Wednesday, April 25, 2007

George Puts The Oil Back In Toil

I am becoming increasingly fatigued by this war in Iraq. In a recent poll by NBC News and Wall Street Journal it was found that 56% of Americans polled agree with the Democrats in Congress about placing a deadline on the bill and only 37% of Americans sided with Bush. And in the same poll 55% of Americans said that they do not believe that victory is possible in Iraq and only 37% said there was still a chance. While the president continues to ignore the American people, construction of a wall in the Sunni populated Baghdad neighborhood, Azamiyah, was stopped due to overwhelming protests by the residents. When confronted about the situation, Brigadier General Qasim al-Moussawi said, "We expected this reaction by some weak-minded people."
The only weak-minded people I have been listening to are people like Brigadier General al-Moussawi and our president. I would venture a guess that the average height of the war hawk republican in the White House is about three and a half feet tall because they all have their heads up their asses. We need politicians who can set aside their agendas and represent their people. After all, that is what a democracy is for.
Also, I know that I have been saying that oil is the main reason for this war in Iraq and while many people agree that oil has something to do with it, I feel like I haven't really explained the details. So here it goes. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration Iraq holds "the world's second largest proven reserves [of oil]." In December of 2002, there were 2,000 oil wells in Iraq. In December of 2002, there were nearly 1 million oil wells in...where else...Bush Country (Texas). Interestingly, the Bush family including our president, are good friends with the Saudi royal family. Saudi Arabia is the world's largest oil producing nation. I don't want to come off as a conspiracy buff for lack of evidence but the coincidences here are clearly suspect. War in oil-rich regions raise the price of oil across the board. No doubt, the Saudis have made a lot of money from the risen prices.
On a side note, there is the fact that the 9/11 terrorists were from Saudi Arabia and yet we have invaded two Middle Eastern countries not Saudi Arabia; one of which really had nothing to do with al-Qaeda until we invaded--Iraq. It is strange that we are friends with the nation that bred the terrorists but enemies to adjacent nations in the war on terror. But I am sure that George W. Bush, who was involved in the Texas oil industry prior to becoming president, has good reasons to remain close friends to the largest producer of oil in the world despite that nation's direct link to al-Qaeda. And I am sure it has nothing to do with oil.
And while Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the world, it is barely a contender for exports because of the poor condition of the production and refinement systems in the country. And where did our troops head for first once touching ground in Iraq? The oil fields. Securing the oil is clearly an extremely valuable factor that was taken into consideration for the war plan far much more seriously than an exit strategy. At this point, we are merely trying to protect our oil interests so that Iran cannot have any influence in Iraq's economy.
And in February, the Iraqi Cabinet met and passed a draft law backed by the U.S. to place the nation's oil fields under control of the central government. The Kurds in the north have objected to this saying that it is unconstitutional and unfair. They fear that the revenue from the oil will not be distributed fairly citing that the Iraqi government is already behind in payments for various endeavors. Also, the Kurds, who hold the northern oil fields in the country, do not want to be neglected nor abused as was such during Saddam's regime. So much for capitalism. It seems that if the central government controls the oil reserves, the U.S., which still has an overwhelming presence in Iraq, can have a much more influential say in how that oil is used.
While I do not feel that oil was the only reason we went to war with Iraq, due to a lack of WMDs, solid links to al-Qaeda as a strong ally to Saddam and other weak or downright false arguments, oil seems to be one of the strongest motivators for this war. Perhaps George W. should look into creating an engine that runs on human blood. Based on his lack of consideration for human life it would probably be cheaper for him to drive around his ranch that way.