Oilraqi War

Friends,
This article (FT London) explains why we invaded Iraq. It's all about oil. Read it and weep, for the four thousand American children who have already died there.
Peace and Love,
Rev O

".....the scale of Iraq’s remaining oil resources surpasses allother countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, and its high-quality reservoirs ensure that production costs would be very low."

"Despite American pressure and government desperation, a law to regulate foreign access to the oil industry has languished in the Iraqi parliament, a victim of sectarian disputes, particularly between the Kurds and Arabs. Frustrated by the delays, and virtually giving up on a successful outcome, the oil ministry has now invited oil companies to pre-qualify for development of existing fields and says a cabinet decision will be enough to legitimise foreign participation. Later bidding rounds are envisaged for exploration contracts. "

"A further difficulty is that oil is unevenly distributed throughout the ethnic regions of Iraq, with resources concentrated in the Shia south of the country and the Kurdish north. The minority Sunni Arabs, who formerly controlled the levers of power under Saddam Hussein, can boast few oil reserves in their ethnic areas. Their priority in negotiating in the new Iraq has been to ensure they receive their fair share of oil revenues."
"The Kurds’ assertive attitude has heightened the Sunni Arabs’ attachment to strong central control over the country’s regions and their inclination towards economic nationalism. Their political leaders have pressed for the constitution to be rewritten to strengthen the federal government and reduce the powers of the KRG."

"For international oil companies, the hope is that as the negotiations proceed over the next year, Iraq’s political and legislative landscape will gain more clarity. Iraqi experts, however, warn that the oil law may be dead and Baghdad’s only choice, ironically, will be to fall back on legislation from the Saddam Hussein era. Although meant to protect the nationalised status of the industry, the legislation did not stop the previous regime from negotiating specific contracts with foreign companies, which were then agreed by the rubber-stamp parliament."
"Just months before US tanks rolled into Baghdad and Saddam Hussein was toppled, US government officials met allies from Iraq’s opposition and decided it was in the country’s interest for a new government to open its oil industry to foreign participation as quickly as possible,..."

"Western oil executives had long been impatient with the reluctance of Middle Eastern countries to open up to foreign participation. This was summed up in 1999 by the US vice- president Dick Cheney, then a director at the oil fields services company Halliburton. “Even though companies are anxious for greater access there, progress continues to be slow,” he said in a speech to the oil industry."

Forbidden fields: Oil groups circle the prize of Iraq’s vast reserves
Western companies scent a chance to develop some of the world’s largest deposits of quality crude. Yet sectarian tensions pose significant obstacles