running Shell Oil in the United States, was a former CEO of the Fluor Corporation, a well-connected oil services firm with extensive projects in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and at least $1.6 billion in contracts for Iraq's reconstruction.
One month after the invasion, Carroll took control of Iraq's oil production for the U.S. Government. He was joined by Gary Vogler, a former executive with ExxonMobil, in Iraq's Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance.
Mr. Carroll made it clear to Paul Bremer, the U.S. occupation chief who arrived in Iraq in May 2003, that, "There was to be no privatization of Iraqi oil resources or facilities while he was involved."7 Carroll leaves his job seven months later.
March 2003: Iraqi Oil Ministry was one of the few structures the invading forces protected from looters in the first days of the war.
April 2003: During the initial assault on Baghdad, soldiers set up forward bases named Camp Shell and Camp Exxon.8
April 2003: President Bush called for UN sanctions against Iraq to be dropped. The request sounds innocuous enough, but it masks an urgent U.S. desire for a free hand to start pumping Iraqi crude once again to raise funds for rebuilding the country.9
April 2003: USAID Solicits Bid to Draft Economic Reorganization Plan for Iraq. The U.S. Agency for International Development asks BearingPoint, Inc to bid on a sole-sourced contract for "economic governance" work in Iraq. The contract document was written by Treasury Department officials and reviewed by financial consultants. The confidential 100-page request, titled "Moving The Iraqi Economy From Recovery to Sustainable Growth," states that the contractor will help support "private sector involvement in strategic sectors, including privatization, asset sales, concessions, leases, and management contracts, especially in the oil and supporting industries."10
May 22, 2003: UN Security Council passed a resolution ending sanctions on Iraq. Significantly, the resolution gave the United States decision making power over how the oil funds would be used with regard to relief, reconstruction, disarmament, and "other purposes benefiting the people of Iraq."11
May 22, 2003: President Bush signed Executive Order 13303 providing full legal immunity to all U.S. oil companies doing business in Iraq in order to facilitate the country's "orderly reconstruction."
June 22, 2003: Iraq ships crude oil for the first time since the start of the war. Head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, Paul Bremer, broached the politically sensitive issue of how oil revenue should be spent, proposing that some of the money be shared with Iraqis through a system of dividend payments or a national trust fund to finance public pensions. "Iraq's resources cannot be restricted to a lucky or powerful few," Bremer said. "Iraq's natural resources should be shared by all Iraqis."12
July 2003: Bremer appoints the members of the Iraqi Government Council. Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, a member of the State Department's energy working group, is tapped as Iraq's oil minister. Al-Uloum soon proposed a privatization program, and endorsed production sharing agreements as the route to that goal.13
October 2003: Carroll was replaced by Robert McKee, a former ConocoPhillips executive. According to the Houston Chronicle, "His selection as the Bush administration's energy czar in Iraq" drew fire from Congressional Democrats "because of his ties to the prime contractor in the Iraqi oil fields, Houston-based Halliburton Co. He's the chairman of a venture partitioned by the ... firm."14
The administration selected ChevronTexaco Vice President Norm Szydlowski to serve as a liaison between the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Oil Ministry. Now the CEO of the appropriately named Colonial Pipeline Company, Szydlowski continued to work with the Iraq Energy Roundtable, a project of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, which sponsored meetings to "bring together oil and gas sector leaders in the United States with key decision makers from the Iraq Ministry of Oil."15 Terry Adams and Bob Morgan of BP, and Mike Stinson of ConocoPhillips would also serve as advisers during the transition.16
November 2003: McKee quietly ordered a new plan for Iraq's oil. The drafting would be overseen by a "senior adviser," Amy Jaffe, who had worked for Morse when he was the Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations. Jaffe now works for James Baker, the former Secretary of State, whose law firm serves as counsel to both ExxonMobil and the defense minister of Saudi Arabia. The plan, written by State Department contractor BearingPoint, was guided, says Jaffe, by a handful of oil -industry consultants and executives.17
December 19, 2003: BearingPoint releases "Options for Developing a Long Term Sustainable Iraqi Oil Industry," a report on the Iraqi oil industry favoring foreign participation as the most efficient way of developing the sector.18
March 2004: CPA names new Iraq Oil Advisers: Mike Stinson of ConocoPhillips and Bob Morgan of BP.19
March 2004: Iraq's interim constitution, the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) passed in March 2004 by Iraq's Governing Council, sets forth that CPA laws, regulations, and orders are to remain in force after the transfer of sovereignty unless a duly enacted piece of legislation rescinds or amends them.20
June 2004: U.S. handover to the Iraq Interim Government. Mike Stinson becomes an adviser to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.21 Thamir al-Ghadban is named as Iraqi Oil Minister.
