The Purpose of the U.S. Invasion and Occupation of Iraq

[Time for change]

We hope Iraq will be the first domino and that Libya and Iran will follow. We don’t like being kept out of markets because it gives our competitors an unfair advantage – John Gibson, chief executive, Halliburton Energy Service Group, 2003.

The U.S. invasion of Iraq was not preemption; it was – like our war on Mexico in 1846 – an avaricious, premeditated, unprovoked war against a foe who posed no immediate threat but whose defeat did offer economic advantages – Michael Scheuer, former senior CIA al-Qaeda expert.


There are many Americans who believe that our invasion of Iraq was a big mistake, or even a crime, but still believe we are obligated to stay there until we stabilize the country. Many who believe this have the best of motivations.

But in order to fully evaluate the justification for continued U.S. occupation of Iraq, it is essential to understand the purpose of the invasion. Specifically, it is important to realize that the purpose of the invasion and the purpose of the occupation are one and the same. Once this is understood, it becomes crystal clear that continued U.S. occupation will continue to produce the same catastrophic results for the American people and, more importantly, for the Iraqis to whom George Bush claims to wish to bring democracy. Antonia Juhasz, in her book, “http://www.google.com/search%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3D%2522the%2Bbush%2Bagenda%2522%2Bjuhasz%26btnG%3DGoogle%2BSearch&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title">The Bush Agenda – Invading the World, One Economy at a Time”, provides the clearest explanation and documentation for George Bush’s agenda in Iraq that I have yet seen:


Dick Cheney’s Energy Task Force

One big clue to the Bush administration’s intentions for Iraq can be seen in the National Energy Policy Development Group (usually referred to as the Energy Task Force), which was convened by Dick Cheney in January 2001, ten days following his inauguration – several months prior to the September 11 attacks that supposedly provided the motivation for the war. Juhasz describes the results of the Energy Task Force meetings:

The first recommendation… followed by a graph showing Iraq oil output to the United States in 2000 – was to “make energy security a priority of our trade and foreign policy.” The second recommendation was for the United States to “support initiatives by Mid-East suppliers to open up areas of their energy sectors to foreign investment.”

Two years after they were drawn up, legal proceedings forced the Bush White House to reveal a series of lists and maps prepared by the Task Force that outlined Iraq’s entire oil productive capacity and the foreign countries and companies lined up for contracts… the companies within the Task Force had been closed out of Iraq’s oil market and were watching from the sidelines (because of U.S. sanctions against Iraq) as the country’s oil was divvied up to everyone but them. With the tragedy of September 11, 2001, a series of paths that had been in development for at least a decade would finally join and find an open door for a march into Iraq.

The Bush economic plan for Iraq

But it wasn’t just oil. War with Iraq provided a bonanza of opportunities for Bush and Cheney’s already wealthy corporate friends and supporters. Juhasz explodes the myth that George Bush didn’t have a well thought out plan for post-conflict Iraq:

There was at least one clear plan – an economic plan – the blueprint for which was ready and in Bush administration hands at least two months prior to the invasion. The 107-page three-year contract between the Bush administration and Bearing Point, Inc. of McLean, Virginia, lays out the president’s economic agenda in Iraq. In return for $250 million, Bearing Point provided “technical assistance” to the U.S. Agency for International Development on the restructuring of the Iraqi economy to meet Bush administration goals…

Bearing Point wrote the framework to restructure Iraq from a state-controlled economy to one that guarantees “free markets, free trade and private property” – among other goals… to recommend changes to laws “that impede private sector development, trade and investment”… undertaking a “mass privatization” of Iraq’s state-owned industries.”

Bearing Point’s Draft Statement of Work, “Stimulating Economic Recovery, Reform and Sustained Growth in Iraq”, was completed on February 21, 2003. While it was not available to the public, I was made aware of the document…

The extent to which the Bearing Point contract sets out to transform the Iraqi economy is astonishing. The company specifies changes in every sector of the Iraqi economy… It even specifies propaganda tools to sell these policies to the Iraqi public.

The Bremer Orders

Upon completion of the successful invasion of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer III was appointed by George W. Bush as the administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) starting on May 6, 2003. For a little over a year, Bremer had essentially dictatorial authority in Iraq. He used that authority to write one hundred Orders, the great majority of which still today provide the basics of Iraqi law under the U.S. occupation. The content of those orders says volumes about the motivation for the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq.

De-Ba’athification and disbanding of the Iraqi military
The de-Ba’athification order removed all Ba’ath party members from government, resulting in the firing of 120,000 of Iraq’s most experienced civil servants. Bremer’s second order dissolved the Iraqi army, thus putting a half a million men out of work when unemployment in the country was already approximately 60%. Thus, with Bremer’s first two orders, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who could have been of great use in preserving order and rebuilding their country, were instead cast into desperate conditions. It is widely believed that many or most of these men became part of the insurgency. Juhasz explains the futility of the two orders:

Retired Colonel Scott Feil told the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2002 that the rank-and-file soldiers would be “essential to preserving order” in post-invasion Iraq… Instead, Bremer disbanded the military and refused to continue to pay their salaries. He handed security and reconstruction work to private U.S. contractors and the U.S. military. He even eliminated benefits to war widows and disabled veterans…

But these two orders did serve a useful purpose for George Bush: The loss of so many skilled Iraqis from the work force helped to pave the way for U.S. corporations, and the lack of a viable Iraqi army provided the primary justification for the continued U.S. military occupation.

“Trade liberalization”
Bremer’s “Trade Liberalization Policy” immediately suspended tariffs, subsidies, and other measures designed to protect the Iraqi economy and people, thus devastating local industries and businesses. The measures were very similar to those that the IMF, World Bank, and WTO have been hoisting on poor countries for many years now, with devastating effects for local populations. Bremer was in fact well aware of the devastating effects of these policies on local populations because he had spent many years counseling corporations about them:

In a November 2001 paper entitled “New Risks in International Business,” Bremer outlined the risks to multinational corporations associated with the implementation of corporate globalization policies. Every policy Bremer describes in this paper was among those he himself implemented in Iraq a year and a half later. Bremer walks through the devastating impacts of each policy on the local population – the same impacts that his policies would inflict on Iraq. Bremer warns companies that “the painful consequences of globalization are felt long before its benefits are clear” (translation: long before the corporate profits have time to trickle down to the local population). Bremer cites several specific globalization policies, such as privatization of state enterprises, deregulation of controlled industries, and reductions of tariffs and nontariff barriers to open up trade in goods and services. In the paper, Bremer explains that “privatization of basic services, for example, almost always leads to price increases for those services, which in turn often lead to protests or even physical violence against the operator.” As for economic equality, Bremer says, “the process of globalization has a disparate impact on incomes,”
which in turn causes “political and social tensions.” The harmful impact… on local producers causes “enormous pressure on… trade monopolies” when “opening markets to foreign trade…

Bremer was therefore well aware that his policies would, at a minimum, reduce access to basic services and support for local businesses in favor of foreign businesses. He also knew the policies would increase inequality and political and social tension. However, he believed that he knew how to protect U.S. multinationals from the impact of these policies and therefore the policies went forward, ever clear on who the intended beneficiaries were…

Suppression of news media
Order # 14 defined “prohibited media activity”, which essentially meant any activity that produced news contrary to the purposes of the American occupation. Don North, a CPA contractor, describes some of the effects:

They visited the offices of offending newspapers and often left them padlocked and in ruins. There was no mediation, no appeal.

Foreign investment
The Foreign Investment Order provided the legal framework for the invasion of U.S. corporations into Iraq. It provided for the privatization of Iraq’s state-owned enterprises, foreign ownership of Iraqi businesses, tax-free remittance of all profits, immunity of foreign businesses from Iraqi courts, and much else. As with everything else about the U.S. occupation, these provisions did great damage to the Iraqi people, for the benefit of U.S. corporations. Juhasz describes the effects of privatization of Iraqi industries:

In Bremer’s own words, “Restructuring inefficient state enterprises requires laying off workers.”… Even those workers who still had jobs in Iraq at the time only received… about half of what they made before the war. At the same time, prices skyrocketed.

And with respect to the lack of any constraints on foreign corporations:

U.S. corporations are therefore invited to enter the Iraqi economy, exploit a nation at its most vulnerable point, with no obligation to reinvest in the country at a time when rebuilding Iraq is professed to be the Bush administration’s most vital assignment. U.S. corporations have reaped staggering revenues from their Iraqi operations… Chevron, Bechtel, and Halliburton have each experienced skyrocketing returns to their Iraqi endeavors.

Some other oppressive orders
All foreign contractors and military personnel were given full immunity from the pre-existing laws of Iraq, both criminal and civil – even for crimes like rape, torture and murder; Iraq’s progressive income tax was replaced by a flat tax, so that the wealthy paid the same percentage tax as everyone else; bank laws opened the banking sector to foreign banks; Americans were placed in numerous key government positions; and patent laws were strengthened so that even some traditional medicines that Iraqis had used for free for generations were priced out of their affordable range.


The effect on the effort to rebuild Iraq

In the hands of U.S. corporations, the effort to rebuild Iraq was a miserable failure:

The Bush administration … failed in this mission because it did not focus its efforts on the immediate provision of needs, but rather on the opening of Iraq to private foreign corporations… Iraqis have continually pointed to the lack of electricity as a primary source of unrest… electricity has remained far below prewar levels and significantly below U.S. stated goals…

The result was frequent blackouts and the availability of electricity for only a few hours a day, with air conditioning unavailable much of the time in the face of outside temperatures of 130 degrees.

Lack of potable water and sewage treatment has been another continuing and major problem:

The full failure of the reconstruction was revealed in a January 2006 U.S. government audit. Although more than 93% of the U.S. appropriation has been spent or committed to specific companies and projects, as much as much as 60% of all water and sewer projects will not be completed…

On the exclusion of Iraqis from the rebuilding effort

The Bechtel Corporation is the largest engineering firm in the world and has been a major Republican donor for many decades. On April 17, 2003, it was awarded a $680 million contract for work in Iraq. Juhasz describes how the focus on corporate profit and the exclusion of nations who didn’t support Bush’s war effort led to disaster:

What Bechtel employees discovered after five long months was that … the systems were in far greater need and more difficult to repair than they had assumed… a problem greatly exaggerated when the Bush administration banned countries that had not supported the invasion from profiting from the occupation. Thus, Iraq’s electricity and water systems… were unable to receive replacement parts… This was all information that expert Iraqis could have easily conveyed to Bechtel from the start, had Bremer not fired the vast majority of them and had Bechtel asked…

These factors all combined to reduce Bechtel’s ability to fulfill its contracts with the U.S. government and its obligations to the Iraqi people. They did not, however, reduce Bechtel’s financial rewards. In April 2004, the Bush administration reduced the expectations for Bechtel’s contract, but not its dollar figure…

The exclusion of Iraqis from the rebuilding effort caused a great deal of resentment, greatly hampered the reconstruction effort, and made the project much more expensive for the American taxpayer and future generations of Americans:

A young college-educated Iraqi woman… captured the sentiments of millions of Iraqis when she wrote, “Instead of bringing in thousands of foreign companies that are going to want billions of dollars, why aren’t the Iraqi engineers, electricians, and laborers being taken advantage of? Thousands of people who have no work would love to be able to rebuild Iraq… No one is being given a chance…

Hiring Iraqi companies in the place of American companies would mean not only more money for Iraq but also increased savings for the American taxpayer… The Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) estimated that the costs to American taxpayers of many reconstruction projects could be reduced by 90 percent if the projects were awarded to local Iraqi companies…

The scapegoating of the Iraqis for failures caused by U.S. corporate greed

Of course nobody would expect the Bush administration or his corporate supporters to accept any blame for the numerous failures of the reconstruction effort (or anything else in Iraq):

Nobody at Bechtel or in the U.S. government denies that the water and electricity reconstruction has failed… However, Bechtel and some Bush administration officials point the finger at the Iraqis… They blame a poor Iraqi work ethic and a lack of knowledge and skill…

Iraqis may be unable to run the systems built by Bechtel in Iraq, but a poor work ethic and lack of knowledge are not to blame. Recall that Bremer fired the upper echelons of Iraqi management, sidestepped skilled engineers and workers, hired Bechtel to build state-of-the-art facilities foreign to these workers, and then handed the systems over as a fait accompli, whether or not they were even connected to the homes they were intended to serve…

The other problem is money. Iraqis simply do not have enough of it to run the expensive new facilities that they have been handed. The money has gone to U.S. contractors to (largely fail to) build Iraq’s systems, rather than to the Iraqis to run the systems after they have been rebuilt… Lack of money and skill in running public sectors has always been used as a reason for privatization. Bechtel may well position itself as the only company with the ability to run the facilities that it has built, opening the door for its entrance as a privatizer.

Iraq prior to the first Gulf War

In considering the effects of the U.S. invasion and occupation on Iraq, it is worth while to acknowledge the state of the Iraq nation prior to the first Gulf War. Juhasz describes that:

Prior to 1990, Iraq had the highest percentage of college-educated citizens in the Middle East… Health care reached approximately 97% of the urban population and 78% of rural residents, while the infant mortality rate was well below average for developing countries. Before 1991, the southern and central regions of Iraq had well-developed water and sanitation systems, and… 90% of the population had access to an abundant quantity of safe drinking water. In fact, after the first Gulf War, when the U.S. military specifically targeted electricity and water systems for attack, Iraqi engineers rebuilt the electricity system in just three months.

In other words, while Iraq was a nation ravaged by a brutal dictator, war, and twelve years of economic sanctions, it was also a country of law, public services, education, and health care that was able to succeed in spite of its ruler because of a government and economic structure made functional by a knowledgeable and dedicated citizenry. It is difficult to overstate how far the Bremer Orders go to overturn the existing Iraqi economic structure. The Orders cover virtually every aspect of Iraqi life.

Missing billions

Many who criticize the U.S. war effort in Iraq describe that effort as “incompetent” and “misguided”, etcetera, but few use harsher words than that. But when billions of dollars go missing and there is little or no effort to account for them, I think that speaks volumes about the motivation for everything that the U.S. has done in Iraq. Juhasz describes circumstances which can best be described as extremely suspicious:

Billions of dollars of U.S. money committed to reconstruction have gone unspent in Iraq, been wasted, or are simply unaccounted for. The U.S. government’s General Accounting Office reported in June 2004 that the CPA had spent virtually all of Iraq’s money during the occupation but relatively little of its own. There were significantly more stringent reporting requirements (although, I would argue not stringent enough) on the U.S. appropriation than on the Development Fund for Iraq, for which there was virtually no accounting. To this day, a full $8.8 billion from the Fund remains completely unaccounted for while audits of U.S. taxpayer funds have found contract files “unavailable, incomplete, inconsistent and unreliable.”… Halliburton has been found guilty and is under investigation for over $1.5 billion in overcharges for its Iraq services… Halliburton was also found to have colluded with the U.S. Defense Department to keep these charges out of public purview…

The fake transition of power

If the Bush administration was to actually hand power over to the Iraqis, that would defeat the whole purpose of the invasion. Juhasz describes how the Bush administration handed over the reigns of power in form but not in substance:

On June 28, 2004, in a secret ceremony in Baghdad, the invasion and occupation of Iraq by the United States was officially brought to an end… The pomp far exceeded the substance of the event. It was a handover in name only, not in deed. For, not only did 149,000 troops remain on the streets of Iraq under U.S. control, but virtually all of Bremer’s 100 Orders remained in effect…

Not only did the Allawi government leave the Bremer Orders in place, it dutifully enforced them as aggressively as Bremer himself…

On the new constitution:

A handpicked group of Iraqi government officials made changes to the constitution even after the public document had been printed and distributed. Iraqis voted on a constitution which they had not even read.

The Bush administration claimed that it was heavily involved in the constitutional drafting process in order to ensure a separation of “mosque and state” and greater protections for women. If these were the administration’s actual goals, then it failed miserably…. The administration succeeded, however, in ensuring that the constitution locked in the Bremer Orders, continued the economic transformation, allowed for the continued military occupation, and increased U.S. access to Iraq’s oil.

Attempts by Iraqi parliamentarians to include strong language on economic and social rights similar to those included in the 1970 Iraq constitution did not survive the drafting process. Whereas the 1970 constitution guaranteed free health care, education, and child and maternal care, the only parallel guarantee in the 2005 constitution is for free education…

Oil

Juhasz notes that increased access to Iraq’s oil has always been the major motivation behind the Iraq war. She notes that prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, U.S. oil companies had little or no access to Iraqi oil:

Since the 2003 invasion, however, imports have been far more steady and at consistently sizeable levels….Iraq’s oil has therefore already contributed to skyrocketing oil company profits. So, too, it seems, has the myth of a dramatically reduced oil supply from the Middle East due to the Iraq War….

The model that won out was the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA)… PSAs turn the entire exploration, drilling, and infrastructure building process over to private companies… that lock in the laws in effect at the time the contract was signed…

Before new oil contracts could be signed, the existing contracts had to be erased. This all-important step was taken back in May 2003… The U.S.-appointed senior advisor to the Iraqi Oil Ministry, Thamer al-Ghadban, announced that few, if any, of the dozens of contracts signed with foreign oil companies under the Hussein regime would be honored…

The constitution does nothing to contradict the petroleum law, but rather reinforces its core provisions. Thus… it appears that expanded private foreign corporate access to Iraq’s oil wealth is all but guaranteed….

