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Why The War In Iraq Was Fought For Big Oil
By Antonia Juhasz
Source: Why The War In Iraq Was Fought For Big Oil
Friday, March 22, 2013
It has been 10 years since Operation Iraqi Freedom's bombs first landed in Baghdad. And while most of the U.S.-led coalition forces have long since gone, Western oil companies are only getting started.
Before the 2003 invasion, Iraq's domestic oil industry was fully nationalized and closed to Western oil companies. A decade of war later, it is largely privatized and utterly dominated by foreign firms.
Before the 2003 invasion, Iraq's domestic oil industry was fully nationalized and closed to Western oil companies. A decade of war later, it is largely privatized and utterly dominated by foreign firms.
"Of course it's about oil; we can't really deny that," said Gen. John Abizaid, former head of U.S. Central Command and Military Operations in Iraq, in 2007. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan agreed, writing in his memoir, "I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil." Then-Sen. and now Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the same in 2007: "People say we're not fighting for oil. Of course we are."
For the first time in about 30 years, Western oil companies are exploring for and producing oil in Iraq from some of the world's largest oil fields and reaping enormous profit. And while the U.S. has also maintained a fairly consistent level of Iraq oil imports since the invasion, the benefits are not finding their way through Iraq's economy or society.
For the first time in about 30 years, Western oil companies are exploring for and producing oil in Iraq from some of the world's largest oil fields and reaping enormous profit. And while the U.S. has also maintained a fairly consistent level of Iraq oil imports since the invasion, the benefits are not finding their way through Iraq's economy or society.
Full Article: http://www.zcommunications.org/why-the-war-in-iraq-was-fought-for-big-oil-by-antonia-juhasz
7 replies
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hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, or war that killed hundreds and hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. Iraq was doomed, one way or another, doesn't matter who was in power. I wish I could believe that US Democratic president would have done it differently but I don't. Just look how many Dems voted in lockstep with Repubs. Or look who was in power in UK at that time and voted for that atrocity.
I just hope that at least our own Blair The Poodle & The Liberator of The Middle East, WILL end up in prison for war crimes.
