The Idiocy is Swelling

by Ron Fullwood
http://www.opednews.com

I caught a story the other day about the Queen of England giving out honors to American officers. 'Thanks to the Yanks' was the title of the story. Captain John Peterson, chief of staff to the commander of the US Navy in the Middle East, had received a 'CBE'. His citation praises his role of leading British and American forces in "the campaign to secure Iraqi oil assets".

I think that is as good a measure as anything I've seen in recent months of what those who profess to lead us expect to gain from their illegal and immoral flogging of our military forces at the Middle East with the prosecution of both of the Bush wars. The world was witness as we helped topple statues at the start of the Iraq invasion, and yet refused to step and stop the rape and looting of the sovereign nation. Our forces were predictably directed to first secure Iraq's oil facilities, including the Oil Ministry building, as the rest of the country was being razed.

The Queen was following a script when she praised the officer, but she was undoubtedly caught up in the noble niceties of war that come with ribbons, medals, and honors which mask the horror and injustice of our bloody acts which our leaders claim are done in the name of God and country.

The Bush wars were not waged in defense of any lofty ideals of democracy or liberty, or even security. This war with Iraq was the invention of a banished ruling class - enriched by the selling of the influence of their positions in government - who had nursed their broken ambitions in exile, and had instinctively constructed their sympathetic webs of wealth to obstruct the remedies of the reformers and hatch the next generation of world capitalists who would inherit the patronage of the next conservative presidency.

The invasion of Iraq was a clumsy attempt by BushII to usurp the power from a vanquished nation of innocents; a suffering class of people who were already devastated by the bombing of the first war, and by the economic sanctions imposed by the U.N. at the insistence of the U.S., which served to enrich Saddam Hussein and steadily impoverish and starve everyone else.

The Bush I administration's stated objective in their Gulf war was to protect the flow of Mideast oil to the U.S. and to prevent Iraq from obtaining a seaport from which Iraqi shipments would supposedly depress an already sputtering world market. The Bush I administration issued a national security directive which listed among its objectives; ". . . the defense of U.S. vital interests in the region, if necessary through the use of military force; and defense against forces that would cause added damage to the U.S. and world economies."

More importantly, the security directive declared that access to Persian Gulf oil and the security of key, friendly states in the area were vital to U.S. national security. It was on that basis that President Herbert Walker Bush waged war with Iraq. It's first provision stated that:

1. Access to Persian Gulf oil and the security of key friendly states in the area are vital to U.S. national security. Consistent with NSD 26 of October 2, 1989, and NSD 45 of August 20, 1990, and as a matter of long-standing policy, the United states remains committed to defending its vital interests in the region, if necessary through the use of military force, against any power with interests inimical to our own.

That manufactured mandate for war is the heart and soul of the present Iraq conflict. This Bush regime relied extensively on the UN resolutions which were born out of the end of hostilities agreements in the first Gulf War to justify the enactment of this conflict's U.N. 1441, which he asserted gave him the authority to sidestep the security council and invade.

The nation's reward for the blood and sacrifice of our men and women in the armed forces in that Gulf war was a further decrease in production by the Mideast oil giants under OPEC- the group which controls around half the world's oil trade. That resulted in the doubling of U.S. oil prices from $20 a barrel to $40, and the fostering of a crippling recession. As the National Security Strategy of 1991 stated, "Economies around the world were affected by the volatility of oil prices and the disruption of economic ties to countries in the Gulf." Oil profits for industry CEO's and administration shareholders soared.

Despite all of that, there are gullible self-seekers supporting and prosecuting these assaults on Iraq who still insist that these wars were in defense of cheap gas for them. That was the mantra from the right, although they didn't have the cover of overt statements from their elected leadership affirming their true goal of robbing Iraq of it's resources. They were more determined this time to couch their militarism in defensive rhetoric about terrorists and evil. They kept the smoke-screen of fear in front of us that flashed from the flames of the attacks on the World Trade Center on 9-11 as they amassed our military forces and wrapped us in their imperialism.