November 2004: International oil companies launched voluntary efforts to train Iraq's oil workers and provide technical assistance, hoping to generate goodwill and eventually get access to the country's huge oil reserves. Companies from the United States, Britain, and Russia-including ChevronTexaco Corp., BP, Royal Dutch/Shell Group, and Lukoil-are paying to send Iraqi oil workers out of the country to teach them the latest techniques in developing and managing oil fields.22
December 22, 2004: Iraqi Finance Minister Mahdi, in a joint press conference with U.S. Undersecretary of State Alan Larson at the National Press Club, announced Iraq's plans for a new petroleum law to open the oil sector to foreign private investment. Mahdi explained, "So I think this is very promising to the American investors and to American enterprise, certainly to oil companies."23
Early 2005: New Government, old oil minister, al-Uloum reappointed to position of Minister for Oil. Ahmed Chalabi, head of the U.S.-backed Iraqi National Congress, was appointed chair of the Energy Council. In 2002, Chalabi said, "U.S. companies will have a big shot at Iraqi oil."24
May 2005: Approximately 30 international oil companies signed Memoranda of Understanding with Iraq, generally for the training of Iraqi staff, consulting work, and studies.25
August 30, 2005: Bush says U.S. troops would continue fighting in Iraq in order to protect the country's vast oil fields, which he said would otherwise fall under the control of terrorist extremists.26
October 15 2005: The national referendum for the Iraqi constitution passes, containing an outline for oil revenue sharing and development.
December 2005: Iraq enters into agreement with the International Monetary Fund committing Iraq to draft a new petroleum law by the end of 2006 to allow foreign investment in the country's oil industry. The arrangement was signed before the new Iraqi government had been appointed and one week after the December 2005 elections thus denying Iraqi voters a chance to react through the ballot box.
February 2006-June 2006: USAID contracts with BearingPoint to draft Iraq's oil law to provide "legal and regulatory advice in drafting the framework of petroleum and other energy-related legislation, including foreign investment."27
March 15, 2006: Gen. John Abizaid, the Army general overseeing U.S. military operations in Iraq, said the United States may want to keep a long-term military presence in Iraq to bolster moderates against extremists in the region and protect the flow of oil.28
May 2006: Iraq's new oil minister, Hussein al-Sharistani, began drafting legislation to govern Iraq's oil sector. Following his appointment, Shahristani announced that one of his top priorities would be to pass a law allowing privatization through parliament by the end of 2006.
July 2006: U.S. Government and oil companies get a copy of the draft oil law.29
September 2006: International Monetary Fund and World Bank receive a copy of draft oil law.30
October 17, 2006: President Bush signs the 2007 Defense Authorization Act (PL No: 109-364) which states in SEC. 1519,"No funds ... in this Act may be obligated or expended ... to exercise United States economic control of the oil resources of Iraq.
February 2007: U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, "has been in intense talks with Kurdish leaders in the north to overcome their objections to the draft. Iraqi officials say Mr. Khalilzad's negotiations were crucial to winning unanimous cabinet approval."31
February 18, 2007: "Draft Hydrocarbon Law" was submitted to the Iraqi Cabinet (Council of Ministers).32
February 26, 2007: "Draft Hydrocarbon Law" was submitted to the Iraqi Parliament (Council of Representatives) by the Iraqi Cabinet.33
April 19, 2007: Defense Secretary Robert Gates travels to Baghdad to push political benchmarks and specifically the oil law.34
May 9 2007: U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney travels to Baghdad to push political benchmarks and specifically the oil law.35
June 12, 2007: U.S. Admiral Fallon, head of the Central Command, warned Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in a closed-door conversation to pass the oil law by July.36
July 3, 2007: Iraq cabinet approves oil law draft.37
July 12, 2007: The White House released its Initial Benchmark Assessment Report. Benchmark #3, "Enacting and implementing legislation to ensure the equitable distribution of hydrocarbon resources" is found to be not met. The report notes, "The effect of limited progress toward this benchmark has been to reduce the perceived confidence in, and effectiveness of, the Iraqi Government. This does not, however, necessitate a revision to our current plan and strategy, under which we have assigned a high priority to this subject, and the process overall has continued to move forward."38
End Notes
University of Michigan, 14 June 2006, "Iraq attitudes: Survey Documents Big Changes," available at www.umich.edu/news/index.html?Releases/2006/Jun06/r061406a.
