holy Mackeral! How credible are the sources? --- Keith Addison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4354269.stm > BBC NEWS | Programmes | Newsnight | Secret US plans > for Iraq's oil > > Secret US plans for Iraq's oil > > by Greg Palast > > The Bush administration made plans for war and for > Iraq's oil before > the 9/11 attacks, sparking a policy battle between > neo-cons and Big > Oil, BBC's Newsnight has revealed. > > Two years ago today - when President George Bush > announced US, > British and Allied forces would begin to bomb > Baghdad - protesters > claimed the US had a secret plan for Iraq's oil once > Saddam had been > conquered. > > In fact there were two conflicting plans, setting > off a hidden policy > war between neo-conservatives at the Pentagon, on > one side, versus a > combination of "Big Oil" executives and US State > Department > "pragmatists". > > "Big Oil" appears to have won. The latest plan, > obtained by Newsnight > from the US State Department was, we learned, > drafted with the help > of American oil industry consultants. > > Insiders told Newsnight that planning began "within > weeks" of Bush's > first taking office in 2001, long before the > September 11th attack on > the US. > > An Iraqi-born oil industry consultant, Falah > Aljibury, says he took > part in the secret meetings in California, > Washington and the Middle > East. He described a State Department plan for a > forced coup d'etat. > > Mr Aljibury himself told Newsnight that he > interviewed potential > successors to Saddam Hussein on behalf of the Bush > administration. > > Secret sell-off plan > > The industry-favoured plan was pushed aside by a > secret plan, drafted > just before the invasion in 2003, which called for > the sell-off of > all of Iraq's oil fields. The new plan was crafted > by > neo-conservatives intent on using Iraq's oil to > destroy the Opec > cartel through massive increases in production above > Opec quotas. > > The sell-off was given the green light in a secret > meeting in London > headed by Ahmed Chalabi shortly after the US entered > Baghdad, > according to Robert Ebel. > > Mr Ebel, a former Energy and CIA oil analyst, now a > fellow at the > Center for Strategic and International Studies in > Washington, told > Newsnight he flew to the London meeting at the > request of the State > Department. > > Mr Aljibury, once Ronald Reagan's "back-channel" to > Saddam, claims > that plans to sell off Iraq's oil, pushed by the > US-installed > Governing Council in 2003, helped instigate the > insurgency and > attacks on US and British occupying forces. > > "Insurgents used this, saying, 'Look, you're losing > your country, > you're losing your resources to a bunch of wealthy > billionaires who > want to take you over and make your life > miserable,'" said Mr > Aljibury from his home near San Francisco. > > "We saw an increase in the bombing of oil > facilities, pipelines, > built on the premise that privatisation is coming." > > Privatisation blocked by industry > > Philip Carroll, the former CEO of Shell Oil USA who > took control of > Iraq's oil production for the US Government a month > after the > invasion, stalled the sell-off scheme. > > Mr Carroll told us he made it clear to Paul Bremer, > the US occupation > chief who arrived in Iraq in May 2003, that: "There > was to be no > privatisation of Iraqi oil resources or facilities > while I was > involved." > > Ariel Cohen, of the neo-conservative Heritage > Foundation, told > Newsnight that an opportunity had been missed to > privatise Iraq's oil > fields. > > He advocated the plan as a means to help the US > defeat Opec, and said > America should have gone ahead with what he called a > "no-brainer" > decision. > > Mr Carroll hit back, telling Newsnight, "I would > agree with that > statement. To privatize would be a no-brainer. It > would only be > thought about by someone with no brain." > > New plans, obtained from the State Department by > Newsnight and > Harper's Magazine under the US Freedom of > Information Act, called for > creation of a state-owned oil company favoured by > the US oil > industry. It was completed in January 2004 under the > guidance of Amy > Jaffe of the James Baker Institute in Texas. > > Formerly US Secretary of State, Baker is now an > attorney representing > Exxon-Mobil and the Saudi Arabian government. > > View segments of Iraq oil plans at > www.GregPalast.com > > Questioned by Newsnight, Ms Jaffe said the oil > industry prefers state > control of Iraq's oil over a sell-off because it > fears a repeat of > Russia's energy privatisation. In the wake of the > collapse of the > Soviet Union, US oil companies were barred from > bidding for the > reserves. > > Ms Jaffe says US oil companies are not warm to any > plan that would > undermine Opec and the current high oil price: "I'm > not sure that if > I'm the chair of an American company, and you put me > on a lie > detector test, I would say high oil prices are bad > for me or my > company." > > The former Shell oil boss agrees. In Houston, he > told Newsnight: > "Many neo conservatives are people who have certain > ideological > beliefs about markets, about democracy, about this, > that and the > other. International oil companies, without > exception, are very > pragmatic commercial organizations. They don't have > a theology." > > A State Department spokesman told Newsnight they > intended "to provide > all possibilities to the Oil Ministry of Iraq and > advocate none". > > Greg Palast's film - the result of a joint > investigation by Newsnight > and Harper's Magazine - will be broadcast in Britain > at 10:30pm on > Thursday, 17 March, 2005. > > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > === message truncated === __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/