Overview of Bush accomplishments in Iraq

Thus, when people argue about whether the Iraq War and occupation has been a success or a failure they should specify who they are talking about. It certainly hasn’t been a success for the Iraqis, who have suffered nearly a million deaths, four million refugees, and a devastated country. It certainly hasn’t been a success for the American people, with nearly four thousand dead soldiers and a debt that our country will be paying off for several generations. But in terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney’s agenda it has been a resounding success. Juhasz discusses the situation:

While violence increases daily in Iraq and the resistance grows, the Bush administration can be confident about a few things. First, the economic restructuring is well in place and moving forward… Second, U.S. corporations continue to earn billions of dollars for work in Iraq and have the potential to earn far more. Third, a government is in place that, while not ideal, is certainly preferable to the previous regime in terms of its willingness to advance Bush administration goals. Fourth, and most important to many, the oil sector has been opened to U.S. corporate access and control… all things considered, Bush’s key political and corporate allies have much to be optimistic about.

The U.S. military will likely remain in Iraq until U.S. access to oil is solidly and securely in place. For U.S. corporations, this has meant ensuring the installment of a new, legal, and permanent Iraqi government with which they can sign permanent contracts. It also means security for corporate operations… With the support of Iraq’s laws and its constitution, the U.S. military will be the key to securing continued access to oil.

As President Bush has repeatedly said, Iraq is only the beginning. In the name of spreading peace and democracy, he has revealed plans to take his administration’s model of imperial-style corporate globalization from Iraq to the rest of the Middle East… Having begun in Iraq, U.S. corporations are once again in the lead, eager to expand their own interests elsewhere…

[robinlynne]

1. spectacular article!

[Disturbed]

2. Iraq is not America's to sell

Iraq is not America's to sell

International law is unequivocal - Paul Bremer's economic reforms are illegal

Naomi Klein

Bring Halliburton home. Cancel the contracts. Ditch the deals. Rip up the rules. Those are just a few of the suggestions for slogans that could help unify the growing movement against the occupation of Iraq. So far, activist debates have focused on whether the demand should be for a complete withdrawal of troops, or for the United States to cede power to the United Nations.
But the "troops out" debate overlooks an important fact. If every last soldier pulled out of the Gulf tomorrow and a sovereign government came to power, Iraq would still be occupied: by laws written in the interest of another country; by foreign corporations controlling its essential services; by 70% unemployment sparked by public sector layoffs.

Any movement serious about Iraqi self-determination must call not only for an end to Iraq's military occupation, but to its economic colonisation as well. That means reversing the shock therapy reforms that US occupation chief Paul Bremer has fraudulently passed off as "reconstruction", and cancelling all privatisation contracts that are flowing from these reforms.
How can such an ambitious goal be achieved? Easy: by showing that Bremer's reforms were illegal to begin with. They clearly violate the international convention governing the behaviour of occupying forces, the Hague regulations of 1907 (the companion to the 1949 Geneva conventions, both ratified by the United States), as well as the US army's own code of war.

The Hague regulations state that an occupying power must respect "unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force in the country". The coalition provisional authority has shredded that simple rule with gleeful defiance. Iraq's constitution outlaws the privatisation of key state assets, and it bars foreigners from owning Iraqi firms. No plausible argument can be made that the CPA was "absolutely prevented" from respecting those laws, and yet two months ago, the CPA overturned them unilaterally.
On September 19, Bremer enacted the now infamous Order 39. It announced that 200 Iraqi state companies would be privatised; decreed that foreign firms can retain 100% ownership of Iraqi banks, mines and factories; and allowed these firms to move 100% of their profits out of Iraq. The Economist declared the new rules a "capitalist dream".

Order 39 violated the Hague regulations in other ways as well. The convention states that occupying powers "shall be regarded only as administrator and usufructuary of public buildings, real estate, forests and agricultural estates belonging to the hostile state, and situated in the occupied country. It must safeguard the capital of these properties, and administer them in accordance with the rules of usufruct."

Bouvier's Law Dictionary defines "usufruct" (possibly the ugliest word in the English language) as an arrangement that grants one party the right to use and derive benefit from another's property "without altering the substance of the thing". Put more simply, if you are a housesitter, you can eat the food in the fridge, but you can't sell the house and turn it into condos. And yet that is just what Bremer is doing: what could more substantially alter "the substance" of a public asset than to turn it into a private one?

In case the CPA was still unclear on this detail, the US army's Law of Land Warfare states that "the occupant does not have the right of sale or unqualified use of property". This is pretty straightforward: bombing something does not give you the right to sell it. There is every indication that the CPA is well aware of the lawlessness of its privatisation scheme. In a leaked memo written on March 26, the British attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, warned Tony Blair that "the imposition of major structural economic reforms would not be authorised by international law".
So far, most of the controversy surrounding Iraq's reconstruction has focused on the waste and corruption in the awarding of contracts. This badly misses the scope of the violation: even if the sell-off of Iraq were conducted with full transparency and open bidding, it would still be illegal for the simple reason that Iraq is not America's to sell.

The security council's recognition of the United States' and Britain's occupation authority provides no legal cover. The UN resolution passed in May specifically required the occupying powers to "comply fully with their obligations under international law including in particular the Geneva conventions of 1949 and the Hague regulations of 1907".

According to a growing number of international legal experts, that means that if the next Iraqi government decides it doesn't want to be a wholly owned subsidiary of Bechtel and Halliburton, it will have powerful legal grounds to renationalise assets that were privatised under CPA edicts.
Juliet Blanch, global head of energy and international arbitration for the huge international law firm Norton Rose, says that because Bremer's reforms directly contradict Iraq's constitution, they are "in breach of international law and are likely not enforceable". Blanch argues that the CPA "has no authority or ability to sign those contracts", and that a sovereign Iraqi government would have "quite a serious argument for renationalisation without paying compensation". Firms facing this type of expropriation would, according to Blanch, have "no legal remedy".

The only way out for the administration is to make sure that Iraq's next government is anything but sovereign. It must be pliant enough to ratify the CPA's illegal laws, which will then be celebrated as the happy marriage of free markets and free people. Once that happens, it will be too late: the contracts will be locked in, the deals done and the occupation of Iraq permanent.
Which is why anti-war forces must use this fast-closing window to demand that the next Iraqi government be free from the shackles of these reforms. It's too late to stop the war, but it's not too late to deny Iraq's invaders the myriad economic prizes they went to war to collect in the first place.

