So, this is what our troops in Iraq really are dying for-- OIL COMPANY PROFITS!!

[Muddy Waters Guitar]

Grab a barfbag before reading these articles:
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IB28Ak01.html
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IB28Ak02.html

Just friggin' wonderful. So the Iraqi Federal Oil and Gas Council-- which makes decisions on contracts-- will essentially have a majority of its members drawn from the executive ranks at Exxon and other US oil majors. Can you imagine if the US Dept of the Interior had a majority of its members drawn from Russian companies, who very clearly altered the resource-extraction laws to benefit themselves?

It's now baldly obvious what our soldiers in Iraq are getting blown to bits for-- to massively boost up the profits of US oil companies. Moreover, this effectively commits us to staying in Iraq for a decade or more, at least. No oil company will invest in extracting Iraqi oil until the place stabilizes and stays secure, and this could only be accomplished via the stationing of US soldiers over the long term to maintain security. Which means, we aren't leaving Iraq at all, anytime in the near future, if this hydrocarbon law stays in place.

How wonderful it is to die for one's country in war. Especially when one is effectively getting slaughtered-- not to mention hundreds of thousands of Iraqis-- to line the pockets of oil company executives.