The Bush administration has come up with many excuses for attacking Iraq—Saddam Hussein used poison gas, he possesses or is developing weapons of mass destruction, he is a brutal tyrant—but the one thing it insists the war is not about is oil. As Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stated in November: “There are certain things like that, myths that are floating… return to article
-
subscribe to print magazine
-
email this article to a friend
-
Reader Comments (22)Page 1 of 1 pagesThank you Dave for the extra oil insight. After Sept. 11 I tried to point out the oil connection to a friend in NYC who had become rabid with retaliation fever. In early 2002 National Geographic Magazine wrote about the ten-year struggle of British and American oil companies to establish an oil pipeline from the Caspian oil fields through Afghanistan. They determined that the Taliban was not stable or “friendly” enough to negotiate the safety of the pipeline during and after construction. When I pointed out to my friend that the bombing and taking of Afghanistan was years in the planning, she called me a traitor and blamed me for all the asbestos that was flying around her office and appartment.
To see a photo of Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam Hussein in 1983 go to: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/
Rumsfeld was Reagan’s special envoy to promote an oil pipeline to Aqaba that would circumvent the increasingly dangerous Persian Gulf waters as well as Syria. When Saddam rejected the plan for a cheaper pipeline through Turkey, relations took a downward turn and Washington support for Iraq in its chemical war on Iran began to fade…
Posted by Jerome Millay on Mar 28, 2003 at 3:34 AM HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTS THE US TROOPS. Hillary Clinton is awfully quiet these days, isn’t she? HILLARY CLINTON AND THE MAJORITY OF DEMOCRATIC SENATORS SUPPORTED THE WAR AND VOTED TO INVADE IRAQ BASED ON THE SOME POLICIES AND INFORMATION THAT THE REPUBLICANS HAD… Think about it.
Posted by MILLI VANILLI on Mar 28, 2003 at 6:09 PM Milly V.,
I know, I’m ashamed of the majority of the Democrats and I would hope Hillary changes her mind about this war.
I think she is highly intelligent, more so than Bill. I would still vote for her for president, hoping she would put good ideas into practice like national health insurance.
As it stands now, looks like the Green Party is for me.
Posted by neil on Mar 29, 2003 at 8:09 AM Neil,
I am ashamed of the majority of Democrats as well. However, that is not a reason to vote for the green party. The winner-take-all style of American elections ensures that there are can only be two major political parties and any others will simply snipe from one or the other. The solution is not to abandon the democratic party, but to reclaim it, starting with the presidential nomination (there is at least one good, electable candidate in Howard Dean).
Posted by Matt on Mar 29, 2003 at 9:55 PM If you are wondering why the stillness of the senators including Hillary Clinton, look no further than the Jewish lobby. This is why noone opposed Bush about the war. This is United States of Israel and we support the war criminal Ariel Sharron while he bulldozes and murders Palestinian rock throwers. We ignore war crimes when we are the supporters. Go to whatreallyhappened.com to view “what Israel doesn’t want you to see”. You won’t hear any of this in American media. No , I am not anti-sematic which is what they want us to think. I am American and have a brain!
Posted by zee on Mar 31, 2003 at 2:59 PM I totally agree that it is an economic war first, to “control”, then a political excuse second. If we have to cut the heads of any bad guys, then we should look around i.e. North Korea, Iran, Cambodia, etc. The US Administration should be fair if they want to “police” the world. A point in case is that, even in BC, the american imposed high tariff on our lumbers. Last week the american ambassador in Canada said that we should tie our electrical grid to the american. Even they wanted our lumber industries be to their format.
Canada does not possess arms of mass destruction or have an anarchist head of state, but it seems to me that they want our raw materials, just like they want Iraq’s oil. Nothing wrong to sell raw materials or energy to a friend for a good price, but to be told what to do or pushing us (it could be any nations) and acted as a school bully, that is different.
In short I agree that it is a war of contol…
Posted by Misha on Mar 31, 2003 at 10:02 PM will promoting alternative fuels co-opt oil? or showing the combustionas [obsolete]?
Posted by jb on Apr 2, 2003 at 3:16 AM Oil? Excuse me, but when did the US stop being the place where you could buy all the oil you wanted, cheaper than anywhere else in the world?
Why would there need to be a war to secure something we already have in greater abundance than anyone else?
Posted by Nus on Apr 2, 2003 at 9:11 PM Matt,
That’s why I didn’t vote Green in Idaho. While I like their ideas, there’s too few candidates and support and it would only take votes away from the Democrats. The younger voters overwhelming voted other than Republican, so it says the biggest consumers (which candidates never seem to pay attention to) are making a statement.
Lately, I’ve been inspired by James Carville’s ideas of taking responsible actions and making things happen. Sensible guy.
Cheers.