The present war with Iraq was the ambition of the corporate wing of the conservative establishment who views Iraq as a potential wedge against the domination of Mideast oil-producing nations which, in many respects, are openly hostile to American economic interests in the region, and other oil-consuming nations like China which is also competing for a greater share of the oil pie. Having failed to turn the first war to their corporate advantage, the exiled power brokers brooded and plotted to revive a public campaign against Saddam Hussein which would unseat the dictator and allow the U.S. to install an authority there compliant to American business concerns.

Before the war, Stephen Hadley, now National Security Adviser, spoke to the Council on Foreign Relations in February 2003. "If war comes," Hadley said, "it will be a war of liberation, not occupation. The United States needs the support of Iraq's people and it will work to win that support."

"A critical part of the Iraq reconstruction effort will be ensuring that Iraq's oil sector is protected from acts of sabotage by Saddam Hussein's regime," Hadley continued, "and that its proceeds are applied for the benefit of the Iraqi people."

"Iraq's oil and other natural resources belong to all the Iraqi people, and the United States will respect this fact," Hadley said.

However, White House Executive Order, 13303, was a bald contradiction of that assertion by this administration that the Iraqi people are to benefit from our seizure of their resources.

Executive Order, 13303 decreed that 'any attachment, judgment, decree, lien, execution, garnishment, or other judicial process is prohibited, and shall be deemed null and void', with respect to the Development Fund for Iraq and "all Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products, and interests therein." (The Development Fund, derived from actual and expected Iraqi oil and gas sales, apparently was used to leverage U.S. government-backed loans, credit, and direct financing for U.S. corporate reconstruction operations in Iraq.)

In other words, all of the oil, resources and industry are the property of the U.S.; to trade, sell, and disperse at its discretion. Yet, the Bush wars were never about actually getting more oil for Americans. They were always about the oil companies, drillers, prospectors, and oil support services getting permission to exploit a piece of the broken land for their own enrichment and profit.

"We have helped to establish an independent Iraqi central bank." Bush said after installing Chalabi and his minions in the interim 'authority'. "Working with the Iraqi Governing Council, we are establishing a new system that allows foreign investors to confidently invest capital in Iraq's future."

Under the edict issued by the Iraqi/U.S. council, foreign banks were to be given immediate access to establish themselves or buy into Iraq ventures. Under the new bank rules, six foreign banks were allowed "fast-track" entry into the country and were permitted full ownership of the local banks within five years.

Other moves by the Council were the creation of a supposedly "independent" central bank; and a trade bank propped up by a gang of 13 foreign banks; and a $500 million credit from America's Export-Import Bank; more U.S. taxpayer dollars subsidizing foreign bankers. In an economy which has never allowed outside ownership on this scale, the Iraqi citizens have almost certainly lost hold of their country and their resources, no matter how you view the U.S. advantage there. World Bank statistics record the per capita income in Iraq rose from $479 pre-invasion to about $1,188 in 2005. But, Iraqi's per capita income was $3,240 in 1980, before the imposition of sanctions which served to enrich Saddam's regime and starve everyone else.

Shell and British Petroleum (Tony Blair's payoff), were among the first foreign companies to be given contracts from the resumption of Iraqi oil exports when the country signed its first long-term supply deals since the war was declared over. Among the other companies that are thought to have signed deals with Iraq are, ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Marathon Oil Corp, Sinochem of China, Mitsubishi Corp, Repsol YPF and Vitol SA.

I don't have any ides how much money oil companies managed to get out of Iraq, and I have no idea how much money they made from all of the speculation and bargaining. But the Iraq invasion has been a bonanza for most of them, at least up until the Iraqis managed to organize their own deals which have been remarkably extensive. Even though the U.S. has not yet been able to restore Iraqi oil production to pre-invasion levels, it's not because they haven't tried. Congress has provided $18.439 billion of our tax dollars for Iraqi reconstruction. Of that amount, $1.74 billion U.S. currency goes to the oil industry there.

The real money for investors in Iraq is not coming from oil pumped out of the ground, it is coming from all of the speculation and deal-making that relies on future efforts to recover the goo. Iraq's oil ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said last week that Iraq lost oil revenues worth $6.25bn in 2005 due to sabotage. That prevented Iraq from exporting about 400,000 barrels of oil a day, the ministry said, and output was down from the 800,000 barrels Iraq was producing before Bush attacked. Iraqi oil officials say that there will continue to be shortages of oil for Iraqis because of a lag in imports. Because of the production and export difficulties Iraq the new authority claims they've had to cut the money they had been spending importing oil products in half.

The only ones who intend to benefit from the robbery of the Iraqi oil are the companies that we will allow to exploit it. The oil mongers will incestuously share the stolen profits at the expense of American lives. The money from big oil never, never reaches the indigenous cultures. No Iraqi should expect to wrest control over their own wells from the U.S. or its allies. It's likely that the only contact Iraqis will have with their own oil will be at the foreign-owned gas stations which charge amazingly high prices for a land so rich in resources.

No matter how you look at it , the Bush wars have been a disaster for the oil consumers around the world. We had the industry where we wanted them in the late '90's with oil selling for under $30 a barrel. By the end of Bush's first term in office Americans had become hapless suckers, half of the recorded voters returning him to power to muck it up some more.

His handpicked 'Energy' Secretary, (say it ain't so) Sam Bodman told the nation Sunday that we will have to 'endure' high prices for at least three more years. The republicans even attempted to pacify Americans with a tax rebate that would cover a tank and a half of gas, then quickly disowned the idea after folks pointed to the quid pro quo: drilling in the Alaska Wildlife Refuge.

All of the major oil-producing countries are blaming 'geopolitical' factors for the price rise. Bush's saber-rattling and the prospect of sanctions on Iran are driving prices beyond all reasonable explanations, not that the industry is complaining. They're just saying, look, we'll produce more, but that won't do a thing about the price until tensions subside and the 'markets', the oil exchanges, don't have anything to point at that would allow them to float the prices of crude higher.

Condi Rice yesterday tried to shift focus to Nigeria, saying that it's time to 'shake the trees' there. No doubt the administration would rather the buzz center on Nigerian rebels and Sub-Saharan regime change. Bush is in the catbird seat now, picking and choosing which despotic rulers remain and which dictators must go. It's not clear that he has the political cover, or the gall to preemptively attack another sovereign nation, but it is that prospect that allows him to keep other countries on edge, on the defensive against his opportunistic muckraking.

Another one of Bush's generals spoke out today about the consequences of planned military strikes against Iran. "Any action militarily is very complicated," said Lt. Gen. Victor Renuart, director of planning for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"And any action by any country will have second-order effects, and that is a strong case to continue the diplomatic process and make it work."

Iran asked the UN yesterday if Bush's rhetoric and plans to attack Iran were in violation of international law. Isn't all of Bush's nuclear saber-rattling against Iran illegal in the face of no UN conclusion as to Iraq's intention to develop a weapon?

If Iran is, in fact is operating within the law, even if sanctions were to be imposed for non-disclosure, where do they go to protest the obvious illegal provocation by the U.S., including the reported infiltration of Iraq by our military forces, and the establishment of regime-change offices from D.C. to Dubai? One U.S. or allied missile lobbed into Iran and they will be able to justify all of their president's paranoid speech in defense of the integrity of his country's borders from outside attack.

Bush told us last week that he wasn't going to do anything much at all about oil prices. Who thought he wouldn't take every opportunity to further enrich his industry benefactors? Who is left who imagines that he cares at all about oil conservation or fuel efficiency? Who is left out there in the world who believes George Bush won't impoverish everyone but the wealthy if we continue to give him and his accomplices in Congress free reign?

The idiocy is swelling and there doesn't seem to be a learning curve associated with Bush's mindless militarism. Whether for oil, or for security, these Bush wars have been a disaster for our economy. Bush's continuing aggression threatens to trigger yet another disaster for working Americans already struggling to absorb the industry-inflated energy costs. Whether for the United States, Iraq, or for the world, Bush's continued reign is a danger that grows with every baffling move he makes.

Ron Fullwood, is an activist from Columbia, Md. and the author of the book 'Power of Mischief' : Military Industry Executives are Making Bush Policy and the Country is Paying the Price

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