It's not too late to cancel the contracts and ditch the deals.


http;//www.commondreams.org/views03/1107-09.htm

[robinlynne]

3. How I wish NBC ABC CNN would talk about THESE truths!!!!!!!!

HOw I wish every American were aware of that first halliburton quote.

[Time for change]

52. I would hope that would change a few minds

[Time for change]

51. Excellent article

Unquestionably the U.S. interference with the Iraq economy and the abrogation of their laws are illegal according to international law (Of course, the war itself was even more illegal).

I think that if and when the U.S. military leaves, the Iraqis should be able to change all that even if they can't get the existing laws declared to be illegal. After all, without the U.S. military there, who would stop them?

[xrockartistx]

4. realpolitik

there's no doubt that this war has been conceived and executed as a ruthless national security action, one that's been planned for decades. there is no chance that the us presence in iraq and the middle east will end, short of an actual revolution in this country.

[calimary]

13. Welcome to DU!

Indeed, no doubt at all. I think bush is determined to keep us in Iraq til he gets that revenue sharing agreement signed - for all his pirate friends in the oil bidness.

SCHMUCK. All that carnage, waste, and destruction - for greed.

[Demeter]

32. But Then He'd Have to Stay to ENFORCE Those Agreements

It's a permanent occupation he wants. As in PERMANENT! Or until the oil runs out...

[Swamp Rat]

15. Welcome to DU!

:hi:



www.swamp-rat.com

[Time for change]

53. Welcome to DU realpolitik

:toast:

I would hope getting rid of the Bush administration would put an end to the war before too long. I am hopeful that there are a number of current Democratic presidential candidates who would end it soon after taking office. I believe it's impossible to know for sure at this time because it's hard to tell campaign rhetoric from real intentions. Kucinich and Gravel are the only ones who seem sure to end it if elected. I am also very hopeful that Edwards would put a quick end to it.

[bigtree]

5. you nailed the role of the interim authority in tearing down the Iraqi market

and opening it to foreign investment for the first time in Iraq's history.

spot on, as usual, Time for change

[Time for change]

54. Thank you big tree

You've had a great many very insightful things to say to us about this war.

[bleever]

6. This excellent history lesson deserves to top the Greatest page.

Not to mention taught in schools!

[hootinholler]

10. Agreed! It got my Rec. Needs about 75 more. n/t

[Time for change]

55. Thank you very much bleever

I'm very pleased to see that so many people took your advice. :)

[slipslidingaway]

7. Wonderful & thank you. Now the sad part is that elected

officials obviously know many of these facts and ???

[Time for change]

56. Yes, they must know

I think that there are many issues today that are considered too politically radioactive to touch -- just like in the days of slavery it was considered political suicide to talk about abolishing slavery. I'm glad that Lincoln did not admit to the extent of his anti-slavery views during his 1960 presidential campaign, or else he certainly wouldn't have been elected. I hope that we get someone remotely like him for 2008.

[slipslidingaway]

86. For sure it is a balancing act and currently one of the most

radioactive topics is the draft Oil Law.

You do an excellent job connecting the dots and compiling the information, thank you.

[L. Coyote]

8. The Purpose of the U.S. Invasion and Occupation of Ohio?

How much has changed since the 1700s?

[bvar22]

9. Thanks for compiling this data!

I was overwhelmed with rage, frustration, and despair.
What can we do when Our Party supports this?

Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate who speaks out on this.
The rest are too busy waving flags and "supporting the troops". The same goes for those on DU supporting those other candidates.

Bookmarked for future reference.
K&R
:dem:

[Time for change]

58. I intend to vote for Kucinich largely because he spoke out on this.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x988702

But I am also hopeful that there are a number of other Democratic candidates, Edwards in particular, who would also get us out of Iraq very quickly after being inaugurated.

[Octafish]

11. Thanks for another outstanding post, Time for change!

Ray McGovern adds the acronym is OIL: Oil, Israel and Logistics.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0922-01.htm

Great work, Time for change. KBR.

[Pierzin]

12. First rate, Time for Change, First Rate

We have a right to know what Our Government is doing in our name, yet they hide it behind a curtain. The MSM is loathe to cover this story in depth, and I really doubt they ever will. Only on the left are they talking openly about the real story in Iraq, for even Keith Olbermann won't go where you have in this piece.
Whomever the next president is, may he or she, have the wisdom to work on a diplomatic solution to this morass the Bushies have left.

I wish I could K&R this article a dozen times. It confirms all the stories I have already read, or seen.

[Time for change]

60. Thank you Pierzin -- I think Keith is great

I think it's unbelievable that he can say the things he does without getting fired -- or worse. He's taken some big risks to get the word out, and so far he's gotten away with it. I think that he was a major factor in the 2006 elections.

[obiwan]

14. If you compare the Bush Administration...

...to a teenage boy with an all-day woody it's not so hard to see why we are in Iraq.

[Senator]

16. Only Impeachment Can Even "Register An Objection" To Any Of It

And whether it was an "evil plan" or simply "stunning incompetence" is entirely irrelevant.

They must be moved away from the sharp objects (and the nuclear buttons).

Only Impeachment ... can draw a line in the sand.

It is our ONLY moral, patriotic, (and legal, legislative, electoral, diplomatic...) option.

----

[Time for change]

61. I agree

Impeachment is by far the best, and perhaps the ONLY way for us to proceed at this point. It is possibly the only way to end this war. And it is very disappointing to me that Congress hasn't taken it up yet.

[DUlover2909]

17. Very good job!

I pasted the link to my family and friends so they too can see the truth. I always assumed there was a logical (even if evil) explanation for this wholesale, goverment sanctioned, mass murder and armed robbery. That's what war is. Tolstoy told me so.

[GCP]

23. My husband's been saying for ages that there was a logical explanation

For this clusterfuck. You were both right.
Welcome to DU! :hi:

[Time for change]

62. I'm very happy that you've shared this with your friends and family

A lot more people need to know about these things!

[tom_paine]

18. K & R

[Richard Steele]

19. Kicked and recommended.

[NNN0LHI]

20. Great thread

Thank you for doing the work.

Recommended.

Don

[malaise]

21. Superb post

Bookmarked.

