Is this an Oil war

Is this an Oil war?

Commentary By David Boje & patti McClure of PeaceAware.com

Did you hear that a subsidiary of Halliburton (Kellogg Brown & Root unit) received a post-Iraq war contract from President Bush's administration ( U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) to 'manage' the docks of the port city and another to put out oil fires and make any emergency repairs to oil's infrastructure? And Vice President Cheney's Halliburton (subsidiary where he was CEO 1995-2000) received a contract to 'manage' the oil fields. Is this an oil war? Well Exxon just received a contract to supply gas and diesel to the oil fields. NPR reported that these corporations defending their positions by stating they will farm out the subcontract work to the natives of Iraq and will thereby stimulate the economy. U.S. oil corporations point to Afghanistan as their most recent successful example. More on Oil war by Dr. David Boje, co-organizer of www.PeaceAware.com Note Boje's main treatise on Oil war was removed by ZIANET at the very moment the Iraq war started see details of this story.

President Bush Tuesday asked Congress for $489.3 million to cover the cost of repairing damage to Iraq's oil facilities

American Corporations to Make a Fast War Buck (and we only thought it was about Oil!!) – By Patti MCClure (PeaceAware.com) March 28, 2003

While researching for the names of the corporations who were to be the recipients of the new government contracts, I soon discovered an interesting story emerging. The amount of information I tapped into is, no doubt, just the tip of the iceberg. But I feel that what I’m about to write is an accurate thumbnail sketch of a small portion of this administration’s desire to establish an economic domain in the Middle East.

The world was shocked to learn during the Nuremberg Trials of the Nazi’s methodical records of their atrocities. This administration has made little effort to conceal their intentions, too. Most of the information that I will give comes straight from the administration or from the corporations. Some it may be due to arrogance, but I feel that these folks honestly believe they are not breaking any moral or ethical codes. Maybe they are and maybe they’re not, but the American people have right to know what exactly our troops are risking their lives for.

Up until the war began, most of Iraq’s government contracts for their infrastructure, telecommunications and oilfield management and repair were given to French, Chinese and Russian private businesses (Energy Information Administration, Dept. of D.O.E). The U.S. and the U.K were the wallflowers in the dance for power and profit in Iraq. The economic development of Iraq has been the subject of many studies and symposiums. But remember, the Bush administration is only interested in liberating Iraq.

In October 2002, spokesman Ari Fleisher denied U.S. interests in taking over Iraq’s oilfield. The purpose of any plan the U.S. has is to make certain that Saddam Hussein complies with all U.N. resolutions The only interest the U.S. has in the region is furthering the cause of peace and stability.not his (Hussein’s) country’s ability to generate oil(Reuters). In March, 2003, Colin Powell stated, The oil of Iraq belongs to the people of Iraq and we will help the people of Iraq use that oil for their benefit and not to threaten their neighbors (NPR, March 11, 2003). So the Bush administration is not interested in oil. Right

In March 2002, The International Business Alliance Group, a non-profit organization based out of Lebanon, held a world wide convention titled, Rebuild Iraq 2002 to illustrate the economic potential for worldwide businesses to invest in Iraq(IBAG website). It was also in March 2002, when Bush first let it be known about his intentions regarding Iraq. He told 3 Senators sitting in Condoleeza Rice’s office, (Expletive deleted) Saddam. We’re taking him out (MSNBC.com, March 27, 2003).

In July, 2002, Richard Hass, Policy Planning Chief at the State Department was told by Rice that “the decision to take out Saddam was already a given (MSNBC.com, March 27, 2003). Apparently, Iraq was already aware of this plan, too, because in August, 2002, Iraq’s Vice President declared the Bush administration has already decided upon changing the regime by force(Energy Information Administration, Dept. of D.O.E quoting the Washington Post).

As late as November 2002, the five corporations who are currently bidding on government contracts to rebuild Iraq were asked to prepare studies and bids regarding the reconstruction of Iraq (CNN.com, March 25, 2003).

In September 2002, the Heritage Foundation released a report regarding potential oil productions in Iraq. Their recommendation was the Iraqi oilfields should be privatized and Iraq should leave OPEC because of the long term positive implications for global oil supply(Cohen &O’Driscoll, 2002). More recently, a study was done by the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy (Bush Sr.’s former Secretary of State who had (has?) oil interests in Kuwait) at Rice University(Houston, Tx.) to determine how much long and how much it would cost to bring Iraqi oilfields to pre-1991 production levels (CNN.com, Mar. 25, 2003).

So do oil companies stand to make money hand over fist in Iraq? Is that the primary economic motivator of the U.S. Corporations to go to Iraq? That will be in my next report.