Posted on 03/11/2003 8:54:41 PM PST by Diddley
So You Say It's About Oil?
The Bush administration, in preparation for the possible ouster of Saddam Hussein and any aftereffects that may entail, is soliciting bids for reconstruction and improvement projects in Iraq.
"Sure," you say, "they're looking for companies to rebuild the oil production capacity after the war." Wrong.
The huge contracts, worth almost a billion dollars initially, are for roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and even mosques that might be damaged. The U.S. is also soliciting emergency bids from some of the nation's biggest construction giants so that we can move fast and show the Iraqi people that we are serious about helping.
The U.S. Agency for International Development is also seeking bids to repair other things that might be damaged in war, or that may simply be dilapidated or outdated, such as airports, the electrical grid, printing operations and the like.
Some of the large companies that will be bidding are Louis Berger Group, Bechtel Group, the Fluor Corporation, and yes, for all you conspiracy theorists out there, a subsidiary of Halliburton - Kellogg, Brown & Root - is developing plans to fight oil well fires in case Saddam lights up the Middle East by blowing up his wells.
Incidentally, the plans are being developed under an existing contract with the government because that is what KB&R does, not because Dick Cheney was the CEO, so let's calm down out there.
So it seems that, contrary to the main argument of appeasement activists, the only thing Iraqi oil will be used for is to build Iraq itself.
Or "anti-war" idiots or idiot-companies.
Who does Limbacher think he's fooling?
A billion $$$ is penny ante compared to the value of Iraq's oil reserves.
Similar as it was the case in Bosnia and Kosovo the previous administration was a socialist based (as it is in Iraq) and all the state run industries were privatised. There was no consensus on that by the locals. The first thing the UN Administrators (installed by NATO) did and still doing it is that they HAD to decentralise the economy meaning moving into private ownership.
Large state companies in Kosovo were the first to be sold.
Similar the all large state industries (oil) in Iraq will be privatised (sold) to the highest bidder which will not be an Iraqi. When that happens the price of oil in Iraq will be same as it is in West i.e. 10 times it is now. The Iraqies will pay to buy their own oil from the Iraqi based foreign company.
The government will get taxes from the sell of oil within Iraq but that is all they will get. The money from the tax will be used for rebuilding the country.
No it is not about oil.
I agree with your statement, but what is the point?
The first thing the UN Administrators (installed by NATO) did and still doing {in Kosovo} it is that they HAD to decentralise the economy meaning moving into private ownership. . . .
Similar the all large state industries (oil) in Iraq will be privatised (sold) to the highest bidder which will not be an Iraqi.
Who will get the money from the sale?
When that happens the price of oil in Iraq will be same as it is in West i.e. 10 times it is now.
I don’t understand this point.
The Iraqies will pay to buy their own oil from the Iraqi based foreign company.
If they sell it to a foreign company, The Iraqis get money for that. Then it isn’t theirs anymore, and they have to pay individually, just like anyone else.
The government will get taxes from the sell of oil within Iraq but that is all they will get. The money from the tax will be used for rebuilding the country.
Explain this to me, please. Thanks.
The point is petrol in Iraq is cheap because they have a lot of it.
At the moment the Iragi petrol is Iraqi. It should stay that way. The leadership needs to change though. They are not like everyone else because they have their own oil. Why should they be like every one else.
If they are foolish enough to give up their national resources then the only money the government will ever see will be from taxation.
This is the new world order and there's a new cartel on the block. Or will be soon.
Remember The Graduate? Plastics son, plastics. Barbie dolls, movie stars, swimming pools.
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