Why Iraq oil money hasn't fueled rebuilding

[Barrett808]

Why Iraq oil money hasn't fueled rebuilding
Smugglers and thieves are stealing profits from oil even as insurgents work to keep the nation unstable.
By Howard LaFranchi | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

WASHINGTON – First, the good news: With oil prices at record highs, Iraq is on track to bring in $20 billion or more in oil revenue this year.

That may sound like a lot of petrodollars, especially for a war-torn country with tremendous needs in infrastructure repair and services delivery.

But the bad news is that very little, if any, of that money will actually be used in the country's stalled reconstruction - despite past lofty predictions that oil-rich Iraq would be financially self-sufficient by now.

Dealing with Iraq's insurgency is a chief reason for the gap between oil revenues and improving living conditions. But another reason for the lag is a growing problem of income loss from smuggling and outright theft of the revenues.

One worrisome consequence of the inability to turn higher oil revenues into street-level improvements is the impact on the Iraqi public's faith in the country's new government and direction.

"The insurgents know that oil is the lifeblood of the Iraqi economy, and that keeping it from improving daily life is key to building up the frustration and sense of helplessness and lack of faith in the new government - all of which they are out to encourage," says Gal Luft, codirector of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security in Washington. "Unfortunately, I don't see the government taking advantage of what should be a good time for an oil-producing country to make some money and move forward."

(more)

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0714/p02s01-woiq.html

[pinniped]

1. Crap, they didn't name who the "real" smugglers and theives were.

.

[wli]

2. I wonder

We all know who's smuggling and stealing the stuff anyway.

[Hissyspit]

3. Even at $20 Billion annually, it would take over 10 years...

actually, it would NEVER pay for the FINANCIAL cost of the Iraq War to the U.S.

[merwin]

4. The revenues aren't passed around in cash. They are passed around

in bank accounts. It's not like people walk over, ask for 50,000 barrels of oil, and hand them 3,000,000 in cash.

Whoever's doing the stealing is inside of the company... ie: GW Shrub & Co.

[daleo]

5. The money is being stolen by BFEE and friends

That is all the war was really about, anyway.

[Seabiscuit]

6. True - if they can't steal Iraqi oil, they steal their oil revenue.

[radfringe]

7. Smugglers and thieves

sounds like he's talking about Halliburton (et al)

[Barrett808]

8. I sometimes think of the occupation as the "asset-stripping instrument"

The large-scale looting, especially of the weapons manufacturing sites, is obviously a mafia job.