Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dennis O'Bell who wrote (100165)	6/4/2003 8:46:29 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

The U.S. Oil-Control Myth War for black gold. By Hussain Hindawi & John R. Thomson - National Review It started back in November, steadily built as 2003 dawned, and has run through and beyond the war to liberate Iraq. And the myth continues: the United States, plus occasionally the United Kingdom, stands accused of occupying (not freeing) Iraq primarily to harness and hoard the nation's enormous oil reserves. What could be more obvious, say the canard creators and their publicists? Both countries have major petroleum thirsts and both countries' domestic sources of supply are running low. The Bush administration seems unable or unwilling to override the vociferous minority screaming environmental danger in extracting oil from the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), as well as petroleum-brimming sites off the shores of California and Florida. British-controlled reserves in the storm-tossed (and far more environmentally dangerous) North Sea are fast reducing. That stuff about weapons of mass destruction, and a terrorist threat? Just ask yourself, they sneer, how many WMDs have been found? And for that matter, is there any real proof of serious linkage between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, or al Fatah, or Hamas? Where exactly are the smoking guns? Sure, they found an abandoned nuclear site that spun their measuring devices out of control, and they did find some chemicals normally used in agriculture that could conceivably be used for chemical weapons. And the two semi-trailers that have been found, the so-called "mobile bio factories"? First of all, the United States said there were 15 and, anyway, they were probably used to produce something else during the planting season. As for those non-Iraqi terrorists and their leaders living in Baghdad and that huge al Qaeda training camp north of town, it was just a matter of convenience among fellow Arabs. Oh, and those hundreds of Arab and Iranian fighters who rushed to Iraq by the busload at the start of the war? They honestly believed they were coming to fight the invading infidels in support of their Iraqi "brothers." You see, the great Satan and the Coalition of the willing, hadn't proved prior to their jihad-in-reverse that virtually everyone in Iraq loathed Saddam and his Baath buddies; we all learned that, later. So, the sophists conclude, there could be no other reason for the invasion: The United States just wanted to slake its unending thirst for oil. And then with a closing flourish they clinch their case by pointing out that Japan, with hardly any domestic oil, had supported the invasion. And so it has gone, for months. Originally, there were two sources for the oil control story: Saddam's beleaguered government and the ever-reliable French. Almost simultaneously, Baghdad and every French spokesman available spread the word: The United States was merely interested in Iraq for its oil. As it had so often for 30 years, Saddam Hussein and his French friend Jacques Iraq, uhh, Chirac, had entirely compatible reasons ? Saddam to save his hide and Chirac to save billions in overpriced, non-competitively negotiated agreements to upgrade and develop Iraq's oil reserves, considered the greatest untapped source in the world. How fulfilling that the oil-conniving French should spread the same word about the United States and Britain! To be sure, every sensible government wants Iraqi oil developed in a secure atmosphere, but that is a far cry from control. The best proof of allied good intentions: the lengthy discussions in Washington seeking the best way to assure all Iraqis have a full and fair share in their nation's wealth. The best proof of France's guilt: their silence on the subject since Iraq's liberation. Hussain Hindawi is a native Iraqi historian, humanitarian, and journalist who currently serves as editor of United Press International's Arabic News Service. John R. Thomson has been involved in the Middle East since 1966 as businessman, diplomat, and journalist. This was originally written for UPI and is reprinted with permission. nationalreview.com