You sure these aren't US special forces on orders from Halliburton?;) Cheers, Ken Hanly
----- Original Message ----- From: "Sabri Oncu" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "PEN-L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "ALIST" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 4:33 PM Subject: [PEN-L:35773] Iraq: Oil wells are burning > Just read on Haberturk, a Turkish News Site, that oil wells in > Iraq are on fire. The news piece said, "details will follow > soon". In the mean time here is an article from Houston Cronicle. > > Sabri > > +++++++++ > March 19, 2003, 10:59AM > > Saddam opens spigots on oil wells, reports say > By DAVID IVANOVICH > Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau > > WASHINGTON -- With a U.S.-led assault perhaps just hours away, > Saddam Hussein has opened the spigots on some of his country's > oil wells, creating pools of crude that could be set ablaze, > Pentagon and oil industry sources said today. > > Saddam's operatives also are believed to have tied plastic > explosives packed against the wells to a small number of > switches, those sources said. This would allow Saddam to detonate > many wells simultaneously, and it could also help ensure that any > order to blow up the wells is carried out. > > Some observers have questioned whether Iraqis would follow orders > to torch the fields in their own country, as they did to the oil > fields in Kuwait. > > A Pentagon source said the activity had been observed in at least > the northern part of the country, where Iraq's huge Kirkuk > oil-field is located. > > The Pentagon fears Saddam intends to destroy as many of the > country's 1,500 oil wells as possible if the United States and > Britain launch an invasion. > > U.S. and British military officials have been accusing Saddam's > forces of planting explosives in Kirkuk, as well as in southern > fields near Basra. > > Oil industry officials also have been hearing reports that Saddam > has been replacing key oil field workers with supporters deemed > more loyal to the Iraqi leader. > > The U.S. military is hoping to avoid any destruction to the oil > fields, knowing the country's oil wealth will be critical to > Iraq's future. > > To prepare for a possible conflagration, the Pentagon hired > Houston-based Kellogg Brown & Root, owned by Vice President Dick > Cheney's former employer, Halliburton Co., to draw up a plan to > deal with any well fires on short notice. > > Last week, the Pentagon asked companies interested in providing > firefighting services in Iraq to call a toll-free number. > > During the first Persian Gulf War, the Iraqi army blew up more > than 730 oil wells in Kuwait before retreating in advance of a > U.S.-led attack. Oil well firefighting crews spent nearly eight > months dousing those fires. And the Pentagon says the cost to > repair the destruction approached $20 billion. >