Posted by neil on Apr 3, 2003 at 10:47 AM jb,
I think if there was a way oil companies could reap billions off alternatives methods, we’d see the ideas develop. I’ve heard they research new way, but that could be to just obtain patents and kill them.
One way is to make it worth their while using the Nash model of economics. Everybody wins through cooperation and competition.
Posted by neil on Apr 3, 2003 at 10:50 AM Nus,
Dig deeper and you’ll find Saudi Arabia stands to gain a lot from this war. They’re the ones who funded Al Qaeda, All but one of the 9-11 hijackers were Saudi.
It’s a horrible mess involving Haliburton, Enron, Bush, Cheney, pilepline contracts. Perhaps it’s not exclusively about oil, but one thing it’s definitely not about and that’s Iraqi freedom.
Posted by neil on Apr 3, 2003 at 10:54 AM Neil,
“Dig deeper and you’ll find Saudi Arabia stands to gain a lot from this war.”
What do you mean “dig deeper”? Are you saying the US has engaged in this war to benefit Saudi Arabia rather than itself? What does any benefit to Saudi Arabia have to do with the current status of the oil market in the US? How does angering many oil producing nations improve the US import situation?
“They’re the ones who funded Al Qaeda, All but one of the 9-11 hijackers were Saudi”
Are you saying exclusively funded? Are you stating that it is the Saudi government funding AlQaeda?
As to the national identity of the hijackers somehow implicating the nation, are you saying that the British government was behind Richard Reed’s attempting airliner bombing? That the US sponsored the sergeant who killed his superior officers with a hand-grenade?
Concerning your post above - this old saw has been bandied about for years. In the same breath you say that if the oil companies could profit from alternative fuels, they would do so, and then you say that they obtain patents and quash them. Which is it?
Posted by Nus on Apr 4, 2003 at 9:23 PM Mr. Lindorff writes: “With Bechtel and Vice President Dick Cheney’s former company Halliburton in line for major contracts in the planned “rebuilding” of Iraq at the end of the current war, it’s a fair bet that the once-canceled Aqaba pipeline will be back on the drawing board again.”
Doubtful Mr Lindorff as there is no tanker war right now as there was in the 80’s and Iran is likely to have another revolution that will overthrown the Ayatollahs. Further Israel will likely hit oil bigtime within the next two years in its Dead Sea fields When that happens the whole oil picture will change.
No pipeline through Jordan will be built.But I am not displeased that there once was such an effort. Just as I am not displeased that the Nixon adminstration weakened the USSR by diplomatically strenghtening Red China. Remember, Mr. Lindorff, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” —Sun Tzu, THE ART OF WAR
Posted by Carl Snodgrass on Apr 5, 2003 at 11:34 AM ????????????????????????????????
??? GUYS ARE YOU CRAZY ???
????????????????????????????????
Extreme incident on one of check-post near of city En-Najaf. The American militarians practically in an emphasis have shot the bus with the women and children. Seven men were lost, the two are wounded.According to the eyewitnesses, the bus has not stopped on demand of the militarian and has passed by check item. The driver of the automobile, on the data of the American party, and precautionary shots in air, and also shots in area of the engine has ignored. After precautionary shots in air, the soldiers have opened fire on a defeat.
Only then was found out, that in the microbus there was a group of the civil persons in an amount of 13 men, mainly woman and children.
Posted by Rooster Bush II on Apr 7, 2003 at 6:10 AM Nus, sorry if this is so long, an explanation of the Saudi connection:
The Saudis bought both George W. Bush and his father. Ties between the Bush and bin Laden families, the Carlyle Group, and Saudi Arabia let the Riyadh regime beat America like a rented camel.
As the Boston Herald reported, “Many of the same American corporate executives who have reaped millions of dollars from arms and oil deals with the Saudi monarchy have served or currently serve at the highest levels of U.S. government, public records show.”
According to the Herald, we have to worry because “Those lucrative financial relationships call into question the ability of America’s political elite to make tough foreign policy decisions about the kingdom that produced Osama bin Laden and is perhaps the biggest incubator for anti-Western Islamic terrorists.”
How close are Bush family ties to Saudi Arabia? “Nowhere is the revolving U.S.-Saudi money wheel more evident than within President Bush’s own coterie of foreign policy advisers, starting with the president’s father, George H.W. Bush,” explains this Herald expos?©.
Columnist Jimmy Breslin wrote: “Our government knows…that Saudi Arabians were the murderers on the planes on Sept. 11. The leader was this guy Atta, from Saudi Arabia, and he flew the plane into the north tower.”
But these are just terrorists, out of favor with the Saudis…right?
Wrong!
“Listen to the tape that finally got out Friday, here is a cleric saying with exuberance that people in Saudi Arabia thought bin Laden had done a great thing, killing all those people in New York.”
