The Real Reason For The Iraq War

Many have speculated about the real reason for the Iraq War. Is there anyone who still believes that it was the weapons of mass destruction, liberation of the Iraqi people, part of the war on terror or any of the other seemingly endless excuses for this disaster? Today while listening to Randi Rhodes of Air America I heard an interview with Antonia Juhasz, an analyst with Oil Change International. What she had to say was startling.

On march 13, 2007 she wrote an op-ed in the NY Times stating what she believes is the real reason for the war. In the article titled "Whose Oil Is It, Anyway?" she lays out who gains from this war.

TODAY more than three-quarters of the world’s oil is owned and controlled by governments. It wasn’t always this way.

Until about 35 years ago, the world’s oil was largely in the hands of seven corporations based in the United States and Europe. Those seven have since merged into four: ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and BP. They are among the world’s largest and most powerful financial empires. But ever since they lost their exclusive control of the oil to the governments, the companies have been trying to get it back.

Lets think about what she is saying in detail. She believes our sons and daughters are dying to protect the profits of oil companies.

There is a law before the Iraqi Parliament which would give over control of most of Iraq's oil wealth to foreign oil companies to the detriment of the Iraqi people.

A new oil law set to go before the Iraqi Parliament this month would, if passed, go a long way toward helping the oil companies achieve their goal. The Iraq hydrocarbon law would take the majority of Iraq’s oil out of the exclusive hands of the Iraqi government and open it to international oil companies for a generation or more.

In March 2001, the National Energy Policy Development Group (better known as Vice President Dick Cheney’s energy task force), which included executives of America’s largest energy companies, recommended that the United States government support initiatives by Middle Eastern countries “to open up areas of their energy sectors to foreign investment.” One invasion and a great deal of political engineering by the Bush administration later, this is exactly what the proposed Iraq oil law would achieve. It does so to the benefit of the companies, but to the great detriment of Iraq’s economy, democracy and sovereignty.

Now we know why Dick Cheney has kept whom he met with such a closed secret. This sounds more like an episode of the Sopranos then it does legitimate energy policy. This is theft pure and simple, but wait it gets even better.

The foreign companies would not have to invest their earnings in the Iraqi economy, partner with Iraqi companies, hire Iraqi workers or share new technologies. They could even ride out Iraq’s current “instability” by signing contracts now, while the Iraqi government is at its weakest, and then wait at least two years before even setting foot in the country. The vast majority of Iraq’s oil would then be left underground for at least two years rather than being used for the country’s economic development.

Passage of this law which allows oil companies to rape Iraq is part of the benchmarks included in the new war funding bill.

Since the invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration has been aggressive in shepherding the oil law toward passage. It is one of the president’s benchmarks for the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, a fact that Mr. Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Gen. William Casey, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and other administration officials are publicly emphasizing with increasing urgency.

As more and more of our soldiers are killed I want you to remember that they are dying for ever larger oil company profits. Our tax dollars are being used for the largest heist in world history. Think of that as you put the yellow ribbon on the car but do nothing else to stop this war. Iran may be next unless we learn from our mistakes.

I have tried to lay this out in a way that is easy to understand. Please send this post to everyone you know and ask that they do the same. Imagine if the people of the United States realized exactly what was happening. I would suggest that everyone clicks the link on the side of this page and purchases this book by Antonia Juhasz then calls their elected officials and demand impeachment.