Jim McDermott ... Dear Colleague; Iraq Oil Law

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/23883

"This "Dear Colleague" letter from Congressman Jim McDermott of
Washington State circulated to every member of the U.S. Congress today
with the statement by the Nobel Peace Prize Recipients in opposition
to the Iraq Oil Law.

_____________________________________________
From: Rodgers, Jessica
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2007 6:02 PM
To: Dear Colleague
Subject: Dear Colleague; Iraq Oil Law

Dear Colleague,

On Tuesday, June 19, an extraordinary document was signed by five
Nobel Peace Prize Laureates opposing the pending Iraq Oil Law and
opposing the decision by Congress to require passage of an oil law as
a benchmark.

The five signers, all members of the Nobel Women's Initiative, wrote
that a "law with the potential to so radically transform the basic
economic securities of the people of Iraq should not be forced on
Iraq." They are right, and forcing this oil law on Iraq will hurt
Iraq's chances to become a successful state.

Although the Bush Administration believes that opening Iraqi oil
fields to foreign control will help stabilize Iraq, the pending law
includes no obligation for foreign companies to hire Iraqi workers,
invest in Iraq or share new technologies. Iraq needs employment, needs
investment and needs technology. Iraq's oil is its most valuable
resource and its best chance to attract the resources it needs.

I urge you to read and carefully consider what the Nobelists have to
say about the oil law."

Sincerely,

Jim McDermott

How presumptious of McDermott to use logic against money....

for our party.

:eyes: :think:

we have been led to believe that the Oil Law seeks only to define a settlement of terms among the various factions in Iraq. the message was: reach an accord that fairly allocates Iraq's oil among you. the justification for the Oil Law, as publicized, has been that it is required if peace is to be achieved.

not discussed with the American people are the ugly realities of the Oil Law. by "privatizing" (read stealing) Iraq's oil and allowing it to become the "spoils of war" for Exxon and Chevron and the rest of the vultures, we will, in reality, be consigning the Iraqi people to an impoverished future and with all likelihood precipitating and prolonging the violence there.

this is raw imperialism in all its evil splendor.

we all understand this has always been the primary objective of republicans and the corporate empire they puppet for. the jury is still out on the Democrats. either they are the good guys wearing the white hats or they are not. there's no triangulating here.

we are watching you, Democrats. the whole world is watching you. your silence on this critical issue thus far does not speak well for your motives or your values.

we will know you by your deeds. it's time for every Democrat to loudly and clearly proclaim that Iraqi oil should be for the sole benefit of the Iraqi people. anything short of that is complicity with the imperialists. we will know you by your deeds. we await your response.

kicked and recommended!!

Just taking this opportunity to repeat something you posted which I feel is very important and for the most part overlooked, great post.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/welshTerrier2/126

"Here's the major point: You need to separate the legislative process from the "platform" process. I'm not naive enough to argue that Congressional Dems could pass meaningful campaign finance reform to take big money out of the electoral process. It's probably not even worth trying to bring such a bill to the floor at this time. It would have zero chance of passing and zero chance of surviving a veto.

HOWEVER, and this is where the party is totally failing us, why isn't this one of the major topics being talked about by every Democrat? Passing legislation doesn't start in the Congress; it starts with the American people. If the Party really wanted to make this critically needed reform, they would be raising the issue every chance they got. They aren't. Have you heard any Democrat, save one or two perhaps, even discussing the issue? I haven't.

The problem with the party is NOT about which bill they pass; it's about the party's message to the American people. You don't need a veto proof majority to put out a message."

It would be fair for another country to invade the US because we have something...
oh, say corn...that they want or need very badly.

:wtf:

we could receive in return.

http://kdka.com/topstories/topstories_story_173190438.html

"In an audiotape posted on the Internet, one insurgent leader describes it this way: If Afghanistan was a school, says Abu Omar al Baghdadi, Iraq is a university of terrorism.

"They've been able to learn how to miniaturize bombs, how to surveil, how to countersurveil, how to snipe, how to escape," Sanderson said. "How to use safe houses, how to disguise themselves."

And how to move around the region with ease. Intelligence sources tell CBS News that under pressure from the United States, the route in through Syria is now largely closed. In some cases jihadists are using European airports with direct flights to northern Iraq.

The trip out now takes survivors to neighboring Arab states, North Africa and Europe."

is a unworkable setup to make it more acceptable to go ahead with eventually stealing all of the Mid-East oil even if it takes war to do it. If the US can quickly flood the oil markets with Iraqi oil and cause a rebirth of our hooked on oil life style the voters would honor who ever pulled it off. The loose screws in this plan are Global Warming and the inevitable sabotage, of the oil complexes, by the Iraqis when we try implementation. This is Bush's peak stupidity.

This is the only conclusion that makes sense to me for our continued preferential treatment of Israel that cost us in so many ways. Yeah, I know that American Jews are mostly Democrats and donate a lot of money to politics.