In the law pushed by the U.S. administration, just one out of 43 articles mentions revenues: and that simply establishes two bank accounts, and states that the distribution will be determined by a separate law. This separate law was put together as an afterthought in summer 2007-attracting almost no interest from the administration; whilst as the timeline shows, the law providing for long-term contracts with multinational companies was consistently pushed by U.S. officials.
Documents from the Cheney-led National Energy Policy Development Group, available at: www.judicialwatch.org; Larry Everest, "Cheney, Energy, and Iraq Invasion: Supreme Court to Rule on Secrecy," San Francisco Chronicle, March 21, 2004; Michael Schwartz, "The Struggle Over Iraqi Oil," TomDispatch May 8, 2007. Available at: http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/oil/2007/0508struggleiraqioil.htm.
Greg Muttitt, "Crude Designs: The Rip-Off of Iraq's Oil Wealth," Platform, November 2005. Available at: http://www.crudedesigns.org/.
Charley Cray, "About Halliburton," Halliburton Watch, n.d. Available online at: http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/about_hal/energytf.html.
David Teather, "American to Oversee Iraqi Oil Industry," The Guardian/UK, April 26, 2003.
Greg Palast, "U.S. Secret Plans For Iraq's Oil," BBC News World Edition, March 17, 2005.
Paul Farhi, "The Soothing Sound of Fighting Words," The Washington Post, March 26, 2003.
Mark Rice, "For Iraq's Oil Wealth, Tangled Pipes," The Christian Science Monitor, April 21, 2003.
Neil King Jr., "Bush Officials Draft Broad Plan for Free-Market Economy in Iraq," Wall Street Journal, May 1, 2003.
Colum Lynch, "United States to Propose Broader Control of Iraqi Oil, Funds," The Washington Post, May 9, 2003.
Rajiv Chandrasekaran, "Bremer Broaches Plans for Iraq's Oil Revenue," The Washington Post, June 23, 2003.
James Ridgeway, "The Black Gold Rush: Divvying Up Iraq's Oil," Mother Jones, January 29, 2007.
David Ivanovich, "Houston Exec Gets Top Iraq Energy Post," Houston Chronicle, September 23, 2003.
U.S. Trade and Development Agency, conference agenda, "Iraq Energy Roundtable: Emerging Opportunities in the Iraq Oil and Gas Sector," June, 7, 2006. Available at: http://www.export.gov/iraq/pdf/oilgas_roudtable_060706.pdf.
Joshua Holland, "The U.S. Takeover of Iraqi Oil" AlterNet, October 17, 2006.
Greg Palast, "OPEC on the March: Why Iraq Still Sells its Oil a la Cartel," Harper's Magazine, April 1, 2005.
Muttitt, Crude Designs. Op. cit.
Muttitt, Crude Designs. Op. cit.
CPA, "Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period, art. 26(c)," March 8, 2004. Available at: http://www.cpa-iraq.org/government/TAL.html (accessed June 22, 2004).
Muttitt, Crude Designs. Op. cit.
Justin Blum, "Big Oil Companies Train Iraqi Workers Free Global Companies Offer Services to Establish Goodwill, Win Business," The Washington Post, November 6, 2004.
Transcript, NPC Afternoon Newsmaker News Conference; see also, Antonia Juhasz, "Iraq's Oil Timeline," Left Turn Magazine , May 1, 2006.
Dan Morgan and David B. Ottaway, "In Iraqi War Scenario, Oil Is Key Issue," The Washington Post, September 15, 2002.
