It's the Oil, Stupid.

posted by Bill Arnett @ 2:02 PM Permalink

One of the most frustrating things in the world to is be sure that you see something so obvious that you just can't get over the fact that no one else sees it. The title above should clue you in, but just in case not, let me state clearly:

bush has absolutely no intention of leaving Iraq, ever, or at least the thirty years for which a Profit Sharing Agreement (drafted in America in 2003 without consulting the Iraqis), will be in effect once signed by an Iraqi government. That PSA will give 85-87% of Iraqi oil profits to American Big Oil, guaranteeing trillions of dollars in profit for Big Oil without one thin dime being repaid to the American Taxpayer. Never. I repeat, never will bush leave Iraq until getting the PSA agreements signed and then American Soldiers will be directly responsible for protecting the interests of Big Oil and their profits for the next thirty years.

I now find that there is some agreement on this matter, not from Americans necessarily, but from the government of al-Maliki, installed by bush, but unable to deliver a parliamentary agreement and passage of the PSAs. Maliki has been unable to get a quorum in the Iraqi Parliament to hold a vote.

Now, even Maliki recognizes that his days are numbered as reported by SFGate.com:

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki fears the Americans will torpedo his government if parliament does not pass a law to fairly divvy up the country's oil wealth among Iraqis by the end of June, close associates of the leader told The Associated Press on Tuesday.…The legislature has not even taken up the draft measure, which is only one of several U.S. benchmarks that are seen by al-Maliki as key to continued American support…Aside from the oil law, the associates said, American officials have told the hardline Shiite Muslim prime minister that they want an Iraqi government in place by year's end acceptable to the country's Sunni Arab neighbors, particularly Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt.…Compounding al-Maliki's fears about a withdrawal of American support were visits to Saudi Arabia by two key political figures in an admitted bid to win support for a major Iraqi political realignment. Saudi Arabia is a major U.S. ally and oil supplier.…Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a Shiite Muslim, flew to the Saudi capital Tuesday, a day after the arrival there of Masoud Barzani, leader of Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdish region. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims.…Barzani spokesman Abdul-Khaleq Zanganah said the two Iraqis met in Kurdistan before the trip for talks on forming a "national front to take over for the political bloc now supporting al-Maliki."…One al-Maliki confidant said the Americans had voiced displeasure with the prime minister's government…"They have said they are frustrated that he has done nothing to oust the Sadrists, that the oil law has not moved forward…" said [an] official, who like the other associates agreed to discuss the situation only if not quoted by name…Passage of the oil law…has become a major issue for the United States…The al-Maliki associates said U.S. officials…told the prime minister that President Bush was committed to the current government but continued White House support depended on positive action on all the benchmarks — especially the oil law and sectarian reconciliation — by the close of this parliamentary session June 30.…"Al-Maliki is committed to meeting the deadline because he is convinced he would not survive in power without U.S. support," one of the associates said.…

So there you have it, the one true reason for which we invaded Iraq: It's the Oil, Stupid (as Bill Clinton would say).

Not WMDs, not CB weaponry, not the threat of nuclear annihilation, not because of the GWOT, not because Iraq posed a threat to anyone, not to give Iraq a democracy, not to get rid of Saddam, but for the oil.

Get used to being in Iraq and wrap your brain around the fact that over the next thirty years America is going to witness the deaths of tens of thousands of American soldiers, the wounding of hundreds of thousands more, and the continuing rape of the U.S. Treasury to protect the trillions of dollars in profits that will be made by Big Oil.

I believe every Republican in Congress knows this and I'm sure the Democratic leadership knows this also. Hence the really tepid attempts to stop a war that all the political insiders know is never going to end. Their efforts are a sham, as they could actually stop the war tomorrow if there was the political will.

America, through bush/cheney, has given up its integrity, honor, and civil rights in order to provide corporate profits to Big Oil. For Big Oil America has lost its soul and demolished its standing in the world.

It's the Oil, Stupid.

Cross-posted from Edgeing

UPDATE: Not only have the Iraqis not passed the oil PSA, they are now seeking to have the U.N resolution vacated and have voted that American forces be out of Iraq, starting this December, or that Maliki can only extend the resolution with permission of parliament. This is where the rubber hits the road, as they say, and gives the Maliki government just 24 days to get the PSAs signed or be overthrown.

ADDITIONALLY bush and the GOP are now pushing for a FIFTY YEAR stay in Iraq, which would appear, at least, to confirm my suspicions above (this was originally written in March), that bush has no intentions whatever of EVER leaving Iraq.

Labels: Bush, GOP, Oil, war