More Democratic dirty tricks

By Libby

Continuing yesterday's theme on the Democrats' sham no vote on the supplemental bill, here from retired US Army Reserves Colonel Ann Wright, is another prime example of the Democrats' perfidy. For all their empty rhetoric about forcing the president to accept benchmarks, they handed the White House the one thing it really wanted.

The “benchmark” or goal the Bush administration has been working on furiously since the US invaded Iraq is the privatization of Iraqi oil. Now they have the US Congress blackmailing the Iraqi Parliament and Iraqi people: no privatization of Iraqi oil, no reconstruction funds.

This threat could not be clearer. If the Iraqi Parliament refuses to pass the privatization legislation, the US Congress will withhold US reconstruction funds promised to the Iraqis to rebuild what the United States has destroyed in Iraq. The privatization law, written by American oil company consultants hired by the Bush administration, would leave the control of only 17 of 80 known oil fields with the Iraq National Oil Company. The remainder (two-thirds) of known oil fields and all yet undiscovered oil fields would be up for grabs by the private oil companies of the world (but guess how many would go to the United States firms given to them by the compliant Iraqi government.)

As I said in comments, it hasn't escaped my notice that no government has ever lost power by controlling oil and the prospect of command over all that lovely crude is a powerful disincentive to take any truly effective steps to end the occupation. What could be politically better for the Dems than to be able to blame the war on the GOP and then reap the benefits of the oil fields themselves? That certainly serves the interests of the investor class of either party that infests the Beltway, but for the average Jake - not so much.

As Colonel Wright notes, it's a long contract.

What does this “Support the Troops” legislation mean for the United States military? Supporting our troops has nothing to do with this bill, other than keeping them there for another 30 years to protect US oil interests. It means that every military service member will need Arabic language training. It means that every soldier and marine would spend most of his or her career in Iraq. It means that the fourteen permanent bases will get new Taco Bells and Burger Kings! Why? Because the US military will be protecting the US corporate oilfields leased to US companies by the compliant Iraqi government. Our troops will be the guardians of US corporate interests in Iraq for the life of the contracts, for the next thirty years.

It appears the anti-invasion activists were right all along. It was never about WMDs, or freedom for the Iraqis or deposing a tyrant, or creating democracies in the Middle East. It was always about oil and even if you don't believe that, the Iraqis will and so will all the other players on the Arab Street. What other conclusion could they draw when the Congress joins the White House and makes that the number one benchmark?

One thing is certain, it will not keep us safer from terrorism. In fact, I can't think of better recruiting tool for radical groups than such a blatant exploitation of a sovereign country's resources by US interests. Isn't that how Osama got started in the first place?