Fighters set ablaze Iraqi oil refinery

[bemildred]

A huge fire has broken out at the Dura oil refinery outside Baghdad after it was hit by a mortar shell, an Interior Ministry source says.

Firemen were on the scene trying to bring the blaze under control on Friday evening, he said.

"This is a major fire because the mortar fell on the petrol refining area. There are probably many victims. Many ambulances have arrived on the scene," said civil defence spokesman Kazem Bashir Salem.

"Everyone is mobilised. We have sent firemen from 13 stations in Karkh and those in Rasafa are on alert," he said. Karkh is on the west bank of the Tigris in Baghdad and Rasafa the east.

al Jazeera

[lovuian]

1. From the Movie Dune " To kill a thing is to control a thing"

and by destroying the oil refinery your controlling the outflow of oil from Iraq!!!

These people know Bush is stealing from them and they are stopping it!!!

[BrotherBuzz]

3. I think this refinery was for local consumption....

I don't know squat about the oil business, but I think only crude oil is exported.

[beam me up scottie]

4. It was.

***
The Dura refinery supplies Baghdad with most of its petrol needs, while fighters have repeatedly targeted Iraq's vital oil infrastructure in the hope of preventing the country's economic recovery.
***

What have we done to these people ?

[manic expression]

6. Then why is it that

gas lines in Baghdad are ridiculously long? Forgive me if I am mistaken, but it seems that most of the oil does not reach Iraqis at all.

[beam me up scottie]

11. Why don't you ask

faux news ?

[manic expression]

14. Because it's FOX News.

Do you know the reason why? I'm quite curious.

[beam me up scottie]

17. .

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/post_saddam_iraq/html/4.stm

[davepc]

28. the infrastructure is destroyed and hasn't been rebuilt

every time they try to rebuild it, somebody blows it up again. For a while after the war Iraq was IMPORTING oil from Kuwait.

[Igel]

7. We've apparently freed them to pursue their

nihilistic or will-to-power ends. Which is, of course, a crime against humanity. However, in this case mostly they're doing it to themselves.

This is opposed to setting a dictator over them to suppress these tendencies, which is, of course, a crime against humanity.

Screwed if you do, screwed if you don't.

[beam me up scottie]

12. You know,

I work with people like you and I come here to get away from them.

If I wanted to hear shit like :

"However, in this case mostly they're doing it to themselves."

I'd hang out with the bubbas.

[Igel]

25. There are three realistic choices.

1) Do you really think that US forces knocked out the water supply, killed the Egyptian diplomat, and attacked the oil refinery? I don't see the evidence for it; all it does it make everybody more miserable--the troops don't need to be there to repair the damage, but it certainly makes the local population dislike both the government, and the US.

2) Another option is that it was done by foreign fighters that have gone there to fight the "Crusaders". Opinion's split on whether there are 3 or 3000 of them, and whether the most grievous attacks have been local men or foreign supporters. Seems a stretch that all the bad things are only done by non-Iraqis, though.

3) If not people from those groups--and discounting the ever present Inuktitut and Burushaski, that leaves Iraqis of some variety. I'm willing to accept the suicide-bombers-are-foreign street wisdom; for the rest, not.

[beam me up scottie]

26. You insinuated that the Iraqi people

are destroying themselves because they are free to do so now without Saddam in power.

You have no evidence to back up your claim, nor is there any evidence that indicates that insurgents deliberately targeted the refinery.

Another speculation on your part was that the Iraqis themselves are responsible for this incident.

There is no proof that the mortar was even fired by the insurgents, let alone IRAQI fighters.

Your post was one of the most bigoted and insulting things I have ever read on DU and after the minuteman threads, that says a lot.

[Igel]

34. Yes, and no.

I tried to be careful with what I said.

Currently we have the Kurds trying to be separate, the Shi'a and the Sunnis fighting it out, with Baathists and Salafists arguing among themselves, and the secular and fundamentalist Shi'ite arguing.

The response isn't that the "Iraqi people" are being nihilist; but that those that are busy killing coffee-drinkers and traffic cops, because they don't comport themselves with Salafist or Baathist purity, are.

