Posted on 05/09/2003 1:37:33 PM PDT by El Conservador
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A European Union (news - web sites) commissioner said on Friday he believed the United States aimed to take control of Iraq (news - web sites)'s oil and was 'on its way to becoming a member of OPEC (news - web sites).'
Poul Nielson, EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, was speaking after the United States and Britain introduced a U.N. draft resolution that would phase out an existing oil-for-food humanitarian program for Iraq.
'They (the United States) will appropriate the oil,' he told Danish public service DR radio news on return from a three-day trip to Iraq. 'It is very difficult to see how this would make sense in any other way.'
'I think that the United States is on its way to becoming a member of OPEC,' he added, referring to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Nielson, a Dane, said he did not expect U.S. troops who have toppled Iraq's Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) in a war launched in March would withdraw soon from the Arab state, whose oil reserves are estimated by industry experts to be the second largest in the world after Saudi Arabia's.
'It is very unclear what the Americans will end up doing. That they would pull out quickly does not look realistic,' said Nielson, whose visit to Iraq included talks with U.S. administrator Jay Garner.
The tough U.S.-British draft Security Council resolution would end 12 years of U.N. sanctions against Iraq and give them control of the country's oil revenues for at least a year.
The proposal would deposit Iraqi oil revenues in an 'Iraqi Assistance Fund' for humanitarian and reconstruction purposes, to be held by the Iraqi Central Bank, currently managed by Peter McPherson, a former deputy U.S. Treasury secretary.
Nielson said Washington, whose draft resolution in effect relegates the United Nations (news - web sites) and other international institutions to an advisory role with little power, planned to limit the U.N.'s role in Iraq.
'The unwillingness there is to give the United Nations a genuine real, legal well-defined role, also in the broader context of rebuilding Iraq after Saddam...also speaks a language that is quite clear,' Nielson said.
Denmark, a member of NATO (news - web sites), supported the U.S.-led war in Iraq. President Bush (news - web sites) held talks with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen in Washington on Thursday
'The unwillingness there is to give the United Nations a genuine real, legal well-defined role, also in the broader context of rebuilding Iraq after Saddam...also speaks a language that is quite clear,' Nielson said.
A Euro who is getting the point.
Social Democrat,probably wants the u.n. to run the world.
It's like being accused of theft, and the accuser has the accused's wallet in his pocket. Europe is Den of thieves and thinks the rest of the world is out for what it can get.
These accusations may continue to give the U.K. more pause in joining the "EU".
We're being accused by the ones who would very much like to do what they're accusing us of, and we're the only ones on earth with the capability, fortitude and integrity to insure that Iraqi oil stays Iraqi oil and its worth benefits its own citizens.
East Meadow High School Diploma, Nassau County, New York 1961
Yes. Seems as if Poul Nielson got a healthy dose of "Red Diaper Baby" politics before repatriating back to Europe.
No good deed goes unpunished.
Yup! This guy is a New York Commie with a hate America agenda. I presume the agency has him watched.
As opposed to the language the UN speaks which are lies that drip from both sides of their mouths. I'm glad he's clear on the message from the coalition about the UN role even if he's screwed up on the oil.
Prairie
It sure does. :)
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