BBC news published an article today about the potential of Iraqi oil fields, saying quote "Iraq has the world's third largest oil reserves, after Saudi Arabia and Iran". According to the article, Iraq could be producing 12 million barrels a day, surpassing all other countries in oil production except for Saudi Arabia. All this data is produced from 1970s statistics, which the article points out are outdated, and that there may be many more fields beneath Iraq's soil, waiting to be exploited. So far, bids for processing have gone out to Shell, Lukoil, Statoil, and the CNPC. There are still many oil reserves left which have no bids, allegedly the result of corporate insecurity about the current situation in Iraq.
Surprised? You shouldn't be, considering OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom) is the second attempt by the United States to take the country from its former ruler, Saddam Hussein. Hundreds of US soldiers died in ODF (Operation Desert Fox) and hundreds more in OIF. Many thousands have been wounded in both operations. Even more have been sent home with incurable mental trauma. Millions of Iraqi warriors and civilians have either died or suffered similar injuries. And all for what? Wait for it - Oil.
Iraq has tons of it, several billion barrels by their own count, and it is worth lots of money. Undoubtedly the corporations wanted these reserves, and they had the power (US and coalition armies) to take it for themselves. But corporations rarely take such violent action if they can talk their way around it. Negotiation is more effective and lest costly, producing fewer insurgencies and bad press than war.
It is only when negotiations break down that force is necessary. Apparently Saddam was unwilling to come to the plutocrats' terms. Thus the situation in Iraq returns to its old English colonial situation after the first world war, with a strong western power controlling the area through troops and puppet government. Perhaps once the oil in the area is exhausted the people will finally realize true political freedom and self determination (but most certainly not before).
Of all the the things that upset me about this situation, the worst is the story of the soldiers. As a former member of the US armed forces, I can tell you that most men and women who join believe that they are fighting for the good of their country. At the tender age of 17, I certainly did. It was only until my involvement in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan that I began to understand the truth, that our soldiers are exploited for monetary gain. I pity all those soldiers who died, were wounded, or now suffer from incurable mental illness, so that Iraq could produce 12 million barrels a day and fatten the pockets of the Oil industry.
There is something else very disturbing about the story the BBC published today. Look at the first sentence of this blog, at the quote. "Iraq has the world's third largest oil reserves, after Saudi Arabia and Iran." Iran? You mean that same Iran that the US is now hounding, accusing of illegal nuclear research and malicious intent? That same Iran that is the next country under the corporate gun? Now Saudi Arabia is the largest producer of oil in the world, and not coincidentally very close with the US. A larger number of US troops are stationed in the country, and the kingdom was never very afraid of invasion by its neighbors (unlike kuwait).
Iran on the other hand has recently been at odds with America and its allies. According to former US president and international warmonger George W. Bush, "Iran aggressively pursues these weapons and exports terror, while an unelected few repress the Iranian people's hope for freedom. States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger." Recognize that rhetoric? It's the same he used with Iraq before invading.
Bush isn't in office anymore, but many comparisons have been drawn between his military policies and Obama's, which comes as no surprise seeing as they are both puppets of the same corporate masters. We can therefore assume that whatever military action against Iran Bush was planning will be continued in the Obama administration. The man himself says he will be pulling troops out of Afghanistan in 2011. What he didn't say is where he is going to put them.
It seems that unless Mahmoud Ahmadinejad softens his policies towards corporate colonialism, you can expect a US led invasion in the near future to force his country to do just that.
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