As for the assumption that we have 28 million peace-loving, oppressed souls that couldn't hurt a flea, while all the fighting and mayhem is being done solely by foreigners ... I'm sorry. I can't jump to the conclusion that any nationality ("ethnicity" seems wrong here) is incapable of such things; to do so says something exceptional about either the nationality, or the speaker.

I've made posts saying the US has done atrocities. I've made posts in which I say I suspect that foreign jihadists have committed atrocities. But if you want to believe that Iraqis are somehow exempt from doing these kinds of things, or that I think only Iraqis can do such things, go for it.

[BrotherBuzz]

8. What have we done to these people?

Let's try a novel approach and send in some real journalists to ask the man on the street in downtown Baghdad. I suspect the answers may not jibe with what the people in Kansas know and understand.

[beam me up scottie]

10. It may not jibe with what

some posters on this thread like to believe.
If I were to post what I think of idiots I would get ts'd.


edited po'd related typo

[BrotherBuzz]

13. LOL, you take the good with the bad...

;)

[existentialist]

5. Dune

I'm glad someone else made the connection between the spice of Dune and the oil of Earth . . .

(I've never seen the movie, but I read the book.)

[Xipe Totec]

21. Iraq, Arakis. It's not a hard connection to make n/t

[Bhaisahab]

29. hey that's true!

why didn't i make the connection before!? thanks bro. iraq = arrakis, spice = oil. yep.

[Xipe Totec]

33. With Halliburton playing the role of House Harkonnen

Cheney = Baron Vladimir Harkonnen

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. "Let freedom reign!"

[Theduckno2]

9. And oil will probably go back over $60/barrel.

Of course George Bush will jawbone the Saudis to boost production,. Oh wait its not a production problem, its a refining capacity problem. :sarcasm: My condolences to the families of the victims and my admiration to those firefighters trying to extinguish the blaze. If the firefighting equipment is in the same state as the Iraqi infrastucture they are bravely fighting a very difficult fight. 'Last Throes' my ass!

[bemildred]

15. A couple things:

1.) Refineries are harder to fix than pipelines, I would think. (Anybody know?)

2.) While this won't help the gas situation in Baghdad, I'm guessing it is not good for the fuel situation of the occupation forces either. This is an issue about which we hear little most of the time, but we do know that the war machine guzzles huges amounts of fuel and also that fuel convoys are fat targets.

3.) I believe this refinery gets oil from up North, so the oil from up North will have to be sent somewhere else or put back in the ground.

4.) I'm guessing a bit, but I think attacking the refinery itself, as opposed to pipelines and convoys, is somewhat new or unusual.

[beam me up scottie]

18. Here's a link I posted above:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/post_saddam_iraq/html/4.stm

There's more info there but I'm posting in about six threads right now so I'll try to find more in a sec.

[bemildred]

19. Thanks. I'm bailing out for the night. Will check later. nt

[ConcernedCanuk]

20. Re hitting refineries as being unusual . . .

.
.
.

It wouldn't be unusual for the US to do such a thing to turn the Iraqis against the Iraqis, now would it ???

US don't want Iraqis to have their own oil, and only refined oil is of any use to the Iraqis . . .

hmmmm

[bemildred]

22. Unusual means something like infrequent, not illogical.

I was saying that I don't think I've seen refinery attacks before, that this is sort of new.

It's hard to predict what the loons running the occupation and their minions might do, but I doubt this will "turn the Iraqis against the Iraqis".

I was suggesting that the occupation needs the gas, and that might be why iraqis don't get much of it. One could argue that shortage of fuel makes it harder to do VBIED attacks, so the military might well encourage fuel shortage on those grounds.

[Roland99]

16. Right on the heels of the "tender"

[bemildred]

23. Iraq rebels attack key infrastructure

"It appears to be a mortar that hit one of the pipelines attached to one of the resevoirs," Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum, who visited the plant after the attack, told AFP.

"It is all under control now -- the reservoir is damaged a bit but the refinery will be operating at capacity again."

http://www.bakutoday.net/afps/english/shared/int/050709125009.21wwdije.html

[bemildred]

24. Iraq resumes northern oil exports to Turkey: Iraqi oil sources

"Pumping of oil resumed at 12:00 p.m. (0800 GMT) Friday and shall be sporadic for seven days," said the source on condition of anonymity.

He said the amount of oil pumped would be on average 150,000 to 250,000 barrels per day to start with to test the pipeline and check for leaks.

After the experimental seven days, the company plans to increase exports to 350,000 barrels per day.

Oil production of the Northern Oil Company ranges between 550,000 and 650,000 barrels per day. Apart from exports, large quantities go to the Baiji and Dora refineries in southern Baghdad for local consumption.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/article_1032409.php/Iraq_resumes_northern_oil_exports_to_Turkey_Iraqi_oil_sources

[agincourt]

27. Saddam if nothing else liked high oil production,

though he liked high prices, he liked to pump a lot of barrels of oil even more. The Iraqi army protected those oil fields. Guess who destroyed the Iraqi army? GWB. Now we're stuck with the job of defending Iraq's oil fields. Thank you, GWB, and the sheep fellating skull fucks who voted for him.

[PurityOfEssence]

30. Halliburton should owe us a few oil fire battles

They DID get a blanket contract to put out blazes caused by the war that never happened.

Don't just stand there, get to it.

[leftchick]

31. Oil Pipeline and infrastructure attacks in 2005...

I wonder why they have not updated this in a couple of weeks...

2005
186. January 1 - attack on a pipeline from Kirkuk to Bayji.
187. January 1 - attack on a pipeline linking the southern cities of Karbala and Hillah, 46 miles south of Baghdad near the Musabayb power station.
188. January 7 - attack on gas pipeline 9 miles north of Tikrit.
189. January 8 - attack on an oil pipeline running from northern fields to Bayji in the Safra area, 43 miles southwest of Kirkuk. Two guard posts for an oil protection force were also blown up around the area and one guard was wounded.
190. January 8 - attack on a gas pipeline in the Fatha area near Bayji.
191. January 11 - 2:00am rocket attack on a gas pipeline that runs to Bayji near the Fatha production station.
192. January 11 - 6:30am attack on an oil pipeline that runs to Bayji in the Zegheitoun area, 35 miles southwest of Kirkuk. The pipeline had just been brought online on January 9th.
193. January 13 - 10:30pm attack on oil pipeline near Fatha.
194. January 14 - improvised explosive device detonated after midnight damaging an oil pipeline near Bayji and sparking a large fire.
195. January 14 - attack on a pipeline linking Kirkuk and the Daura refinery, near Samarra.
196. January 14 - rocket attack on pipeline complex near Fatha sparked large blaze.
197. January 17 - a bomb blew off a section of a pipeline in Fatha.
198. January 21 - 07:00am attack on pipeline in the al-Tharthar region 12 miles south of Samarra interrupted the flow of oil to the Bayji refinery.
199. February 2 - attack on oil pipeline connecting Bayji refinery to Daura refinery. The attack took place near Samarra.
200. Fabruary 5 - attack on a cluster of eight pipelines west of Samarra connecting the Bayji and Daura refineries.
201. February 6 - attack on pipeline carrying crude oil from Kirkuk to Bayji.
202. February 9 - attack on a gas pipeline before dawn in Fatha, about 15 miles north of Bayji.
203. February 9 - rocket attack on a pipeline linking Kirkuk to Bayji.
204. February 13 - 10:00pm attack on oil pipeline at the al-Dibbis oil field 31 miles north of Kirkuk.
205. February 14 - another attack on oil pipeline at al-Dibbis.
206. February 16 - attack on pipeline carrying crude from Kirkuk to Bayji near Fatha.
207. February 16 - attack on pipeline carrying crude from Kirkuk to Daura refinery.
208. February 16 - another attack on pipeline near Fatha.
209. February 16 - attack on pipeline in the Bajwan area, northwest of Kirkuk.
210. February 16 - gunmen killed Colonel Ibrahim Ahmed in charge of pipeline security. The killing took place at Ajeel west of Kirkuk.
211. February 25 - late night attack on a pipeline connecting the Dibbis oil fields with Kirkuk.
212. March 2 - 10pm attack on gas pipeline to Bayji near Al-Safra 30 miles west of Kirkuk caused the shutdown of two of the Bayji power station's four turbines.
213. March 3 - attack on a gas pipeline that links Kirkuk to Dibbis.
214. March 7 - attack on pipeline near Samarra, 60 miles northwest of Baghdad.
215. March 8 - 1pm attack on oil pipeline feeding Al-Daura refinery near Jorf al-Sakhr, 35 miles south of Baghdad.
216. March 9 - attack on oil pipeline feeding the Daura refinery in Jorf al-Sakhr, 46 miles south of Baghdad.
217. March 12 - attack on oil pipeline connecting Bayji and Daura in Al-Tharthar, near Samarra.
218. March 12 - Rocket-propelled grenades were launched at a pipeline running from Kirkuk to Daura.
219. March 15 - attack on oil pipeline in Fatha which carries crude from Kirkuk to Bayji.
220. March 25 - attack on oil pipeline which connects Iraq northern oilfields with the Daura refinery.
221. March 27 - 9:00am attack on oil pipeline which carries crude from Kirkuk to Bayji. Repairs on the line had just been completed the day before.
222. April 4 - attack on pipeline running through the Riyad area near Bayji.
223. April 13 - bomb on oil pipeline near Kirkuk killed an Iraqi oil security chief and eight of his men, who were in the process of defusing another explosive device, and sparked a fire on the pipeline.
224. April 17 - attack near Fatha on oil pipeline from Kirkuk to the Bayji refinery.
225. April 18 - twin blasts at an internal oil pipeline near Kirkuk.
226. April 25 - insurgents blew up pumps used for domestic supplies near Bay Hassam, 19 miles west of Kirkuk.
227. May 4 - attack on an oil pipeline that links northern Kirkuk oil fields to Baghdad. The attack took place near Balad.
228. May 10 - attack on an oil pipeline complex near Kirkuk.
229. May 11 - a mortar round struck the Iraqi Oil Ministry complex in Baghdad.
230. May 11 - three bombs were planted on different parts of the oil pipeline in Kirkuk's Dibiz district. Two of the three exploded, heavily damaging the pipeline.
231. May 11 - attack on an oil pipeline near Bayji.
232. May 11 - a bomb exploded at Iraq’s largest fertilizer plant in Basra, killing one person and wounding 23. The blast set fire to a gas pipeline.
233. May 11 - a bomb was planted near the oil ministry in central Baghdad.
234. May 12 - an insurgent blew himself up as he tried to sabotage an oil pipeline near Kirkuk.
235. May 13 - attack on the Athana pumping station that feeds the northern pipeline.
236. May 27 - attack on pipeline in the western outskirts of Baghdad.
237. June 3 - 8 a.m. attack on pipeline between Kirkuk and the Dibis refinery, about 30 miles west.
238. June 8 - saboteurs blew up a main oil pipeline near Kirkuk.
239. June 8 - saboteurs opened connections between two pipelines near the Bayji refinery causing oil spill.
240. June 9 - 8:00 p.m. saboteurs blew up a major oil pipeline five miles east of the Bayji refinery.
241. June 15 - insurgents blew up a pipeline near Baghdad that transports crude oil between Bayji and Daura.
242. June 23 - attack on pipeline carrying crude from Kirkuk to Bayji, near al-Fathah.
243. June 25 - attack on oil pipleline leading from Kirkuk to Ceyhan.
244. June 24 - pipeline linking the southern fields around Basra to Daura. The attack took place near Yusifiyah.

Note: Permanent URL for this page is http://www.iags.org/iraqpipelinewatch.htm

[stlsaxman]

32. uh... dayumn! and that's just oil, what about water and 'tricity?

oh right- we (US) destroy their water and power stations, and protect the refineries and pipelines from "insurgents" (THEM).