How does all this Saudi money in the pockets of Bush’s friends and family hurt us? On the BBC Newsnight program, Greg Palast asks: “The CIA and Saudi Arabia, the Bushes and the Bin Ladens. Did their connections cause America to turn a blind eye to terrorism?”
On that program, national security expert Joe Trento answers clearly. These conflicts of interests mean: “[T]housands of Americans had to die needlessly.” Peter Elsner wonders: “How can it be that the former President of the US and the current President of the US have business dealings with characters that need to be investigated?”
Many companies, including the oil giants, regularly develop ideas or alternative ways of doing things, then patent them so their competitors can’t use the idea—not without royalties, anyway.
Neil
Posted by neil on Apr 9, 2003 at 4:27 AM Nus,
As far as the benefit from the Iraqi war, one of the explanations is Iraq is responsible for 9/11 or for funding Al Qaeda. The heat is off once this war is over.Just a theory.
Posted by neil on Apr 9, 2003 at 4:30 AM It’s all about oil
Huh!!!??????
Oil sells now (adjusted for inflation from 1910 dollars at the height of Standard Oil and subtacting the additional at the pump taxes) for less than 4cents a gallon. A gallon in 1910 costs 10cents.
Nus from Philidelphia is right, the US has loads of oil under our own soil. We just choose not to drill for it.
Posted by Carl Snodgrass on Apr 11, 2003 at 1:27 AM We don’t have that much oil under the US soil. Not nearly as much as everyone would like.
The world-wide oil surplus has peaked and is on the decline. This is one of the reasons for the oil “turf wars”. BP executives joke that BP stands for “Beyond Petroleum”.
But to say the Iraq disgrace is exclusively about oil isn’t 100% correct, either.
Sadly, it goes much deeper. And not for humanitarian reasons. The real reasons behind our president’s bullying of the Middle East is to establish a power base, control the oil and reward everyone else who contributed to his campaign with multi-million dollar contracts.
It’s an abomination and one can only hope to see Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell and Rice standing trial in a war crimes tribunal.
Posted by neil on Apr 20, 2003 at 6:00 AM The Iraq war was over oil and it also made the United Nations actuallt stronger which the censored main stream media is not telling us. You see after 8 weeks of studying what is going on in the Bush Administration I have discovered that Dick Chenney, Colin Powell, Condolezza Rice are all in the Council of Foreign Relations (CFR) most Americans have never heard of the (CFR) what I have also Discovered is that most of the Large Corporation that they are serving are also in the (CFR) and as well the Main stream Media like CNN, FOX, CBS and most other Channels this is why we haven’t heard anything negative about the BUSH Administration. If you are interested in learning more about who is in the Council of Foreign Relations there is a Great Book out there Called the Shadows of Power you can only Purchase it thrue the John Birch Society there website address is WWW.
JBS.ORG this book is a must read.
I am a Conservative and voted for Bush but I will not vote for Him again he has totally destroyed the Bill of Rights and they Have done it intentionally. Republican Ron Paul from Texas didn’t vote for the Patriot Act Infact Ron said Congress wasn’t even able to look at the Bill before they voted on it Dick Chenney basically twisted they’re arm to vote for it. theyr were only a few courages senators and Congressman that stood up to Chenney and told him that they felt it was a very bad Bill and violated the Bill of Rights.
Posted by John Gilbert on Jun 5, 2003 at 3:53 PM this stoy really sucks .A two year old can write better than this
i anit got no time to waste!!!!!!!!!!!!!halla!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111
Posted by jalisa taylor on Jan 24, 2004 at 4:08 AM Page 1 of 1 pages -
register a new account »Posting Security
Posted by Matthias Deutschmann on Mar 30, 2003 at 5:20 PM 
Posted by df on Apr 4, 2003 at 7:19 AM 
Also by Dave Lindorff
- Radioactive Wounds of War
Tests on returning troops suggest serious health consequences of depleted uranium use in Iraq - Before Sunset
A broad coalition is pushing Congress to rein in the Patriot Act - GMs Healthcare Double Standard
Bad ideology trumps good business - Beating the Boomers
Why Bush and Co. are racing to cut Social Security - A Milli Vanilli President
- Protesting Too Little?
Homeland Security wants to cage dissent at this summer’s political conventions
Popular Discussions
- The 9/11 Faith Movement
Many Americans believe 9/11 was a conspiracy by the U.S. government
1979 posts since Jul 11 06 - What’s the 411 on 9/11?
891 posts since Dec 21 05 - Democrats: It’s the War
659 posts since Nov 1 05 - Was the Presidential Election Stolen?
462 posts since Jun 19 06 - A Fundamental History Lesson
The rise of National Socialism proved politics and religion don't mix
427 posts since Oct 10 05
© 2003 In These Times | Reprint Policy | Privacy Policy | Powered by Expression Engine | RSS Feeds