[JohnyCanuck]

22. This War on Terrorism is Bogus

This War on Terrorism is Bogus
The 9/11 attacks gave the US an ideal pretext to use force to secure its global domination

by Michael Meacher (former environment minister in Tony Blair's Labour government)


Massive attention has now been given - and rightly so - to the reasons why Britain went to war against Iraq. But far too little attention has focused on why the US went to war, and that throws light on British motives too. The conventional explanation is that after the Twin Towers were hit, retaliation against al-Qaida bases in Afghanistan was a natural first step in launching a global war against terrorism. Then, because Saddam Hussein was alleged by the US and UK governments to retain weapons of mass destruction, the war could be extended to Iraq as well. However this theory does not fit all the facts. The truth may be a great deal murkier.

We now know that a blueprint for the creation of a global Pax Americana was drawn up for Dick Cheney (now vice-president), Donald Rumsfeld (defense secretary), Paul Wolfowitz (Rumsfeld's deputy), Jeb Bush (George Bush's younger brother) and Lewis Libby (Cheney's chief of staff). The document, entitled Rebuilding America's Defenses, was written in September 2000 by the neoconservative think tank, Project for the New American Century (PNAC).

The plan shows Bush's cabinet intended to take military control of the Gulf region whether or not Saddam Hussein was in power. It says "while the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein."

SNIP

The conclusion of all this analysis must surely be that the "global war on terrorism" has the hallmarks of a political myth propagated to pave the way for a wholly different agenda - the US goal of world hegemony, built around securing by force command over the oil supplies required to drive the whole project. Is collusion in this myth and junior participation in this project really a proper aspiration for British foreign policy? If there was ever need to justify a more objective British stance, driven by our own independent goals, this whole depressing saga surely provides all the evidence needed for a radical change of course.

Michael Meacher MP was environment minister from May 1997 to June 2003

[Time for change]

63. Right -- Bush's so called "War on Terror" is a political instrument designed to enable the Neocons

to take over the world:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x784114

[Amonester]

24. Kick.

I wish there was a way to post this every day on DU, because this is what it's all about, and everything else is just dust in the neoconservatives' smoke screen.

They abuse the lives of thousands Americans and Iraqis in a lot worst manner than the Enron-type crooks abused the lives of their employees and customers.

And yet, who is out there to stop them from abusing US and them in an EFFECTIVE way?

Crickets...

Recommended.

[Time for change]

64. Thank you -- Our Congress should be doing something about this.

I really don't understand why they're not.

[SlowDownFast]

25. Recommended. n/t

[Blue Fire]

26. Can an internet forum post be nominated for a Pulitzer?

At the very least I join the many who K&R'd this excellent work. The spotlight is shining on this corrupt, illegal, and dare I say intentionally and genuinely evil Bush admin policy (this is absolutely NOT in any way whatsoever in reference to our troops, mind you). Why aren't more Americans seeing this? Ignoring the crimes of our illegitimate executive branch - not to mention the seeming incompetence of our duly elected Congressional majority on this issue - is a frightening lapse of patriotism that is seriously eroding real American values.
Thank you, Time for change, for some terrific research.

[Time for change]

65. Thank you Blue Fire -- Why aren't the American people seeing this?

I think it's largely because of a corporate news media that has a near monopoly on the type of news that most Americans get, who is interested above all in maintaining the status quo and making profits rather than broadcasting or publishing real news.

We need to do something to break their monopoly on our news. Hopefully, starting in 2009 we can begin to do that.

[Patsy Stone]

27. A perfect synopsis

A crystal clear view into the machinations of the criminal minds holding the US hostage to greed.

K&R

[irislake]

28. AMERICANS DO NOT BE COMPLICIT

Do not let this criminal and murderous Bush government steal the oil from the Iraqi people. Join Dennis Kucinich in fighting to prevent theft of Iraq's oil. Oppose the bi-partisan attempt led by Senator John Warner to force the Iraqi government to sign the Hydrocarbon Act reversing the nationalization of the country's oil. This is the "benchmark" even some Democratic politicians are trying to force on the Iraqi government.

Can you imagine how America will look to the world if this happens? With the worldwide internet it is no longer possible to whitewash such deeply immoral foreign policy. The whole world knows it is really about stealing the Iraqi people's oil. It is a secret only to Americans who get their information from the corporate controlled media. This will destroy every shred of America's good reputation in the world.

Protest!

Go to <www.thepriceofoil.org>

See "What Is Holding Up The Iraqi Oil Law?" <www.thepriceofoil.org/2007/08/27/what-is-holding-up-the-iraqi-oil-law/

If you believe this is immoral please help OIL CHANGE INTERNATIONAL fight the corruption of the big oil multinationals.You can have an impact in getting the word out.

I am disappointed this matter is attracting so little attention on DU. Please act!

[Time for change]

66. Excellent informative article!

The American people need to understand that George Bush is not fighting the Iraq War to bring democracy to the Iraqi people -- he is fighting it specifically to take democracy away from them.

[zonmoy]

82. This will destroy every shred of America's good reputation in the world

invading iraq already did that didn't it. I suspect that the world considers us the nation equivalent of public enemy #1.

[nealmhughes]

29. Cheap paperbooks of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead in Arabic and Persian for all!

The Ayn Rand School of greed is good has triumphed!

Too bad everyone wants a liberal democracy and not a cadre of Great Industrialists running the world. . .

[Joanne98]

30. I've been saying this right from the beginning. But never this well. K&R!

One world corporation, coming to a country near u!

[Labors of Hercules]

31. What a fantastic resource! K&R!!! nt

[Martin Eden]

33. You might add Petrodollar Hegemony

Some say that Saddam sealed his fate when he switched his oil transactions from dollars to euros. One of the first things Bush did when he gained control of Iraq was to switch from euros back to dollars. Keeping the dollar as the world's fiat currency is possibly the most overriding motivation for this war -- and for the coming war against Iran.

By the way ... K&R, great post!

[Time for change]

67. Yes, I've heard that, and I don't doubt it's true

In any event, the bottom line is that it's all about making Bush's cronies wealthier than they already are.

