Politics of Oil and Profit

Over the years, most anti-War activists have hesitated to raise the question of motive with respect to the Iraq invasion / occupation.  After September 11th, nationalistic unity was achieved long enough to strike Iraq and forget Afghanistan, it was deemed as taboo to bang too loudly on the anti-War drums.  The occasional activist and theorists delved into the possibilities of oil-driven wars and profitable ventures in Iraq, but few were listening, myself included.

Now, we’re in the final leg of this Bush Administration presidency and all of the pleasantries have been set aside and the gloves are off on both sides.  The War is often referred to as an occupation or invasion by the Bush opposition (in my view - justified criticism) while the pro-War Americans are starting to sugarcoat over issues in a defensive sort of way. For example,  increasing the troops by tens of thousands is called “the surge” and the sound bytes all but convinced the media that we’re in a war where one side will emerge victorious.  Despite the fact that scholars and intellectuals are aware of the $250 million payoff to keep the Iraq opposition forces from murdering our troops, no one is willing to confront the damage that this war has done to our families, lives, and our children who will inherit our War debt.  Instead, we simply refer to the latest revision of the Iraq War as “the surge” and quietly await the next sound byte that will be carried on the media to keep the war afloat.

For the record, I know that “War” is no longer acceptable to define what is happening in Iraq, as the Republican propagandists have decided that the “War” ended long ago.  Whatever you want to call it, a war, invasion, occupation, “fight for freedom”, it’s no secret what drives our decision to stick around and kill our soldiers.

It’s the oil, stupid

Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced trip Monday to Baghdad, where he plans to push Iraqi political leers toward opening the country’s vast oil fields to international companies, a senior Bush administration official said.

As long as oil companies get something out of this deal, what does it matter?  After all, we’re hooked on oil as neo-cons now concede.  They advocate that with our extended vacation in Iraq we may as well put our nation in a better situation by seizing upon the profitable oil fields that exist in the middle east.  Any rational and objective observer could see that this makes plenty of sense.  However, it is the irrational and biased observer — such as myself — that also clearly sees who will benefit from oil deals with Iraq, and I guarantee it’s not going to be the American consumer.

Fred Soto is an Attorney and Entrepreneur from the Silicon Valley.
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