It Was Oil, All Along

[Whoa_Nelly]

It Was Oil, All Along

By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship
June 27, 2008

Oh, no, they told us, Iraq isn't a war about oil.
That's cynical and simplistic, they said.
It's about terror and al Qaeda and toppling a dictator
and spreading democracy and protecting ourselves from weapons of mass destruction.

<snip>
Read on: "Four western companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power."

There you have it. After a long exile, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP are back in Iraq. And on the wings of no-bid contracts – that's right, sweetheart deals like those given Halliburton, KBR, Blackwater. The kind of deals you get only if you have friends in high places.

And these war profiteers have friends in very high places.


<snip>
Fast forward to Cheney’s first heady days in the White House. The oil industry and other energy conglomerates have been handed backdoor keys to the White House, and their CEOs and lobbyists were trooping in and out for meetings with their old pal, now Vice President Cheney.
The meetings are secret, conducted under tight security, but as we reported five years ago, among the documents that turned up from some of those meetings were maps of oil fields in Iraq – and a list of companies who wanted access to them.

More of this excellent article:
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/062708b.html

[libodem]

1. Of course it was all about the oil

Freedom and Democracy had nothing to do with invading Iraq. In fact 'keeping the world safe for Democracy' was a WWII rallying cry. I suppose most of America didn't recognize that old slogan. What galls me is the over all impact on American morals. There are now good ol' boys everywhere whom think invading for oil is an okay foreign policy maneuver. I've heard guys, I never thought were so crass, say it's okay to torture because they would do the same to us. Regular folk are thinkin' like Nazis because of this mis-adminstration of criminal mobsters. Take what you want because you are bigger, meaner, and more powerful.

PS: Read my sig line, again. Some of us have known from the outset.

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. Have known it from the outset as well

The article is more of an editorial rant that these crooks are still being given privilege.

I so want the Bush Gang of Thieves to be impeached, arrested, and put away forever :grr:

[indepat]

4. All with an inkling of knowledge and a modicum of common sense have known from the outset that it

was always about the oil, oil for big oil to make trillions of dollars from. :mad: :D

[Baby Snooks]

5. And the Democrats in Congress knew it as well...

They can lie along with the Republicans. But they knew. And not only knew but approved it. Approved of this "millions of lives for billions of barrels" policy of the Bush dynasty.

It was worth the lives of 500,000 innocent Iraqi children in 1996 according to Madeline Albright. Who spoke for Bill Clinton. But also spoke for George HW Bush whose policy Bill Clinton had kept in place.

One of the many reasons why Nancy Pelosi kept impeachment off the table was self-preservation. The Empress serves the Emperor. But she also serves herself.

Watch them work. The Republicrats who serve the dynasty. The DINOs and the RINOs. Watch them demand a roll call at the Democratic convention. They would still rather have Hillary Clinton. And if they can't have her they will manage to have Barack Obama choose her as his running mate. Not to ensure he wins. To ensure he loses.

The reality of Barack Obama is he does not serve the dynasty. Hillary Clinton and John McCain do. And will continue to.

[treestar]

3. Yet we continue to be dependent on oil

And do little but blame people from other countries either for existing or having the oil.

Why do we not take a constructive approach and try to minimize our dependency on oil and on the automobile? It boggles the mind.

[yurbud]

6. it was for the oil, but not for us--so US oil companies could set the price and reap the profits

Myth of oil weapon:

http://professorsmartass.blogspot.com/2007/11/myth-of-oil-weapon-vs-reality-of.html

The oil deals Bush is pushing on Iraqis screw them so much that his hand-picked parliament won't rubberstamp his corporate drafted oil law:
http://professorsmartass.blogspot.com/2008/01/big-oil-tries-to-bribe-iraqis-to-pass.html

[yurbud]

7. If Dems shifted Iraq debate to oil, the war would be over. Simply turn every debate into

has this made oil cheaper? Does ensure our access or aggravate countries we need good relations with?

Was it worth the cost or should we have invested the same couple of trillion in alternative energy? How many solar & wind plants could we have built for that much? How many hybrid and electric cars? How much more light rail mass transit could we have built?

What are the oil companies giving us BACK for securing oil contracts for them in Iraq?