[Maestro]

34. Wow. So much info to read

but well worth it. :thumbsup:

[nradisic]

35. Impeach the bastards!

Impeach, Indict, Imprison. That is the one and only solution. People should be shot for treason and then some...

[Larry Ogg]

36. It is said that, “Money is the root of all evil.”

In nearly every aspect, in a mountain of supposed mistakes and failures in Iraq, there has been a siphoning off of huge amounts of money. But as you have so perfectly pointed out in your OP this was no mistake or failure, and I strongly believe what has happened and the way it has happened, was and still is part of a very large and ongoing plan. Calling it a mistake or failure is only allowing the criminals too cop a plea of ignorance, while allowing them to continue in their crime, demanding that the world and we the people prove their guilt in a legal system ware the oppressor is made arbitrator over the legitimacy and legality of the laws by which they stand accused.

I think you capture perfectly in this section of the OP the true intent of the perpetuators behind the evil confronting the world.

“Trade liberalization”
Bremer’s “Trade Liberalization Policy” immediately suspended tariffs, subsidies, and other measures designed to protect the Iraqi economy and people, thus devastating local industries and businesses. The measures were very similar to those that the IMF, World Bank, and WTO have been hoisting on poor countries for many years now, with devastating effects for local populations. Bremer was in fact well aware of the devastating effects of these policies on local populations because he had spent many years counseling corporations about them:

It seems the only mistake possible in their plan, would be not being able capture and control every last remaining drop of wealth.

What you have pointed out in this OP would sicken the Devil; providing the Devil was denied his share of the blood money. But this is just one crime amongst the greatest crime spree in the history of humanity, perpetrated by the most evil crime syndicate in the history of humanity.

But still the criminals are demanding that the world, and we the people, prove their guilt in a legal system ware the oppressor is made arbitrator over the legitimacy and legality of the laws by which they stand accused.

To this, one of the most important and disturbing articles I have ever read concerning the true intent of the Iraq war, I would just like to add a plea for people too watch the following video. It somehow shines a light on those responsible in a way I have never seen. It’s about those behind the curtain, the puppet masters controlling the strings of democracy, monarchies and tyrannies for centuries. It reveals those behind the unfathomable suffering through horrific wars and poverty, mans inhumanity too man for the sole purpose of enriching the few and enslaving the world.

This video reveals http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-515319560256183936&q=money+masters&total=1272&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0"> The Money Masters. It is 3:35 hours long, and is a very well done secrete revealing factual documentary explaining how those who create and control the money supply, control the destiny of the world.

It also shows how we will be able to save the world if we choose…

[EVDebs]

43. LOVE Of Money Is The Root Of All Evil: And In America, Ignorance Of Money Runs A Close Second

http://www.prisonplanet.com/analysis_mark_020503_money.html

Things that are said to be the root of all evil:

* The love of money (φιλαργυρία ) according to Apostle Paul (1 Timothy, 6 : 7-10)
* Lack of money, according to George Bernard Shaw

[Larry Ogg]

77. Thanks for the link EVDebs, that was a very good article; worth a permalink.

A lot of the same great quotes are also in http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-515319560256183936&q=money+masters&total=1272&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0"> The Money Masters video. Along with some disturbing historical facts; I could not recommend viewing it enough.

[Time for change]

68. Thank you for the video link Larry -- sounds like it's well worth watching

I'm glad we have international laws in this world, and I hope that some day Bush and Cheney and their enablers have to answer to them, as did Slobodan Milosovic. Donald Rumsfeld has already been indicted for war crimes in Germany.

[Larry Ogg]

79. You were beginning to worry me Dr. Dale

You never take so long to tend to your threads, it is my hope you were enjoying a nice Labor Day barbeque with friends and family.

I hope you do take the time and watch the video, as it ties together so many pieces of the big picture (it did for me at least). So often, when we are not busy pointing our finger in the wrong direction, we use phrases such as the puppet masters and the man behind the curtain, but who can attach a face to speculative references, the truth is well hidden. I think this video has the potential too change that, if enough people see it.
Larry

[Time for change]

80. I will listen to it Larry, thank you for providing it

It sounds very interesting.

[emmadoggy]

37. I have no words.

This is infuriating and frightening at the same time.

:cry: :cry: :cry: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared:

K & R

[rosesaylavee]

38. Did you ever watch Robert Newman's History of Oil?

It starts in Iraq prior to WW1. I didn't know that Iraq figured into reasons why we fought in that war, did you?

http://www.brasscheck.com/videos/oil/oil1.html

[Time for change]

69. No, I have not seen that film

And I didn't know that Iraq figured into the reasons why we fought WW I, though I have read several books that involved our entry into WW I.

There's so much we don't know!

[rosesaylavee]

76. Newman is an interesting activist.

He got tired of telling people directly about his concerns and made up a one-man show to inform them instead in a humorous, entertaining way. The video is a bit longer than most - but worth it.

[w8liftinglady]

39. allow me to kick this fantastic post again...let's not forget

..what the REAL story is..not Craig,Not Vitter....this is the story.

[Time for change]

70. Thank you -- Just think how much better off we'd be if

our corporate media devoted as much time to the motivations for the Iraq war as they did to Craig or Vitter, or better yet, to Monica/Bill or the Gary Condit "scandal".

[ooglymoogly]

40. and the truth shall set you free...kn

[TomClash]

41. Dead on

Congratulations on a fine post. One tiny moan: Saddam's Iraq was manipulating oil price markets, another related rationale for the invasion.

[rubberducky]

42. "Where have all the flowers gone"???

When will we ever learn? The bush regime defiled and raped the innocent people of Iraq. For this we will be responsible for years to come. The wrongs done in our name are too numerous to mention. This regime is evil incarnate. bush cares as little for the US as he cares for the innocents in Iraq. As he showed the world in the Katrina fiasco. We blame republicanism, but I fear it is something that reaches far deeper than that. We have been touched by inhumane evil. By inhumane greed. Will we recover??

