Thursday, March 22, 2007

86 - Iraq's New Oil Law: Proof That Bush's War IS Blood For Oil

U.S. government pre-war planning documents stated that the new Iraqi government would have to privatize its oil industry. The Iraq Study Group said the same thing after the war.

The new Iraqi oil law just unveiled would do just that:

A new oil law set to go before the Iraqi Parliament this month would, if passed...transform Iraq’s oil industry from a nationalized model closed to American oil companies except for limited (although highly lucrative) marketing contracts, into a commercial industry, all-but-privatized, that is fully open to all international oil companies.

It does so to the benefit of the companies, but to the great detriment of Iraq’s economy, democracy and sovereignty.

[T]he law’s...provisions...allow much (if not most) of Iraq’s oil revenues to flow out of the country and into the pockets of international oil companies.

It's a radical departure not only from Iraq's existing structure but from how oil is managed in most of the world today.

We overthrew the Iranian government in 1953 to get Iranian oil back into multinational hands, and a half century later, in 2003, we overthrew the Iraqi government to get Iraqi oil back into multinational hands. And, I would add, to establish permanent military bases in Iraq.

Just as our actions in Iran caused massive resentment there and led to a takeover of that country a quarter century later by hard-line Islamic radicals, our actions in effectively grabbing Iraq's oil, will similarly produce results we won't like, and probably in far less time.

And note: getting back Iran's oil -- once again -- is next on the Bushian agenda.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!)

Jack Clark 3:40 PM [+]
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