"National Development Strategy 2005-2007," Republic of Iraq, Iraqi Strategic Review Board, Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation, June 30, 2005.
Jennifer Loven, "Bush Gives New Reason for Iraq War," Associated Press, August 31, 2005.
Benoit Faucon, "USAID Provides Adviser to Iraq Govt on Oil Law-Spokesman," Dow Jones Newswires, April 28, 2006; Greg Muttitt, "George's Oil Dubya-Speak: As Decision-Time Approaches, the USA Pulls Levers on Iraqi Oil Policy," Carbon Web, August 21, 2006.
Vicki Allen, "Abizaid Says United States May Want to Keep Bases in Iraq," Reuters, March 15, 2006.
Raymond Whitaker, Danny Fortson, Andrew Murray-Watson, Geoffrey Lean, and Tim Webb, "Blood and Oil; Special Report: The Spoils of War," The Independent, January 7, 2007.
Raymond Whitaker, Danny Fortson, Andrew Murray-Watson, Geoffrey Lean, and Tim Webb, "Blood and Oil; Special Report: The Spoils of War," The Independent, January 7, 2007.
Edward Wong, "Iraqi Cabinet Approves Draft of Oil Law," The New York Times, February 26, 2007.
Raed Jarrar, "The New Iraqi Oil: Leaked," raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com, February 18, 2007.
Raed Jarrar, "Council of Ministers' Resolution," raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com, March 1, 2007.
David Cloud, Alissa J. Rubin, and Edward Wong, "Gates in Baghdad to Press Iraqis on Reconciliation," International Herald Tribune, April 19, 2007.
John F. Burns, "Cheney Visits Baghdad and Presses Leaders on Political Progress," The New York Times, May 10, 2007.
Michael R. Gordon, "United States Warns Iraq Progress Needs to be Made," The New York Times, June 12, 2007.
"Iraq Cabinet Approves Oil Law Draft," Associated Press, July 3, 2007.
"Initial Benchmark Assessment Report," The White House, July 12, 2007. Available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070712.html.
Erik Leaver is a Carol and Ed Newman Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, and Greg Muttitt is Co-Director at the UK based NGO, Platform.
© 2007 Foreign Policy In Focus
32 Comments so far
Show AllThis is the first time in my 59 years that I've been aware of the U.S. engaging in scandalous pillaging of another nation's treasure while it was happening. I'm ashamed to be associated with it--though we all are, as Americans.
I'm furious at the leading Democratic presidential candidates--Clinton & Obama, especially--for presumably condoning this "theft in broad daylight," and strongly suspect that huge campaign contributions from Big Oil have bought their silence--as well as the vast majority of Congress.
Educated as a journalist, I see the Big Story staring the mainstream media in the face, and can't prompt anyone to cover it. I forwarded this article to a prominent writer this week and got a response saying that the Oil Bill contained many positive aspects for the Iraqi people. (Yeah, like "Give us your oil, and we'll stop killing you.").
My hunch is that when enough arms are twisted or votes purchased in the Iraqi Parliament, the Hydrocarbon Law will pass, and--at that point (regardless of any other "benchmark")--American troops will be pulled from Baghdad and 80,000-or-so will be redeployed to the dozen-or-so permanent U.S. military bases positioned around Iraq to protect the Exxon/Chevron/Conoco/Shell/BP oil drillers--and the rest sent home to cheering crowds, complete with "Mission Accomplished" banners--with cameras rolling for use in the (surprise) Jeb Bush For President campaign next year.
So we'll have cheap gas for another 30 years, "An Inconvenient Truth" will be quickly forgotten, and we'll be sending soldiers to Iraq for generations to come.
We need to have a frank discussion about the War that proceeds from the acceptance on both sides that this war is about control over oil.
That this benefits Bush and Cheney personally is obvious.
What is not obvious is whether or not this benefits the American public and is what the public wants.
Personally, I would rather pay $7 per gallon for gasoline than kill hundreds of thousdands of foreigners to maintain control over the market. But, we need to be honest that most of the public will not tolerate this.
What is a Democrat or Republican to do knowing that if gas goes up to $5 per gallon, and the Party is to blame, the Party will lose all political power at all levels?
