WE CAN'T LEAVE IRAQ: OIL SECTOR COULD SUFFER (CNN analyst )

[ProSense]

No safe way for U.S. to leave Iraq, experts warn

POSTED: 3:44 p.m. EDT, May 2, 2007

(CNN) -- Pulling U.S. forces from Iraq could trigger catastrophe, CNN analysts and other observers warn, affecting not just Iraq but its neighbors in the Middle East, with far-reaching global implications.

Sectarian violence could erupt on a scale never seen before in Iraq if coalition troops leave before Iraq's security forces are ready. Supporters of al Qaeda could develop an international hub of terror from which to threaten the West. And the likely civil war could draw countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran into a broader conflict.
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Shepperd, a veteran fighter pilot of the Vietnam War, has served as a CNN analyst of the Iraq war since it began. Bergen was one of the first Western journalists to ever meet with bin Laden, and is considered a leading authority on al Qaeda.

Shepperd: Oil sector could suffer

Shepperd said Iraq's neighbors would be drawn into the all-out civil war likely if U.S. forces left too quickly. Iran could move in to further strengthen its influence in southern Iraq; Turkey likely would move against the Kurds in the north; and Saudi Arabia would be inclined to take action to protect Sunnis in western Iraq, he said.

The oil sector could also get hit hard, with Iran potentially mining the Persian Gulf and attempting to close the Straits of Hormuz, putting a stranglehold on oil flow, Shepperd says.

"Oil prices would skyrocket," he said -- perhaps soaring from current prices of about $60 a barrel to more than $100 a barrel, with consequent rises at the gas pump.

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WH: "We did prevail" (here's what Bush won)

[Bluebear]

1. "CNN analysts"

yes they have served us SO well since '00!

[fooj]

2. Truth will set u.s. free.

http://www.trance-formation.com/

[Skidmore]

3. Is it not true that there is very little oil being produced in Iraq now?

How has this war made the fuel sources for the world more stable and safe?

We need to develop alternative fuel sources and quit spinning our wheels on protecting the oil based industries.

[paparush]

11. Iraq's Oil is Being Diverted to Saudi...

to hide the fact that Saudi production is in decline...

[Kikosexy2]

4. After the all...

crap that has gone on during the occupation...gee, didn't Bushco see this coming yet alone the American public...This is what we get when America votes for war-mongering, bloodthirsty, greedy idiots like bushco...quit playing the victim already America...Americans who voted and supported this evil administration are getting what they deserve....

[TwilightGardener]

5. No safe way to leave = never leaving, I guess.

[brentspeak]

6. In fairness to Shepperd, he's not advocating on behalf of oil companies

He's merely stating his opinion that oil prices worldwide would go sky-high if the Iraqi oil flow were disrupted. If anything, oil companies WANT the oil flow to be disrupted -- so they can justify raising oil prices.

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. It isn't just Iraqi oil flow, but the threat of involving the entire Middle East in the conflict...

The amount of exports from Iraq is way under its prewar capacity so shutting it off completely isn't really that big of a deal. The big deal is that Iran and Iraq start going at it again, one with an organized army and one without plus loss of control of the Straits of Hormuz.

If we did pull out (and quite frankly, i don't see it happening REGARDLESS of who is in the White House) i think the Navy would be there for a very long time.

Time to put a major US Navy facility in Bahrain.

[shance]

8. My gawd. These white privileged men think EVERYTHING belongs to them.

Including your house, and everything you own.

News to those men who believe everything is theres, including our own lives.

The Iraqi oil DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU.

Even if you steal it, it still will not belong to you.

[chknltl]

9. Iraqi oil IS disrupted and gasoline IS sky high,...

...something smells fishy here.

IF Iraq could get back online and add billions of barrels of oil weekly into the oil markets worldwide wouldn't that cause the price of oil to go down? (supply and demand)

If the price per barrel of oil dropped even slightly because the supply went up considerably...do you suppose Big Oil would see a net loss here in their profit potential?

(Doesn't the bfee represent Big Oil?)

So if someone wanted to keep Big Oil happy...

well it is all just academic...Iraq is just in FAR too much turmoil to get their oil production fully back online, Big Oil has nothing to worry its pretty lil head over.....

.......as long as bush is over in Iraq fightin' them ter-ists! (And some call HIM "dim"-son)

[B Calm]

10. and only republicans can keep us safe, blah blah blah

[hippiechick]

12. $3.20 a gallon now --- record profits --- can they suffer any more??

:puke: