Donald Trump tore into President Barack Obama's administration Monday for allowing China access to Iraqi oil while, he claimed, the United States gets "nothing" after it lost 4,500 troops in the war there.
"I'm not knocking China; I'm knocking our leadership," the real estate millionaire said on Fox and Friends. "How can they allow this to happen? "We spend $1.5 trillion, we lose thousands of lives, we destroy a country, but China is in there taking out all the oil, and we're getting nothing," Trump said. Trump repeated his belief that the United States should not have gone to war to depose President Saddam Hussein. "I've said it a thousand times . . . We shouldn't have been there, but if we're there, take the oil . . . Well guess what? China is taking the oil but they didn't have to fight." Trump was referring to a Sunday New York Times article that said China has become the biggest beneficiary of Iraqi oil. He said it is "very nice" of the United States to have the Navy in the area "making sure the waters are nice and calm." On Jun 4, 11:39 am, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > Mission Accomplished: China Gets Half of Iraq’s Oil.Written by Gary North on > June 4, 2013 > You may remember the promise of the neocons in 2003: America’s war with Iraq > would be paid for by Iraqi oil. Besides, the war would cost only $50 > billion$60 billion, tops. > The war cost$2.2 trillion$3 trillion, topsand the oil is being gobbled up by > China. > Oh, well, they shrug. Bygone are bygones. Win a few, lose a few. Better luck > next time. Don’t blame us. Now let’s bomb Iran. > The story of how China is buying almost half of Iraq’s oil has not gotten > much attention. It does not seem to be consistent with President Bush’s war > aims. But that’s how the fortune cookie crumbles. The war cost the Chinese > government nothing. It is now using its newly printed counterfeit money to > buy the oil that it could not legally buy under the Clinton Administration’s > oil export restrictions on Iraq. > The war was fought over oil. A few of us said so in 2003. But what we did not > understand was that it was fought to let China get half the oil. We thought > it was fought to keep China from getting the oil. Silly us. > China’s government is making deals with Mobil Exxon to produce more oil in > Iraq. It is willing to do this at rock-bottom prices. It is buying up the > output by co-funding the exploration and capital costs. American companies > are priced out. They want a shot at profit. China’s government is interested > in subsidizing its domestic manufacturing sector. So, it is under-bidding > private oil exploration firms. The oil flows east.The New York > Timesreports:Before the invasion, Iraq’s oil industry was sputtering, largely > walled off from world markets by international sanctions against the > government of Saddam Hussein, so his overthrow always carried the promise of > renewed access to the country’s immense reserves. Chinese state-owned > companies seized the opportunity, pouring more than $2 billion a year and > hundreds of workers into Iraq, and just as important, showing a willingness > to play by the new Iraqi government’s rules and to accept lower profits to > win contracts.“We lost out,” said Michael Makovsky, a former Defense > Department official in the Bush administration who worked on Iraq oil policy. > “The Chinese had nothing to do with the war, but from an economic standpoint > they are benefiting from it, and our Fifth Fleet and air forces are helping > to assure their supply.”This is not what the neocons spelled out in 2003. > President Bush did not have this in his war aims. Call it the fog of > pre-war.Continue Reading on > www.nytimes.comhttp://teapartyeconomist.com/2013/06/04/mission-accomploished-china-gets-half-of-iraqs-oil/#ixzz2VGZeLu51 -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