This is the dark reality of the war in Iraq. Those of us that oppose it need to be prepared to support candidates that enact painful remedies to our addicition to oil that will lead to drastic sacrifices in the short term and a nontrivial disruption of our economy.
I'm ready, how about you?
Iraq needs someone's help with improving their infrastructure. I don't care who it is. Perhaps the Chinese or the Russians?
Siouxrose,
I have a sister who has taught in various charter schools and she found that every single one was run by a scam artist. When the goal is profit, you can guess who is most likely to get the short end of the stick -- the unsophisticated and most gullible and vulnerable customers (like typical capitalist predators, they prefer to go for the low-hanging fruit), i.e. the uneducated parents and their children, those who could most benefit from quality educational opportunities.
I like John F. Butterfield's take. The Iraqis need the Americans to help them with their oil about as much as the Aztecs and Incas needed the Spaniards to help them with their gold. We all know how that worked out. That about sums it up.
RABBLEROWZER: This month's Harper's has a chilling article on the forces behind school vouchers, chartered schools, mandatory testing, and "leave no child behind." It's the HMO equivalent of what was done to the medical field; and now the privatizers are aiming at the nation's schools. It's another money/power grab under the radar that has NOTHING to do with teaching children to think critically, i.e. education's ideal. I strongly recommend you (and others) check this article out. I never had a good feeling about $ being taken from public education, but to connect the dots between the agendas now at play is to see yet another key component of fascism growing like a cancer in our midst.
Please, least we not forget Afghanistan.
Some "progressives" are opposed to our occupation of Iraq, but support the US attacking Afghanistan. This is seen as a justified response to 9/11.
Please check out citypaper.net/pipeline/. This a very lengthy article, but worth the read.
The control of natural gas and oil from the whole Caspian Sea area is what these wars are all about. The next being Iran.
Access and the rights to build pipelines are as important as the control of Iraq's oil.
Iraq does NOT need the west to own the access to their oil. They can contract with any company from any country in order to get the engineering done. They dont need to give it away to US corporations. Although the sanctions stopped the operation of the oilwells for a decade, technology and expertise most likely still exist within Iraq. The notion that they need to give away 85% is something invented to justify the theft.
I am not an expert in international law, but I dont think that a document signed under duress while the US occupies Iraq will be binding after the US leaves. I dont think a future Iraq should honour such a contract.
One little addendum - the Iraqi debt and the role that James Baker played. The pre-war debt of Iraq was $120 billion. The much reported "effort to reduce Iraq's debt" was a sham. See Greg Palast at
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=10774
Also, from 2004:
"According to the three-stage agreement reached last month at a meeting of the Paris Club -- an organization seating representatives of nineteen economic powers, including the United States, Japan, Russia and many European countries -- 30 percent of Iraq's estimated $40 billion (USD) debt to those nations is to be relieved outright, with no strings attached."
"The next 30 percent of the debt is scheduled for relief as soon as Iraq approves an arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which will design "structural adjustment" programs intended to "revive" Iraq's floundering economy by privatizing industries and services currently run by the government as well as opening various investment opportunities up to foreign capitalists."
"The Paris Club nations have pledged to relieve another 20 percent of Iraq's debt to them once Iraq fulfills obligations under the IMF arrangement, some three years down the road; leaving just 20 percent -- still nearly $8 billion -- to actually be paid back."
The deal here is this: we'll 'forgive' the debt in exchange for total control of Iraqi oil.
http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/1340
No, I don't know why this issue is almost completely silent in the United States.
P.S. I was lucky enough to be able to talk to several Iraqi oil and electrical union people during their recent visit to the US - and NO, they do not need help rebuilding their oil sector. They have plenty of top-notch engineers with decades of experience.
Gee, no wonder out domestic policies have disappeared; the entire government is spending ALL our money$$$ and time in ways to steal oil from Iraq. Again, I say, WHO had the most to GAIN from 911? NOT the USA, but the oil barons!!! Let's see, I believe they occupy the two TOP leadership positions in this country. It truly is the GREEDY OLD PARTY!!!! God bless our troops,please, because they are being used as bait in this horrendous war of greed. If we don't elect some different leaders next time(forget the party), we truly may be doomed.
