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Iraqi Oil Belongs To The
Iraqi People
By Nancy Wohlforth and Fred Mason
04/02/07 "Common
Dreams" -- -- The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
have already cost the American people more than $500 billion,
the deaths of 3200 U.S. troops, 25,000 others wounded, and
countless Iraqi lives. The total price tag is projected to top
$1.2 trillion. With the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion
and occupation of Iraq upon us, the Bush administration asks
Congress for $93 billion more for the war, over and above the
fiscal year 2008 Pentagon request for $484 billion - an 11%
increase over last year! The war machine eats well while
starving our people of decent housing, quality health care, and
education. The Gulf Coast remains a disaster.
Many of us felt shame in the opening days of the invasion as our
soldiers were ordered to protect the Oil Ministry, oil fields,
refineries, and distribution system while wholesale looting of
Iraq’s antiquities unfolded. The message to the Iraqis was
clear: “We’ve come for the oil.” There were no weapons of mass
destruction. Hussein is gone yet we are still there. Rather than
democracy, we brought massive destruction and civil war to Iraq.
Giving credence to Iraqis’ fears, a new Petroleum Law will be
presented to the Iraqi Parliament that, if enacted, will put
effective control of Iraq’s vast oil resources in the hands of
foreign companies. Nationalized since 1975, Iraq’s oil was,
before the years of sanctions and the invasion, the foundation
for a relatively high standard of living, producing more PhD’s
per capita than the U.S. and a health care system prized as the
best in the region.
President Bush says the war is not about oil but his actions
belie that claim. In the months before the March 2003 invasion,
members of the U.S. State Department “Oil and Energy Working
Group” met to plan how to open Iraq to international oil
companies. As reported by investigative journalist Greg Palast,
the oil law now proposed by the Iraqi Council of Ministers is a
virtual photocopy of a plan first drafted by U.S. oil industry
executives and consultants in Houston long before Iraq was
“liberated.”
The proposed Petroleum Law creates a Federal Oil and Gas Council
on which would sit representatives of Exxon- Mobil, Shell, BP,
etc., whose tasks include approving their own contracts. Instead
of Iraqi central government decision-making on oil, the proposal
authorizes regional authorities to individually sign contracts
with foreign companies, promoting contract bidding wars between
regions that could lead to breaking Iraq into three states.
The practice in Iraq - as in other countries with giant reserves
- has been that control of oil production rests with public
sector oil companies. The role of foreign companies is limited
to “service contracts.” A company is contracted to provide a
stated service for a limited period - build a refinery, lay a
pipeline, drill a field. Decisions on development, distribution,
and flow of profits remain with the government. Kuwait, Saudi
Arabia and Iran run their industries this way.
However, the proposed Petroleum Law provides for “production
sharing agreements,” or long-term contracts whereby foreign
companies control production, development and sale of the oil
for up to 30 years, and reap as much as 70% of the profits.
Given the severe weakness of Iraqi institutions, with the
country devastated, under military occupation and mired in civil
strife, Iraq is unlikely to receive a fair deal. With huge
reserves and low production costs, foreign oil companies in Iraq
stand to make enormous profits at the expense of the welfare of
Iraq’s people and Iraqi sovereignty.
Iraq’s people will not take this looting of their national
treasure lying down. Five major Iraqi labor federations,
including the Federation of Oil Workers, have condemned the
draft law and warn this is a “red-line” issue for Iraq. They
recognize the hijack this law, drafted at the behest of the oil
cartel, represents.
This oil scenario further stains our international reputation
while doing nothing to curb U.S. dependence on foreign oil and
our urgent need to develop sustainable energy.
Congress must cut all funding for the war except what is needed
for the safe, rapid withdrawal of every U.S. soldier and private
contractor, closing of U.S. bases, and meeting our obligation to
fund Iraq’s reconstruction. Iraqi sovereignty over their oil and
every day life is in the best interests of U.S. working people,
starting with our troops. Bring all the troops home now.
Nancy Wohlforth is Secretary-Treasurer of the Office &
Professional Employees International Union/AFL-CIO and
Co-President of Pride At Work. She is a member of the AFL-CIO
General Executive Council. Fred Mason is President of the
Maryland and DC AFL-CIO. U.S. Labor Against the War is a
national network of more than 150 labor organizations opposed to
the war and occupation in Iraq.
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