While looking for an article explaining that Iranians make up 20 percent of the terrorists in Iraq (I KNOW I saw that article SOMEplace) I stumbled across an October 7, 2007 opinion piece at http://KoreaTimes.co.kr (here: http://urltea.com/1onw) that explains a fun coincidence about this new base. Check it out:
Coincidentally, the U.S. is to build another vast base in Wasit Province, to protect Iraq from ``insurgents'' coming in from Iran. As the gimlet-eyed analyst Sarah Meyer points out coincidentally, another vast oilfield, it seems, has just been discovered there.
The piece refers to a Sarah Meyer who blogged about this very oil field back in September of this year. Here's a cutting from her post:
Hassan Jumaa Awad, Iraqi union leader, was recently travelling to raise awareness of the US attempts to grab Iraq's oil. Among the interesting points that he raised: "There is a newly discovered field in Wasit province in central Iraq with the potential to fill millions of barrels of oil. Under the law this new field will be given over to multinationals."
Iraq revenue watch (pdf file) notes: "This field lies in the two provinces of Baghdad and Salaheddin, and probably extends southward within the province of Wasit.1 Hence, it should be jointly managed by the provinces of both Baghdad and Salaheddin, and perhaps that of Wasit too. … initial production has averaged 20,000 barrels per day from its Baghdad section compared with a potential production of about 120,000 barrels daily."
What's really interesting to me is that the opinion piece from the Korea Times mentions Smedley Butler. You may remember my post from last month about a corporate-sponsored planned coup on the American government that was foiled when Marine Major General Smedley Butler held a press conference announcing that he wouldn't take part in said plan. This is the third online reference to this story that I've found since last month--funny how no one's really heard of this and I've stumbled across mentions this many times in just a few weeks. Well, actually, the Korea Times piece doesn't mention the planned coup, but it does talk about how Butler felt being a Marine and essentially being a shill for Big Business. Here's another cutting from the opinion piece:
`There isn't a trick in the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to. It has its `finger men' (to point out enemies) its `muscle men' (to destroy enemies) its `brain guys' (to plan war preparations) and a 'Big Boss' (super-nationalistic capitalism.)
``It may seem odd, for me, a military man, to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to do so. I spent thirty-three years and four months in active service in one of our country's most agile forces _ the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major General.
``During that period I spent most of my time being a high class muscle man for Big Business and Wall Street and for the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.
So, it's just a case of same shit, different day/country. What's worse is that the American people just aren't cynical enough to see through this. Sure, the average Amerishmuck on the street might admit to knowing the Iraq Attack was all about oil, but he probably would grasp the depth of this corrupt corporatism.
Think about it: first it was 911, then it was nukes, then it was freedom for the Iraqi people--all of that were lies to get this new oil law passed that would promise a lion's share of Iraq oil profits go to foreign oil companies.
There are three angles that, I feel, explains the US government's attitude here. Any or all of them could be at play here:
1) Peak Oil - This is the theory (more and more believe it's no theory) that the planet Earth is very near to reaching it's highest level of oil production. What happens after that highest level of production? Well, production goes down, of course. In other words, the Earth begins to run out of oil. As a result, oil companies around the world need to find new oil fields (like the one in Wasit, Iraq) to exploit to stay fluid (literally and figuratively) while they try to come up with some way to make money after the oil begins to run out and becomes prohibitively expensive.
2) Capitalism is Like A Shark - Capitalism is like some beast that has to keep moving at all times or it will die. This is not the truth, since capitalism is not alive in the first place and is a concept that can get discarded or re-adopted. However, a lot of power is tied up in capitalism and even more can be gained by keeping capitalism around and thriving. Any chance this shark can get to feed it will take and that's what getting more oil for the oil interests (US and otherwise) would do--feed the capitalist shark.
3) The Petro-Dollar - I've blogged about the Petro-Dollar many many times. In a nutshell, Petrodollars are American cash that is bought by anyone on the planet to use when buying oil from any OPEC country. See, OPEC (generally) only sells oil in USD, so when you consider how much oil is bought every day around the world you get the idea of how much USD is tied up in OIL. More oil sold for an OPEC nation (like Iraq) means more American dollars being bought up, which means our economy is invested in. Incidentally, I've read that some experts believe Petro-Dollars make up about 60 percent of the US economy.
In the end, you need to remember that the number of dead American GIs in Iraq is higher than the number of Americans killed on 911. This isn't really about avenging 911, or making America safe. This is about keeping oil and capitalism and oil-capitalism strong.
Orignal From: NEW US BASE ON IRAN-IRAQ-OIL-FIELD BORDER
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