WILLO says, "We should live according to our means and that doesn't mean bruatlizing and stealing another nations resources. We could have bought most of their oil with the money that has been squandered on this fiasco." Boy, is this true, however depends who WE means. Bush and his pals intend to make out like the bandits they are. Recall that Thomas Friedman stated there could be no McDonalds without Macdonnell Douglas; or the "Confessions of a Hit Man" John Perkins explanation of US military adventures done to protect large corporations. OURS is also a mercenary army. This thing will be the karmic undoing of America... It reminds me of a scene in SUPERMAN where this guy uses suction cups to climb up a tall skyscraper so as to seize assets inside. With that kind of courage and ingenuity, imagine the guy's potentials? The US has squandered so many aspects of its treasure for this banquet of vanity, waste and carnage. And what indeed is to show for it, as global warming will erase whatever profits bloody exploits manage to produce.
We can add Grand Theft-Petroleum to Bush and Cheney's other crimes.
this is really nice how the past 7 years or so is laid out so that the hypocrisy, lies, and deceit are more readily apparent. Good basic reference article on the oil situation in Iraq and American complicity in its muddied outlook.
Iraqi oil is just about the purest, most accessible oil in the world. Saying they need us is like saying the Aztecs and Incas didn't know how to make anything from gold so they needed the Spaniards. Western financing and technology is so great that the Earth must wobble as it spins.
Anything the Iraqis would like or need to finance should be easily paid for by the war reparations that the U.S. and UK owe them.
I've been writing members of Congress and the media for a year about this law with only one small media success: the Harvard site niemanwatchdog.org published an article a few weeks ago. Congress, however, seems to prefer to believe that "the oil law" really does concern only revenue sharing.
These oil agreements would run for 25 to 30 years. The oil companies would not have to do business with Iraqi companies, hire Iraqi employees or invest a penny of their profits into the Iraqi economy. Would there not be riots when Iraq's citizens learn how they have been suckered? Good thing we built those permanent bases so our troops can stay for the length of the agreements to protect the companies!!
The companies' share of the profits would be 70% or more (unless that's been changed recently). Iraq would earn much, much more by using the expertise they have developed over decades of oil extraction and export and telling these companies to take a hike. And telling the Bush administration to get lost, too.
(The agreements were, incidentally, designed prior to the invasion of Iraq with the help of "consultants." Like the energy policy developed in secret by Dick Cheney and his friends from Enron, et al.)
I found this web page a few years ago. It was written in november of 2000. There is great puzzlement by the author about what was happening but it is the blueprint for the entire middle east adventure that is the Iraq war and the Iran saber rattling. If it still exists the url is
http://www.rferl.org/features/2000/11/01112000160846.asp
read it and weep.
i ain't no brain surgeon, but wasn't this obvious from day one? this whole thing has been about the oil. it's in black and white in PNAC. that little document that no one wants to talk about.
The only help Iraq needs in getting its energy infrastructure into better condition is in removing the invaders, then in enforcing the trillion or so pounds sterling in reparations to be paid by the invaders. I rather doubt any contracts will be signed with any anglo-american oil corps. Look for Sinopec to join the Iranians in helping the Iraqis; with the latter, the agreement is already signed and work going forward.
"The Middle East is center of the world's energy resources... That's been an axiom of U.S. foreign policy, that it must control Middle East energy resources. It is not a matter of access ... the issue has always been control. Control is the source of strategic power."
Noam Chomsky
RE: 'FAIR' OIL LAWS FOR IRAQ - THEY ALREADY EXIST IN OTHER ME COUNTRIES
sigma July 18th, 2007 2:33 pm
:Iraq needs Western help in financing the improvements to their oil infrastructure....Iraq could benefit from the help of...western experts, if done in a fair way."
No need to reinvent the wheel - other ME countries limit the power and profit of foreign corporations over their oil industry. See:
http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0313-26.htm
Published on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 by the New York Times
Whose Oil Is It, Anyway?
RE: IRAQ'S AL-MALIKI - RESISTING U.S. PRESSURE TO PASS FOREIGN CORPORATION-FRIENDLY OIL LAW?
willo July 18th, 2007 12:01 pm
"So far it looks like Al Malikai has resisted efforts to let big oil steal the countries resources."
Don't think so - to my knowledge, he pushed for the Iraqi cabinet's February endorsement of the draft law:
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/03/932/
And he has called the proposed law "another founding stone in state-building":
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0228-05.htm
True, he may want it only to stay in power, since the US Executive and congressional "benchmarks" threaten US withdrawal if it is not passed:
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/11/1130/
A. Juhasz's NYT article details how the law guarantees foreign corporations will be able to rip off Iraqi oil on their terms, compared w/other ME country's laws controlling their oil:
http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0313-26.htm
Let us prey.
Iraq needs Western help in financing the improvements to their oil infrastructure after years of neglect from Saddam (to busy building palaces). They also need western technical assistance to extract and refine their oil. Iraq could benefit from the help of these western experts, if done in a fair way.
I would suggest
something like a joint-stock company formed by Iraq and other investors with oil expertise. Iraq could own a majority stake, with the option to purchase full control in the future. It would be something like ARAMCO set up in 1933 with western and Saudi resources, with Saudi buying full control in 1980. Just a thought.
Bush Math
115 billion barrels of proven reserves
multiply by $70/barrel
divide by 3600 dead US Troops
equals $2.4 billion for each dead American soldier
In his puny mind: A BARGAIN
Any questions why Bush wanted to invade Iraq?
Journalistic integrity at its finest!
Keith Olbermann, Amy Goodman, Thom Hartmann, Ed Schultz, et al, should be talking about this every day/night. Is it possible that they don't understand the significance of this "Oil Grab?" Is it possible that Clinton, Obama, Edwards & Richardson can't identify this as The Big Issue? (Yes, Kucinich gets it; they're just ignoring everything he says, including this). Are we the only ones NOT on Exxon's payroll?
I just hope that, somehow, future generations of Iraqis (sp?) will be aware that it isn't "America" whom they should hate, it's the Bush family, the Cheney family and all the oil executives and sycophants that lied and bullied the stupid American public into the war.
When, in the future, they come to take their revenge, I hope they go directly after the ones who are to blame.
Millions, many millions, of Americans hate what is happening. Even a majority of the voting public has two times rejected the fascist in the White House, yet still they rule.
Impeach cheney first, NOW, then little bush, then ship them (and others) to The Hague for trial and punishment for crimes against humanity.
So far it looks like Al Malikai has resisted efforts to let big oil steal the countries resources. Admirable in my opinion. For this reason his future is in doubt. [Assassination, being deposed]
You can't believe one word Bush says, [The oil belongs to the Iraqi people. It's their asset," declared President George W. Bush]
While that is a true statement Bush usually does the opposite of what he says. When he ran for President he said he wasn't going to be a nation builder.
We should live according to our means and that doesn't mean bruatlizing and stealing another nations resources. We could have bought most of their oil with the money that has been squandered on this fiasco.
Once all the facts of 9/11/2001 are known Bush will be reviled as one of the most evil people in world history.
okay, we can't expect the above to make it into the mainstream news media, but at least why don't Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert bring it out into the light? anyone have a pathway to their shows?
This is an outright robbery by despicable war criminals from a self-proclaimed democratic regime, the shining beacon at the bottom of Iraqis ass. The entire U.S. regime, including Democraps and Repugnants are war criminals par excelllance.
One of the forgotton things that happened, and has not been reported by the author, is the fact that right after the invasion by American Troops, something like 16 tankers were filled with Iraqi OIL and sent hush, hush to Houston, TX. Gee, I wonder where that money went?
Diligent service to the common good doesn't pay well. And sometimes it provokes fire and brimstone from the high, well-off and mighty. That's a lesson learned every day by our children, at least those who can read, write and think, anymore. Skills required to survive in even the most "civil" society.
Who decided it was a good idea to skimp on funding for our children's education? Someone made that decision. Someone chooses how all our tax money is spent, and whoever it was that decided, decided wrong. We've got to start thinking in terms of the common good, and demanding support for the common good. The high, well-off and mighty don't need support, but that's exactly where our tax money is spent. Supporting the high, well-off and mighty has become almost a religion in America, thanks to the perpetual Media Manipulation of thought. Garbage in, garbage out.
Are we sacrificing our children for the common good, or for the high, well-off and mighty. Even hyenas teach their offspring how to survive.
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