[Time for change]

71. I am hopeful that we will

This administration is indeed evil incarnate. But it is certainly not the first -- nor, unfortunately is it likely to be the last.

But the world has recovered before, and I am hopeful that it can recover again.

[bjobotts]

44. All corporations are intertwined in such a manner they are complicit

in world domination through "free" or "stolen" markets by privatization. The only way to ensure our personal freedoms here is through the elimination of corporations and the breaking up of monopolies (monopolies now are not just one corporation but several who work in unison to support the same goals) Corporations should have a limited lifespan and should be well regulated to prevent them from becoming more powerful than the nations they operate in.
It can only begin with public financing of election campaigns with free public service coverage. That's the beginning of the war against corporate rule.

[Time for change]

72. Yes, corporations have been given way too much power in our country

Reagan and Bush II have been the worst offenders. A nation can't exist very well as long as a few elite monopolize all the resources at the expense of everyone else, and the wealth gap widens to ridiculous proportions. Americans need to understand that.

[Fire Walk With Me]

45. The establishment of a world economy and control of resources.

Consumers and laborers are resources, too.

India will become the world's braintrust, and China, the labor pool. Both will wield amazing influence due to economic power.

Think it's bad now? It's -all- going to be about the economy. Politics is merely a front for business.

[Major Hogwash]

46. Outstanding!

Great article. Very informative and well written.

Bookmarked.

[east texas lib]

47. Killer Post!!!

Manifest Destiny all wrapped up in a shiny new name! Frank Herbert once wrote
that greed is the only self-regulating force in the universe because the greedy
will only take it all. This great post proves him right, sadly. Entire countries
destroyed, their populations decimated, their lives forever changed for the
worse. Thousands upon thousands of non-combatant civilians killed. But hey!
This is one FUCK of an omelet that the shrub is making!

[Time for change]

73. And some people get upset with me for comparing the Bush administration to

Hitler's Nazis

Go figure :shrug:

[rAVES]

48. Amazing work n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

49. Extemely important. MUST prevent pre-emptive war with next "domino": IRAN

All too many of the Democratic congress members are going along with this horror. According to Kucinich, a secret agreement was made to word the Dem war funding bill to accede to the Bush administration wording to push "privatization" of Iraq oil and to remove any requirement (despite specific prohibition in the Constitution) that Bush receive congressional approval before invading Iran.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1657357

ALL NOMINEES AND CURRENT FEDERAL OFFICE HOLDERS MUST BE MADE TO SPECIFY THEIR POSITION ON THE WAR - NONE WHO SUPPORT IRAQ OIL PRIVATIZATION OR FAIL TO OPPOSE CONTINUATION AND EXTENSION OF THE WAR MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE.

K & R

[Time for change]

74. I couldn't agree more with you Hope

I'm afraid that the only way a war with Iran will be prevented will be if the American people let it be known that they won't stand for it.

[LeftishBrit]

50. Sickening

Thousands dead and a country destroyed for oil, imperialism and sheer arrogant ignorance. Bush and Blair are criminals.

[Theduckno2]

57. I really appreciate its conciseness. Thanks for posting.

It would be easy to generate volumes on any of these aspects of the current Iraqi debacle but you chose brevity. In a world full of 2 minute sound-bites this piece is welcome ammunition for those of us who convey the truth to the ignorant masses(read: Republicans) and their unwitting sympathizers.

I have on several occasions posted the following well-worn adage, "Follow the Money", and I should think Sam Spade would be proud of your fine piece of detective work.

[Time for change]

75. Thank you -- We need all the ammunition we can get

I sincerely hope that people will be able to use this as ammunition.

[Imagevision]

59. The Iraqi's have a lot of nerve standing on OUR God given rights to OUR oil.

[Mark D.]

78. Fantastic

I'll bookmark this page. It says it all. It bears repeating as I've said before.
This is an example of what neo-con is all about. Corporate Liberalism. Use that
word as much as you can. The word 'macho' republicans hate to embrace. Liberals.
IF they support this sort of thing they are CORPORATE LIBERALS. Please, tell a
friend, tell many. Get the word out. Take that word and use it on them as they
did us. WELFARE LOVERS. They love corporate welfare. Let them have it. There's
got to be a sea change to enact a permanent foot up on the right wing by more
common sense left and centrist folks permanently. Just going Dem in 06 and 08
isn't enough. We need a big enough lead they can't cheat their way out of, as
they did with Kerry's victory turned to a loss. Call them what they are, now.

[Time for change]

81. Yep, corporate welfare, that's what it is

One would think that if people knew what was going on there would be a major outcry against it.

[Joe Fields]

83. Having lived as long as I have, and knowing the connection that this administration

has with big business, and knowing what they all have done and are capable of, this is what I figured, although I couldn't have known the details or the planning. This was an excellent synopsis and one of the most worthwhile threads I've read in quite some time. Thank you.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

84. Remember the scene in Godfather 2 where the mobsters and corporate moguls divide the Cuba cake?

That's the basic image I get when I think of Cheney's secret energy task force.

[ConsAreLiars]

85. Great summary. Please sent it to Mother Jones, The Nation, Salon, Truthout,

and any other media that might be interested. Concise, clearly written, well documented, and Important. Thank you!

[Joe Fields]

87. kick

[acmavm]

88. This post lays the neocon plan out in words that anybody can understand

but at the same time is worthy (as someone said above) of a Pulitzer. And they haven't been subtle about what they were doing, they haven't cared at all when they've been called on their illegal activities. To let the neocons get away with these crimes as easily as they have is the same as just giving them our freedoms and our way of life and allowing them to destroy it all while we meekly watch from the sidelines.

I'm grateful that you posted this amazing 'article'. Because it gives me a chance to ask, where are the good people going to come from who will fight this corruption and greed? Where are our democratic reps when this horrible administration asks for more money to continue their plans of conquest and theft? I know where they were last time around. They were giving them all the money that they asked for, that's where. And then they granted them the powers to spy on you and me, all in the name of this 'War on Terror'.

Who will stop this? Why are we just taking it so quietly and complacently? It will never stop unless we find a leader willing to lead us away from corporate corruption and neocon treason.