[George_1950]

Big oil is back, in Iraq! 36 years after Saddam started his havoc with oil production:
"The deals, expected to be announced on June 30, will lay the foundation for the first commercial work for the major companies in Iraq since the American invasion, and open a new and potentially lucrative country for their operations."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/wo...html?ref=world

[Credendovidis]

"Big oil is back, in Iraq!"

Please take note that the ones that started the havoc with oil production in Iraq were the US troops invading illegally and without authorization by the UN the Iraqi territory after 9-11.

At least have your facts right...

:rolleyes:

[westnlas]

Actually the Havoc was caused by Saddam's invasion of Kuwait. As the Iraqi troops were pushed back, they torched the oil wells. When things happen, they often happen because of prior events.

Of course, further back in time the formation of OPEC played a huge difference in the way oil was handled previously.

[tomder55]

Credendovidis

Brush up on history . Prior to the US invasion the Iraqi oil infrastructure was crumbling .The UN had imposed sanctions on Saddam because his WMD program was still unaccounted for .But ;they allowed him to ship a limited amt of oil under the completely corrupt "Oil for Food Program " for humanitarian purposes .

The main feature of the containment regime had become the Oil-for-Food program, set up by the United Nations in 1996 with Clinton-administration approval. Within months, the program had become a spigot of cash for Saddam and his family and cronies. The full extent of the corruption, and the full roster of who paid in and who was paid out, may not be known for decades, if ever. But the overall picture is reasonably clear, thanks again in large part to documents seized in the 2003 invasion.
Saddam had shrewdly realized that vouchers for the sale of his oil might serve as a kind of international currency, distributed by him to favored customers who would be obliged to pay him kickbacks, all out of reach of the scrutiny of the UN. Eventually, UN administrators were brought into the conspiracy as well. Within a year the program had miraculously restored Saddam's personal wealth and power, even as the Iraqi people continued to suffer. By the time of the U.S. invasion, he had skimmed at least $21 billion from the program, in addition to the billions made through smuggled oil sales to other Middle East countries, including his old enemy Iran.
The list of recipients of Oil-for-Food vouchers grew to more than 270 names, constituting a Who's Who of slippery international politicians and diplomats—all of whom, needless to say, opposed any talk of military action against Iraq. On the Security Council, Russia, France, and China, key adversaries of U.S. policy toward Iraq going back to Clinton days, were among Saddam's key beneficiaries. Not only was Oil-for-Food the biggest scandal in UN history, it had turned the UN's mandate inside out. A program established to punish a rogue tyrant was systematically making him more powerful; nations that were supposed to be his custodians had become his accomplices; and the institution whose purpose was to protect international order was destroying it.

Why Iraq Was Inevitable

This and the UN's refusal to enforce their sanctions was causing the containment regime to crumble ;leaving us with a choice of abandoning containment to either allow Saddam to become more powerful and reconstitute his wmd programs and threaten his neighbors ,or remove him.

[NeedKarma]

[Credendovidis]

This and the UN's refusal to enforce their sanctions ...

Uhhhhhhh : who was it that refused to accept the UN's decision NOT to invade Iraq, because the supporting evidence for presence of MWD's was lacking any serious credibility?

And who was/is not paying - or behind in paying their dues - for the UN ?

That graphic shows more about you and your opinion, than it shows about the UN...

:(

·

[Credendovidis]

The Real McCain

With Obama there is at least still hope , while with McCain there is just more Bush injustice , intolerance, and dilution of democratic rights...

;)

·

[George_1950]

Uhhhhhhh : who was it that refused to accept the UN's decision NOT to invade Iraq, because the supporting evidence for presence of MWD's was lacking any serious credibility?

·

Just curious: you have some evidence to prove this? :)

[tomder55]

UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Read the rest of the essay I posted .It shows that even Colin Powell ;who was opposed to invasion at the beginning came away from the SC meeting frustrated and in favor of the invasion. What he and the rest of use did not know was that 1/2 the SC was on the take from the Oil for Food Program. Yeah of course the UN voted against invasion .We were smashing their piggy bank.

[Fr_Chuck]

Just thinking of who we can take on next, what about the Swiss, they don't have oil but they do have all that undeclared money in their banks
And they have not done many suicide bombs lately.

[excon]

Hello:

I don't know. From a business perspective, our oil industry are the best people for the job... However... from a political perspective, I think it's a bad move.

The world thinks we invaded Iraq for the oil. This move gives their argument lots of ammunition. We're not making any friends over there. That's going to come back and bite us.

excon

[tomder55]

There are 2 American ,one British and one French company getting these contracts. Who should help them then?. the Chinese and Russians ? This is a decision by the Iraqi government .It is not being imposed on them. Ex as you point out ;our oil people are the best in the world at what they do . Why exclude them. Let the world think what it wants. If I were them I'd be more p*ssed at the fact that the US thinks it can consume other's resources when we won't mine or drill for our own.

[Galveston1]

"Big oil is back, in Iraq!"

Please take note that the ones that started the havoc with oil production in Iraq were the US troops invading illegally and without authorization by the UN the Iraqi territory after 9-11.

At least have your facts right ....

:rolleyes:

Personally, I find it frustrating to have people argue that we should care WHAT the UN does. If it was ever of any use, that day has long since passed. The UN is now nothing more that a soapbox where third world dictators can rant against everything Western, and the US in particular. They are even more corrupt and inefficient than our own federal government! What we really need to do is cut our ties and losses, evict the UN from our shores, and let them squabble among themselves. That's just my opinion, but it is firmly held!

[Credendovidis]

Personally, I find it frustrating to have people argue that we should care WHAT the UN does. If it was ever of any use, that day has long since passed. The UN is now nothing more that a soapbox where third world dictators can rant against everything Western, and the US in particular. They are even more corrupt and inefficient than our own federal government! What we really need to do is cut our ties and losses, evict the UN from our shores, and let them squabble among themselves. That's just my opinion, but it is firmly held!

Good point Galveston ! Here are more actions following up along the lines of your first steps to world peace !

1
Build big walls around the entire shore line, all around the country. Stop all that clean water from the oceans diluting the dirt, chemicals and other sh*t you guys dump in the water. Keep your rubbish where it belongs : within the US of A.

2
Build a huge dome on top of these walls and across the entire US of A, to prevent clean air to dilute all the smoke, chemicals, and other sh*t you guys keep pumping into the earth' atmosphere. Keep your rubbish where it belongs : within the US of A.

3
Stop all air transportation in or out the country : keep to yourselves : 300 Million is more than enough US Americans. With all their sh*t... who needs them anyway !

4
Stop all sea transportation in or out the country : keep to yourselves : 300 Million is more than enough US Americans. With all their sh*t... who needs them anyway !

5
Pull out your troops from every territory that does not belong to the US of A. We - the rest of the world - do not need your constant interfering and war mongering all the time.

6
Stop all trade and sort out your own needs. No more oil from that "bad" Islamic Middle East or that left wing Chavez ! Get your own oil from Alaska, and leave the remaining stocks to the rest of the world!

7
Eat your own produce, if your foods are genetically changed or not. Build your own cars, if they are more expensive or not. Manufacture your own products... why buy from these left wing Chinese anyway?

8
Cut all communication lines with the rest of the world. No more problems from all these non-US people. We - the rest of the world - will appreciate that too : no more sh*t television programs repeats, or top 10 music video's misusing young women to perform and behave like whores.

9
Yes : close down the UN, kick them over the wall into he oceans. Good riddance to them.
No more foreigners of holy US soil ! And while singing Christian hymns you all can go to that glorious hereafter in the sky ! Glory, glory, glory Hallelujah!

10
I already see the entire rest of the world lighting their celebration fires, huge fireworks going up into the air, massive festivities everywhere, "Alle Menschen wirden Bruder" becomes the top song for the rest of the year...

Good riddance to all US Americans...
Excellent idea, Galveston !

:D :D :D :D :D

·

[tomder55]

5
Pull out your troops from every territory that does not belong to the US of A. We - the rest of the world - do not need your constant interfering and war mongering all the time.

Now there's a thought. Defend yourselves and allocate sufficient amt.s of your GDP to the effort . Boy wouldn't that bankrupt the nanny-state! If the US actually charged a value for our services to the defense of the free world we would not be looking at trade deficits would we ?

[Credendovidis]

Now there's a thought. Defend yourselves and allocate sufficient amt.s of your GDP to the effort . Boy wouldn't that bankrupt the nanny-state!!! . If the US actually charged a value for our services to the defense of the free world we would not be looking at trade deficits would we ?

Nanny-state?

The US actually tries to charge the rest of the world for "services" they do not want in the first place.

... "we would not be looking at trade deficits"... Your trade deficits are due to overspending by the military testing out their toys in Iraq and Afghanistan, are due to trying to rob the world of it's last remaining resources, and are due to buying too much stuff from the far east where "new" slaves are producing your cheap radios and television sets...

:D

[tomder55]

Actually our trade defecit is from importing oil when we have our own and our addiction to cheap Chinese goods.

Now that I think of it... I just wonder how much of the inflationary trend we are seeing is because China has shut down it's factories before the Olympics... hmmmmm.

[Credendovidis]

actually our trade defecit is from importing oil when we have our own and our addiction to cheap Chinese goods.

I think your trade deficit is in your gringo fat bodies due to overeating and not enough hard work, and bum-sitting in oil wasting cars in long queues. The "new" American Dream : get 300 pounds++ to show the neighbors how "good" it goes...

:D :rolleyes: :p ;) :eek: