The reason for the war: Iraq nears first major oil service deals with major Western companies

[NightWatcher]

Pardon me if it has been said before but here is why 4100 of our soldiers have died and thousands are broken.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/19/africa/ME-FIN-Iraq-Oil-Deals.php

Iraq nears first major oil service deals with major Western companies

BAGHDAD: Iraq is on the verge of approving its first significant deals with major Western oil companies since the war began, the government said Thursday — a move that could give big firms like BP, Shell, ExxonMobil and Total an important boost as the country's oil industry expands and grows more lucrative.

The deals, expected to be signed by the end of June, are designed as an interim way to boost Iraq's oil output until the country can agree on a new national oil law, stalled by political squabbles among Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.

But the deals also could create an important long-term preference for the big Western companies that win them, by providing a bidding advantage over others in future years.

Iraq's Oil Ministry spokesman would not name the companies set to get the deals.

But last December, four major companies — Royal Dutch Shell PLC, BP PLC, ExxonMobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. — submitted technical and financial proposals for the five oil fields and received counterproposals from the Iraqi side.

The New York Times reported Thursday that Shell, BP and Exxon Mobil, plus Total, were the four major companies close to signing deals, along with Chevron and some smaller companies.

Here it is folks, our guys are dying so the oil companies can get more of that 4$ oil to sell us. Be sure to give the finger to the next SUV you pass on the road.

[iamahaingttta]

1. Every time I see one of those Humvees...

... I spit on it, or in its general direction.

Luckily, it's nothing but public transportation for me.

[tabasco]

2. Cheney's oil war.

The traitorous profiteers must be held accountable or it WILL happen again!

[ben_meyers]

3. Not to mention those greedy bastards in the North East

who still heat their homes with fuel oil! Why haven't they all converted to solar or wind power? I spit in their direction.

We don't need no F'ing oil.

[xfundy]

4. Meds are your friends.

Please get back on them.

[gaspee]

5. Exactly

Why do you think Chavez is hated so much?

[Leopolds Ghost]

6. By Bush you mean?

If Iraq ever re-nationalizes its oil industry, its leader who does so will
be demonized, blockaded for another 10-year war and/or assassinated in a
coup like the abortive one in Venezuela.

And the Dems will join in the demonization, declaring that Iraq needs to
have an open economy like the West, with privatized oil resources that
"any of the 100s of western oil companies can bid on" as Claire McCaskill
put it.

[gaspee]

7. By Bush and his oilman buddies

And other people who think it's OK to try to force foreign countries to accept enslavement by multinationals.

[Leopolds Ghost]

8. Both Obama and Kerry criticized Iraq for not reaching an agreement to privatize their oil sooner.

Saying it was one of the "benchmarks" that had not been met and
"the ball is in the Iraqi court" and that we would "only keep troops
there to protect our strategic assets on an over the horizon basis"
i.e. within paratroop distance of US-corporate-owned oil fields.

Ironically the corporations own the US/lawmakers and are
essentially based offshore. That is why the issue is not
about cheap gas for Americans but about fueling the stock market
for global investors on which the American super-rich depends.

[SergeyDovlatov]

9. September 10, 2002: Question #27. Why do the oil company executives strongly support this war if ...

... oil is not the real reason we plan to take over Iraq?

From the "QUESTIONS THAT WON'T BE ASKED ABOUT IRAQ".
U.S. House of Representatives
September 10, 2002

http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2002/cr091002.htm

My personal favorites are:

1. Is it not true that the reason we did not bomb the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War was because we knew they could retaliate?

2. Is it not also true that we are willing to bomb Iraq now because we know it cannot retaliate- which just confirms that there is no real threat?

12. Would an attack on Iraq not just confirm the Arab world's worst suspicions about the US, and isn't this what bin Laden wanted?

18. Are we willing to bear the economic burden of a 100 billion dollar war against Iraq, with oil prices expected to skyrocket and further rattle an already shaky American economy? How about an estimated 30 years occupation of Iraq that some have deemed necessary to "build democracy" there?

20. Did former President Bush not cite the UN Resolution of 1990 as the reason he could not march into Baghdad, while supporters of a new attack assert that it is the very reason we can march into Baghdad?

27. Why do the oil company executives strongly support this war if oil is not the real reason we plan to take over Iraq?

28. Why is it that those who never wore a uniform and are confident that they won’t have to personally fight this war are more anxious for this war than our generals?

[slipslidingaway]

10. Kick n/t