they need to sign only with Venezuela and Ecuador
only

In a variation of the famous Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In line "We have ways of making you talk", Bush and Cheney will simply tell al-Maliki, "We have ways of making you sign."

Hu Jintao said, "Pentagon just killed Maliki's sisters bodyguard. They are trying to warn him he's next."

Exactly.

MIF IS COMPLETELY WRONG

how Iraq pumps oil has ZERO to do with Saudia Arabia who had ZERO TO DO WITH FALSE FLAG ACT of 2001 in U.S.A

GET REAL...

The longer the Iraqi oil stays in the ground, the more it will be worth when someone finally gets to pipe it up. The costs of repairing Iraq and bringing its people back and restoring their health and social vitality is very much more than the US is prepared to pay. The US is morally incapable, even if it was practically able to, of reversing the damage they continue on with.

An oil deal can never be done in Iraq under a foreign occupation. Any deal would last only as long as the gun was pointed to the heads of the governments families. The Iraqi government is right to dismiss extortionate terms. It is justified in holding out for the best long term deal possible, and this can only happen after every US soldier has left Iraq.

Sure one barrel of oil is worth the labor of 5 men working full time for a year, so the entire Iraqi oil reserves are , by cold calculation, worth far more than the full lifetime of every Arab still alive now. Thereby the US of Zionists will justify killing every Arab in the Middle East to get at the oil, if it has to, Go and get lost, you sick murderers, terrorists, torturers and oil racketeers, run from your slimy US government agencies, all driven by depraved lust for oil. Let your civilization decline to its real worth, nothing but a black oil slick, the color of your souls.

Free advise is worth every penny you pay for it.

Hu Jintao June 30th, 2008 10:53 pm
"Iraq is not the standard conquered state. A place like Guatemala, or Kuwait, it's easy to pick your leaders, setup your economic system, put 'security' in place to keep the pissed off locals in their place."

"But in Iraq, they *know* they are sitting on a national Treasure worth $trillions."

"Nobody talks about the Iraqi snipers using Russian scoped rifles."

-Good points.

mirf59 June 30th, 2008 12:45 pm:

The U.S. took Iraq out of the OPEC quotas right after they invaded. The oil production in Iraq is limited by rebel attacks and aging infrastructure: they are pumping full out.

Bremer wasn't 'fired' - they just dissolved the 'Provisional' authority and handed "limited Iraqi sovereignty" over on June 28, 2004. It was all part of the poorly planned occupation unfolding...

The only direction they can 'set' oil production policy in Iraq is down. And even then, the local oil workers probably wouldn't obey Baghdad, since everyone siphon's off a piece of the action.

-----------
The U.S. thought they could 'work' with a tiny elite, cut some deals, get some nice Production Sharing Agreements. Standard Empire deal for a Client State.

Iraq is not the standard conquered state. A place like Guatemala, or Kuwait, it's easy to pick your leaders, setup your economic system, put 'security' in place to keep the pissed off locals in their place.

But in Iraq, they *know* they are sitting on a national Treasure worth $trillions. They *know* that if they struggle and rebel 5 years, or 10, or 15, that eventually, they will re-win the Prize for their children and their children's children. No way are they giving up $trillions to idiots like Bush and Cheney. The Evil Empire is declining, there are rising regional powers, and they can get weapons from Iran, China, Russia, Brazil for the next 100 years.

Nobody talks about the Iraqi snipers using Russian scoped rifles. They focus only on Iranian weapons. Iraq can hold out for decades. Surge my ass. The various groups are just planning their next moves.

And the idiot Pentagon just killed Maliki's sisters bodyguard. They are trying to warn him he's next. If Maliki awards the contracts to China, and gets killed the next day, Iraq will just dig in further.

I'm not sure if I understand meetmrcallaghan June 30th, 2008 7:30 pm. He wrote:

"As the above article points out the problems lie within their infrastructure, I'm picturing something like the U. S. companies footing the bill to make the necessary improvements to increase pumping capabilities and then Iraq will turn around and award long term contracts to the other countries and stick it to the good old U. S. A.

Why not? They've been giving it to us up the ying-yang in every other respect since we "liberated" them."

I think he is saying that Big Oil, good Samritans that they are, might end up getting screwed by the Iraqis who will dupe them into improving their infrastucture for free just to turn around and award the contracts to other countries. Did I get that right? Correct me if wrong, but the notion of Iraqis screwing US Big Oil is absurd.

Actually the headline should be 'REFUSES to sign'

Uummm, failed to sign contracts! Horay-you did it today; but what about tomorrow?

NMBill June 30th, 2008 2:04 pm

"What about China, Russia, France and other countries with oil companies?"

Have you heard of "off-take" deals? I just read about them today and China is taking full advantage.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080627.ROB7PG32/TPStory/TPBusiness/?query=

Oil ... there is a better way ... we just need to make it more profitable than oil....so much so that living for it makes better sense than dying for it.

If I correctly understood the NY Times article of a week ago detailing the intentions of Iraq signing contracts with these majors, it said that they were "no-bid" contracts.

They went on to say that China, Russia and India were excluded because, unlike the U. S. majors, they had not been offering free advice to the Iraq oil producers.

As the above article points out the problems lie within their infrastructure, I'm picturing something like the U. S. companies footing the bill to make the necessary improvements to increase pumping capabilities and then Iraq will turn around and award long term contracts to the other countries and stick it to the good old U. S. A.

Why not? They've been giving it to us up the ying-yang in every other respect since we "liberated" them.

Anyone who hasn't seen it (I've got it on a "Hardball" that I taped) get a hold of the famous Dick Cheney "Quagmire" speech, in which he carefully details all the reasons why we should not go into Iraq.

