War Escalation Aimed at Securing Iraqi Oil
It is official...It was/is all about the OIL!
Future of Iraq: The spoils of war
How the West will make a killing on Iraqi oil richesIraq's massive oil reserves, the third-largest in the world, are about to be thrown open for large-scale exploitation by Western oil companies under a controversial law which is expected to come before the Iraqi parliament within days.
The US government has been involved in drawing up the law, a draft of which has been seen by The Independent on Sunday. It would give big oil companies such as BP, Shell and Exxon 30-year contracts to extract Iraqi crude and allow the first large-scale operation of foreign oil interests in the country since the industry was nationalised in 1972.
The huge potential prizes for Western firms will give ammunition to critics who say the Iraq war was fought for oil. They point to statements such as one from Vice-President Dick Cheney, who said in 1999, while he was still chief executive of the oil services company Halliburton, that the world would need an additional 50 million barrels of oil a day by 2010. "So where is the oil going to come from?... The Middle East, with two-thirds of the world's oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies," he said.
Oil industry executives and analysts say the law, which would permit Western companies to pocket up to three-quarters of profits in the early years, is the only way to get Iraq's oil industry back on its feet after years of sanctions, war and loss of expertise. But it will operate through "production-sharing agreements" (or PSAs) which are highly unusual in the Middle East, where the oil industry in Saudi Arabia and Iran, the world's two largest producers, is state controlled.
Opponents say Iraq, where oil accounts for 95 per cent of the economy, is being forced to surrender an unacceptable degree of sovereignty
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2132569.ece
Oilraq
Submarine USS Wahoo ss238
It is said that Iraq oil is one of the best kinds of crude
out there, a version that is very easy to refine.
Jed Clampett would be proud.
Well
You know old Jed must've been pretty proud since he donated Jethro to run the war effort in Iraq.
Naw
Jethro had agood heart.
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross." ~ Sinclair Lewis
In a time of deception telling the truth is a revolutionary act. ~ George Orwell
Insert the words
'US investments in Iraq's oil'
for "democracy" and you can make sense
of Georgie's speeches.
explosions in Iran?
I'm worried that a war with Iran is imminent. I belong to some groups over on Care2 and on the group for waging peace, I saw a post about bombings in Iran itself. Not just about the Consulate which is bad enough. Also about a lot of our subs getting ready for a strike. I'll paste in what I saw.
There has to be a better way.
worried sick,
Linda
----paste-----
Three large explosions reported in the S. Iranian town of Khorramshahr Thursday
January 11, 2007, 12:13 PM (GMT+02:00)
DEBKAfile: Khorramshahr, which faces the Iraqi town of Basra across the Shatt al Arb waterway, is one of the main towns from which Iran smuggles fighters, weapons and explosives into Iraq, for delivery to Iraqi Shiite supporters.
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=3721
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Russian admiral predicts impending US strike against Iran
POL-IRAN-RUSSIA-ADMIRAL
MOSCOW, Jan 9 (KUNA) -- Former Russian Black Sea Fleet Commander Admiral Edward Baltin said Tuesday that the presence of so many nuclear submarines in the Arab Gulf waters pointed to likely plans for a US attack against Iran.
Baltine, who was quoted by Interfax news agency, said the presence of US submarines in Gulf waters meant that Washington was contemplating a strike against Iran.
"The presence of the submarines indicates that Washington has not abandoned plans to launch a sudden attack against Iran," the admiral said.
He blamed Monday's collision between a US submarine and a Japanese sea liner near the Strait of Hormuz on the fact that US submarines needed to sail relatively higher than their usual depths to get clearer vision enabling them to zero in on likely targets.
The admiral recalled that, in previous conflicts, US submarines had "cleaned up" the road to pave the way for an air strike through destroying enemy air defense installations. (end) as.
KUNA 091855 Jan 07NNNN
http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=940826
link to group on care2 to see post:
http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/Terroismtensionhatred
When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.
--African Proverb