Chris Floyd: Fortunes of War: Death and Chaos No Problem for Profit-Seekers in Iraq

[babylonsister]

Fortunes of War: Death and Chaos No Problem for Profit-Seekers in Iraq
Written by Chris Floyd
Wednesday, 27 February 2008




We have long been told that the "security situation" in Iraq is the reason why the loudly promised "reconstruction" of the shattered nation by altruistic Western firms has been thwarted. Foreign corporations, particularly the oil companies, are eager to come to the aid of the suffering Iraqi people with expertise, technology and massive investment — just as soon as those quarrelsome Arabs settle down and stop killing each other.

So the story goes. But as usual, the truth is far from that. As the British government's top advisor revealed this week in a remarkably candid interview with the Observer, Western business leaders don't care how many Iraqis die — or who kills them — just as long as their own profits can be guaranteed. It is the oil law — not civil war, sectarian strife, or the cynical U.S. "surge" policy of arming all sides to guarantee continuing conflict — that is holding up Western investment.

That's the word from Michael Wareing, chief executive of the multinational consultancy firm KPMG. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has put Wareing in charge of the Basra Development Commission, the Big Business quango tasked with developing southern Iraq — where British forces once held sway, but now hide away in a remote enclave while Shiite militias and criminal gangs battle for control of the lucrative region.

Wareing told the paper that security in the area "was no longer an issue for investors." After all, he said, you will often find a spot of bother amongst the dusky peoples who have unaccountably found themselves living on top of America and Britain's oil:

"If you look at many other economies in the world, particularly the oil-rich economies, many of these places are quite challenging places in which to do business," he said. "Frankly, if you can successfully operate in the Niger Delta, that is a very different benchmark from imagining that Basra needs to be like London or Paris."

more...

http://atlanticfreepress.com/content/view/3490/81/

[SpiralHawk]

1. "Smirk." - Commander AWOL & corrupt reublicon homelander cronies