Shoot_The_Kids
03-29-2003, 05:03 PM
A War for Oil Guzzles Oil
At a peace protest before Bush made the fateful move to plunge the United States into war against Iraq, a friend of mine was marching along when a guy in a Hummer drove by and gave him the finger.
How appropriate, I thought. Guzzle as much oil as you can, and then back Bush to the hilt. Beause that's what this is about, at least to some extent.
Dick Cheney said back on August 26 that the United States can't let Saddam Hussein, armed with weapons of mass destruction, sit atop10 percent of the world's oil supply. Bush doesn't use the dirty three-letter word, but in his State of the Union address, he did say that "Iraq will not be able to dominate a vital region."
And a study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a conservative think tank, recommended back in February 2001--that's before September 11, remember--said that "getting more oil from Iraq will be 'crucial' to meeting the world's expanded energy demands," The Wall Street Journal noted. (The study was called "Geopolitics of Energy into the 21st Century.") The United States, the study added, must play international policeman to ensure these supplies flow freely.
Now I never liked the term "international policeman," because it suggests neutrality, and the United States is not exactly neutral in the world, as its war of aggression makes clear.
But back to oil.
U.S. companies stand to gain by this invasion both by rebuilding Iraq's oil industry and by getting in on some of the contracts that used to go to French, German, and Russian companies.
"Outfits such as Halliburton Co. and Baker Hughes Inc., as well as construction giant Bechtel Group Inc., could feel just as victorious as the U.S. Special Forces troops," wrote Business Week on Feb. 10. But no construction or oil company exec wants to talk about it.
"The subject of economic gain from an Iraqi intervention is extremely sensitive," Business Week noted. "Bottom line in the Oil Patch: Keep your lip zipped, hope George W. is right, and go along for the ride."
The running of the war itself illustrates the oil connection as well as anything.
You may have seen pictures of those caravans of oil trucks driving through the Iraqi desert.
Guess how much oil the U.S. military is consuming every day in this operation?
Fifteen million gallons, according to The New York Times!
War itself is a gross waste of fossil fuels, and makes the United States ever more dependent on the very oil it is fighting over today.
At a peace protest before Bush made the fateful move to plunge the United States into war against Iraq, a friend of mine was marching along when a guy in a Hummer drove by and gave him the finger.
How appropriate, I thought. Guzzle as much oil as you can, and then back Bush to the hilt. Beause that's what this is about, at least to some extent.
Dick Cheney said back on August 26 that the United States can't let Saddam Hussein, armed with weapons of mass destruction, sit atop10 percent of the world's oil supply. Bush doesn't use the dirty three-letter word, but in his State of the Union address, he did say that "Iraq will not be able to dominate a vital region."
And a study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a conservative think tank, recommended back in February 2001--that's before September 11, remember--said that "getting more oil from Iraq will be 'crucial' to meeting the world's expanded energy demands," The Wall Street Journal noted. (The study was called "Geopolitics of Energy into the 21st Century.") The United States, the study added, must play international policeman to ensure these supplies flow freely.
Now I never liked the term "international policeman," because it suggests neutrality, and the United States is not exactly neutral in the world, as its war of aggression makes clear.
But back to oil.
U.S. companies stand to gain by this invasion both by rebuilding Iraq's oil industry and by getting in on some of the contracts that used to go to French, German, and Russian companies.
"Outfits such as Halliburton Co. and Baker Hughes Inc., as well as construction giant Bechtel Group Inc., could feel just as victorious as the U.S. Special Forces troops," wrote Business Week on Feb. 10. But no construction or oil company exec wants to talk about it.
"The subject of economic gain from an Iraqi intervention is extremely sensitive," Business Week noted. "Bottom line in the Oil Patch: Keep your lip zipped, hope George W. is right, and go along for the ride."
The running of the war itself illustrates the oil connection as well as anything.
You may have seen pictures of those caravans of oil trucks driving through the Iraqi desert.
Guess how much oil the U.S. military is consuming every day in this operation?
Fifteen million gallons, according to The New York Times!
War itself is a gross waste of fossil fuels, and makes the United States ever more dependent on the very oil it is fighting over today.