- A mother stands on an arid piece of Texas land asking
why her son is dead. The public relations firms, paid millions for damage
control, do not disappoint as they label the woman, 'treasonous-hysterical-smearing
the memory of all who died'. Hey, if Senator Max Cleland with three limbs
missing, was fair game, to be ripped and shredded, by those who never
saw war, what's a mere mother? Cindy knows, as every other enlightened
mother, a smear campaign and con game when she sees it. This one, like
the attack against Senator Cleland was cheap and low class!
-
- As can be expected, the hirelings for patriotism, are
lathered up pontificating the glories of dying. Dying for liberation, freedom,
democracy [or is it a Theocracy] for a concept, and oh, mostly to keep
the hordes from invading our malls, soccer fields, baseball stadiums, ski
resorts, ocean side luxury homes, and designer living!
-
- We are led to believe-that a constitution of sorts is
the magical answer to final victory, well, sort of. Seemingly the Kurds,
Sunnis, and Shiites, cannot agree on the spoils of war---who gets what,
and who gets kicked to the curb. Thankless bastards; not appreciating all
this death, maiming, and pulverization of a land and its people---for democracy
and freedom!
-
- Hmmm-well, on March 7, 2003 [before Mission Accomplished
packaging] the Pentagon Correspondent, Pamela Hess reported: "U.S.
Central Command chief General Tommy Franks will be in total charge of Iraq
immediately after the war, but will be supported shortly afterward by three
civilian administrators, each in charge of a different geographic sector
of the country, Pentagon officials said Friday."
-
- "Iraq would be divided into thirds for administrative
purposes-northern, southern and central sectors. The southern sector is
expected to be demographically dominated y Shiites and the northern by
Kurds. The three administrators could be American civilians or could be
from coalition countries-possibly the UK and Australia and would report
to retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Jay Garner, who heads the Pentagon Office
of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. President Bush stated that
'the life of the Iraqi citizen is going to dramatically improve.'"
-
- Fast Forward to June 23-2005-The London Line [Tom Burgis]:
"As the costs of the Iraq occupation spiral, British and American
oil companies will meet in secret next week to carve up the country's oil
reserves for themselves. The financial clawback is gathering pace as British
and American oil giants work out how to get their hands on the estimated
trillions worth of oil. "
-
- "Executives from BP, Shell, Exxon Mobil and Halliburton,
Dick Cheney's old firm [ha], are expected to congregate at the Paddington
Hilton for a two day chinwag with top-level officials from Iraq's oil ministry.
The gathering, sponsored by the British Government, is being described
as the 'premier event' for those with designs on Iraqi oil, and will go
ahead despite opposition from Iraqi oil workers, who fear their livelihoods
are being flogged to foreigners."
-
- "Iraqi oil workers are furious about the conference.
'The second phase of the war will be started by this conference carving
up the industry', said an outraged Hasan Juma'a, head of the Iraqi General
Union of Oil Employees. 'It is about giving shares of Iraq to the countries
who invaded it-they get a piece of the action as a reward. ' Hassan, who
represents 23,000 skilled oil workers, fears that deals, struck at the
conference will see profits from Iraq's massive oil reserves-the second
richest in the world---lining the pockets of multinational corporations
at the expense of the Iraqi people."
-
- "George Muttitt, a researcher with Platform, an
independent environmental think tank, agrees. 'The decisions on how to
carve up Iraq are being made behind closed doors in Washington, London
and Baghdad. This conference is a key part of the plan to help multinational
companies get stuck in once those arrangements are in place. It's a corporate
feeding frenzy-they're not writing the recipes, they're tucking in their
napkins.'"
-
- Not about oil------a lie to be sure! Times Argus-Business-Jan.
30, 2005, [David Baker-San Francisco Chronicle]: "The Iraqi government
that emerges from today's election may open its oil business to foreign
investment, and international petroleum companies are jockeying to curry
favour with the war-torn country. Firms from the U.S. and Europe-including
Royal Dutch/Shell Group and Chevron Texaco-are literally working for free
on certain engineering and training projects to get their feet in the door."
-
- "The country's vast oil reserves are estimated to
be either the second or third largest in the world. In the 21 months since
Saddam Hussein's ouster, the interim Iraqi government and its American
advisers have suggested several times opening the country's oil industry.
But many Iraqis bridled at the notion that the country's oil reserves should
be controlled by foreigners. The widespread conviction in the country that
the United States invaded to seize their oil hasn't helped."
-
- "Royal Dutch/Shell Group signed an agreement with
the ministry Jan 14 to study the vast Kirkuk field, which has been producing
for decades and is currently estimated to hold 8.7 billion barrels of reserves.
Shell will help draft a master plan for tapping Iraq's natural gas. Shell
will do the work for free as a way to strengthen its links with the ministry,
said spokesman Simon Buerk in the firm's London headquarters."
-
- "BP, formerly known as British Petroleum, signed
a contract last week to study the Rumailah oil field near Basra. Exxon
Mobil Corp. inked a memorandum of cooperation with the ministry last fall,
laying groundwork to provide the ministry with technical assistance and
conduct joint studies. An Iraqi-Turkish consortium won a contract in late
December to help develop the Khurmala Dome oil field. For years, Iraq's
oil has been a tempting but forbidden prize. The Baathist government nationalized
Iraq's oil industry in 1972, slamming the door on foreign ownership or
investment. Thirteen years of international sanctions after Hussein's invasion
of Kuwait further isolated the industry, cutting it off from new equipment
and new techniques."
-
- "That isolation left much of Iraq's oil wealth untapped.
Only 17 of the country's 80 discovered oil fields have been developed,
according to the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration. Only
2,300 wells have been drilled in Iraq. Texas has about 1 million. No one
is quite sure how much oil the country has, in part because large swaths
of the land remain unexplored by oil companies. Confirmed reserves of 112
billion barrels to 115 billion barrels would give Iraq the world's third-largest
supply, behind Saudi Arabia and Canada. Estimates of the country's full
holdings go as high as 214 billion barrels. Global oil companies faced
with declining production in many of their existing fields want in. 'That's
the name of the game today for [integrated oil companies] -access to new
supplies' said Robert Ebel, director of the energy program at the Center
for Strategic and International Studies in Washington."
-
- "But in the invasion's aftermath, oil is a sensitive
subject. Iraqis see oil as part of their national identity. Oil money pouring
into the state budget in the 1970s-after nationalization-built schools,
hospitals and highways [which we've blown to smithereens jm]. Many Iraqis
are leery of letting foreigners own any piece of the industry."
-
- Antonia Juhasz, a project director at the International
Forum on Globalization think tank, said Iraqis may see the proposed law
to invite investment as confirmation that the war was, at heart, a struggle
over oil. Her organization has criticized both the war and the involvement
of American companies in Iraq's reconstruction. 'It seems like the most
blatant description of why everyone thought we went to war in Iraq', Juhasz
said.'"
-
- Ah...but this started out about mothers wondering why
their son/daughters are dead at such a young age. Who will tell them it
was for oil---surely not the President. Slogans such as 'stopping terrorism
there before it attacks us' and 'they died for a noble cause' are so much
more patriotic sounding, and yes, noble. Who wants to die for a tank of
gas or to secure lavish lifestyles for CEO's/politicians and their indolent
offspring, driving around in SUVs and Hummers? Why is Casey dead? For oil
and gas reserves it's that simple. Heck, everybody who can still reason,
knows that war is always about plunder and profit. Those doing the wheeling
and dealing behind closed doors could care less about who dies. I'd like
to think different, but that's the sad sorry truth. Compared to a barrel
of oil -human life seems to be pretty negligible today.
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