The tape waa from '94. When some Republican was asked by Chris Matthews why Cheney's views changed, the party said, "Then came 9/11 and that changed everything".

Whoever Chris' guest was at the time apparently forgot that it had since been disclosed that Saddam Hussein had nothing whatsoever to do with the attack on 9/11. Didn't study his homework

Oh, the one thing I almost left out: While these U. S. majors are improving the infrastructure, the subsequent costs involved will give them justification for keeping the prices up that we have to pay at the pump.

Iraq fails to agree to terms for its rape.

Go Iraq! If they're as smart as I hope they are, they won't sign any of the oil contracts.

Okay folks. It really doesn't matter what agreements get signed by anybody. The reason is the REAL Iraqis, the "we the people" of Iraq, will NOT let anybody steal their oil wealth out from under them. If "they" build it and try to steal their oil, the Iraqi people will blow it up. Period.

These folks might fight a lot between different factions, but one thing seems pretty clear. These folks are nationalists when it comes to their oil. They may fight a lot about which Iraqi faction is going to control it, but they sure as hell aren't going to let some foreign idiots steal it out from under them.

So, sit back and relax. This is one fight the Iraqi's will take care of themselves. The "powers that be" don't seem to have a clue about the nature of the beast they think they have control of.

No surprise here. Saddam kicked the big oil companies out a long time ago. Almost every oil producing nation in the world has nationalized it's oil industry. If Iraq gets any sovereignty they will keep their oil revenues. If we strong arm the Iraquis and force them to sign; they will turn around and kick us out at the earliest opportunity. Unless,of course, we want to keep 1,000,000 American "Peacekeepers" in Iraq until they run out of oil.
keith campbell

Is this sho-biz? We've had a lot of that come our way.

All in the name of 'the latest technology'?

All in the name of 'tradition' is more like it, I heard: 'free consulting has been provided of late, by the capitalistic oilers.'-- just another example of documented 'favoritism' based on something for nothing. In the face of the U.S. domination of the region, OPEC, Russian, Chinese 'production technologys' really are not part of this ongoing exploitation.

The oil will be produced, brought to certain required minimum production amounts, with required infrastructures- requardless of life. And this, in the face of 'democracy'.

Doubtful there will be any 'blue fingers' on this issue.

wild

Iraq will give US oil corporations most of its oil or maybe we'll invade them...again.

Yay for the iraqis. When they stand up to the oil companies, maybe the american and british people will
follow suit. Oh but i'm such a dreamer.

And the winner is, not Iraq, not the US, not even OPEC, the winner is Venezuela and Hugo is not unaware of his advantage.

Now, if he can just keep his bombastic oratory under control he really has a chance to become the major player he longs to become and the IMF/World Bank fears will happen.

Last hour I heard oil is at $147 a barrell and where it will stop nobody knows!

Also, note how now that we are suffering from petroleum shock, the Corporate Media speaks of OIL like a prize to be harvested. GOLD! There's gold in them hills!

If they sign the pipelines will just keep getting hit.

OPEC sets the production schedule for Iraq.

Not us. Not Big Oil. Not Iraq.

The punishment for defying OPEC is severe.

The article above promotes the myth that Iraq and the US somehow have some control over Iraqi total output.

The proof that this is not the case was the firing of Paul Bremer and the dissolution of the Coalition Provisional Authority.

The CPA was a neo-con experiment to bust OPEC by gaining the reserves of Iraq. In a sense, this would have been legitimate retribution for Saudi Arabia's dominant role in the terrorist acts of 9/11.

But, the problem is -- Big Oil likes OPEC and wants to remain friends with OPEC. Maybe they like the artificial scarcity created by OPEC, and the high prices.

Bremer and the neo-cons were replaced with Big Oil ambassadors in setting oil production policy in Iraq.

Greg Palast wrote about this pretty extensively in his "Armed Madhouse" book.

BBC News World reported yesterday/today that a deal did go through between Iraq and US and "European" Oil companies.

What is the truth here?

"consultancy contract ....inerm period?

I am getting so tired of newspeak, are there no real journalists out there anymore that actually do research and report multiple viewpoints - instead of just running a "news" article that quotes one person.

Maybe this is the real reason for the raid by a secret US counter-terrorist group that killed a close relative of Maliki's - or else retaliation for it.

BTW the operation was in an area already turned over to Iraqi security.

Alfonso Bedoya in 'Treasure of Sierra Madre'

"WE don' got to show you no stinkink badges!'

This incident could also affect the ability to keep occupying Iraq - too bad.

Not signed because the oil companies wanted a share of the oil, not just fees...

They will receive raised fees and sign shortly, short term contracts.

Or Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih and his family will be wiped out by "al-Queda in Mesopatamia," (ha ha) He has stated repeatedly Maliki wants an 18 month timetable for US withdrawal.

Time for a Sacrifice.
Remind these insubordinates how and who enjoys the spoils of war.

Only a temporary set back. In the short term nothing can stop these leeches from attaching themselves to the Iraqi nation's resources. In the long term they will be kicked out once again by another Saddam.

Yay!! Fuck big oil.

They will accept big oil whether they like it or not, by choice or if it has to be forced down their throats.

Yeah, take that! How do you like it now, Big Oil?! Short term agreements -- probably not re-negotiable until the next U.S. administration. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha -- Bush may not have the last laugh after all.

All we need now is the Shah and things will be just as they were meant to be.

" failed to sign? " Good choice!

Awesome! keep the big corps out of there. the only interests they're looking out for are themselves,not Iraqis' not Americans' not the world's. However, i have a feeling Bushco will have the last laugh on this issue.

What about China, Russia, France and other countries with oil companies?

Oh, I forgot; they didn't take part in the theft. They don't get to participate!