For All the Oil in Iraq - Part 2

About ten days ago, plezWorld went out on a limb and opined that the US had everything to do with the Iraqi oil field no-bid contracts going to American oil companies. The New York Times reports that a group of American advisers led by a small State Department team played an integral part in drawing up contracts between the Iraqi government and five major Western oil companies to develop some of the largest fields in Iraq.

Excerpts from the article continue:

The disclosure, coming on the eve of the contracts’ announcement, is the first confirmation of direct involvement by the Bush administration in deals to open Iraq’s oil to commercial development and is likely to stoke criticism.

In their role as advisers to the Iraqi Oil Ministry, American government lawyers and private-sector consultants provided template contracts and detailed suggestions on drafting the contracts, advisers and a senior State Department official said. It is unclear how much influence their work had on the ministry’s decisions.

At a time of spiraling oil prices, the no-bid contracts, in a country with some of the world’s largest untapped fields and potential for vast profits, are a rare prize to the industry. The contracts are expected to be awarded Monday to Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, Total and Chevron, as well as to several smaller oil companies.

The deals have been criticized by opponents of the Iraq war, who accuse the Bush administration of working behind the scenes to ensure Western access to Iraqi oil fields even as most other oil-exporting countries have been sharply limiting the roles of international oil companies in development.

Read the entire New York Times article on about the US government's involvement in the awarding of no-bid oil field contracts in Iraq here.



plez sez: it's good to see that the ole crystal ball still works!

the funniest line in the article (more than likely added by the editor for some comic relief): "It is unclear how much influence the [US government's] work had on the ministry’s decisions."

since the bush administration is getting ready to vacate the white house, i guess it is time for all of the weasels to come out and start claiming their booty in iraq. it is a shame that bush (and cheney) will not be brought to task for their high crimes and profiteering associated with the invasion and occupation of iraq. gasoline has topped $4 a gallon here in atlanta (i'm paying about $4.20 a gallon for midgrade) and the bush and cheney are riding to the bank on the backs of every american who puts fuel in their car and truck... enough to make me ill!

...for all the oil in Iraq!

For All the Oil in Iraq

Thirty-six years ago, Saddam Hussein rose to power in Iraq. From his lofty perch, he nationalized the Iraqi oil fields and kicked all of the oil companies out of the country.

Since that time, Iraq has gone to war with Iran (that lasted about 10 years). He tried to invade Kuwait and was repelled by US forces. And then on September 11, 2001, the United States was attacked by Al-Qaeda terrorists at the behest of Osama bin Laden (who was holed up in Afghanistan), and a few years later we declared war on Iraq. The US has been at "war" with Iraq for over five years, even though, Saddam Hussein was captured and hanged less than a year into the conflict.

Well, the New York Times reports that Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — the original partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company — along with Chevron and a number of smaller oil companies, are in talks with Iraq’s Oil Ministry for no-bid contracts to service Iraq’s largest fields. Only 4,000 US troop deaths into the War in Iraq and the greedy US oil companies are slithering into the Iraq for what they've been waiting for these long five years. The deals, expected to be announced on June 30, will lay the foundation for the first commercial work for the major companies in Iraq since the American invasion, and open a new and potentially lucrative country for their operations.

There was suspicion among many in the Arab world and among parts of the American public that the United States had gone to war in Iraq precisely to secure the oil wealth these contracts seek to extract. The Bush administration has said that the war was necessary to combat terrorism. It is not clear what role the United States played in awarding the contracts; there are still American advisers to Iraq’s Oil Ministry.

Read the entire New York Times article on how US oil companies are chomping at the bit to do business in Iraq here.

plez sez: cajones... mucho gusto cajones

i guess someone has to refurbish the crumbling iraqi oil field infrastructure. someone has to get them on the right footing. it may as well be companies from the country that liberated iraq, right?

and dick cheney and those americans who advise the iraqi oil ministry had nothing to do with the awarding of no-bid contracts to the biggest and greediest oil companies in the us!

do you think this will increase the supply of crude oil enough to drop the price of gasoline back to $2 a gallon? me neither!

Congressman Hank Johnson Joins Call to Impeach Cheney

Atlanta Progressive News reports that US Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA-04) has joined 10 other members of Congress in supporting US House Resolution 333, a bill to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney.

Rep. Johnson says:

"I believe it was time to send a message to the Vice President and to the Executive Branch as a whole. I have certainly been displeased with the operations of the Executive Branch, particularly with regard to the secrecy, the incompetence, and the lack of cooperation that is coming out of the Vice President’s Office. I think the response to [reject] the subpoenas was the last straw."

Read the entire article here.

Read HTML version of US House Resolution 333 here.

plez sez: i have been in a funk lately, because all those democrats who are sitting in Washington, DC because of voters like me didn't seem to conducting the business that voters like me sent them there to do. this whole episode with Iraq (and Sadaam Hussein) has been bugging me since before Colin Powell presented the UN with that bogus intelligence about Iraq's nuclear capabilities. and the Bush Administration has been cause for consternation since they stole (yeah... STOLE) the goddamn election in 2000!

so finally, a breeze of fresh air seems to blow in Washington, DC... Dennis Kucinich got the wheels in motion and 10 members of Congress have signed onto his resolution to start cleaning out the stench of the Bush Administration, beginning with that VILE ASSHOLE named Dick Cheney! i know this resolution won't see the light of day and will probably never come to a vote, but at least SOMEONE is saying SOMETHING about the sad state of affairs of our executive branch. the resolution begins:

Impeaching Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Resolved, That Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:

Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, against Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors.

the articles of impeachment are quite thorough.

but i am really beaming with pride because MyCongressman (and neighbor) Hank Johnson (of the Fourth Congressional District of Georgia) has signed on in support of the resolution to impeach dick cheney. i'll admit that i have been getting kind of antsy in wanting Congressman Johnson to get into the fray and start displaying the kind of leadership that got him elected to his first term in Congress. he took out a frisky and populist Cynthia McKinney (THANK GOD!), and i wanted him to establish some type of legacy that will get him reelected next year (because Ms. McKinney is still very popular in this neck of the woods). this action should silence his critics and reduce the chance that she'll arise from the ashes of her political [sic] career!

lastly, George Bush is not blameless in all of this MESS... and i'm looking forward to similar articles of impeachment for W to surface to end the tyranny of our 21st century King George (just in time for Independence Day)!

Dick Cheney Pulls an OG Move

Vice President Dick Cheney has asserted his office is not a part of the executive branch of the U.S. government, and therefore not bound by a presidential order governing the protection of classified information by government agencies, according to a new letter from Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to Cheney.

ABC News reports that Bill Leonard, head of the government's Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), told Waxman's staff that Cheney's office has refused to provide his staff with details regarding classified documents or submit to a routine inspection as required by presidential order, according to Waxman.

plez sez: dick cheney never ceases to amaze me, but this latest move shows a set of cajones that i would never believe! this is an OG~pimp move that most mere mortals would not even dare to attempt! he is the sitting vice president of the united states and he has the audacity to say (i'm sure with a straight face) that his office is not bound by the rules that pertain to the executive branch.

now, i'm just wondering, what branch is he a part of?!? a special dick cheney branch that answers to neither the executive nor the legislative branch? a special dick cheney branch that answers to NO ONE?

i've said it before and i'll say it again... Dick Cheney should be impeached!