Blood for oil?

Even in the face of spreading reform in the Middle East, Americans remain divided over the wisdom of removing Saddam Hussein and then staying on to foster democracy in Iraq. But petroleum should not be part of that controversy. Nevertheless, the most persistent smear of this war has been this idea of "blood for oil" — whether the so-called Afghanistan pipeline or Halliburton "grab" for concessions and profits.

True, our foreign policies, like those of all industrial powers, are in part guided by strategic considerations. Cheap gas, however, is not the supreme driving force behind American intervention. The lack of oil may explain our wrong decision to ignore Rwanda, but not our right choice to stop the dying in the Balkans, Somalia and Indonesia. In fact, China, not America, is already the world player most guided by Oilpolitik.

Whatever George Bush is, he is certainly no longer a realist oilman content with the status quo of propping up dictatorial Middle East regimes. Pulling troops out of Saudi Arabia and toppling Saddam — while putting Iran on notice — sent shivers up an oilman's spine. After the Americans invaded Baghdad, the price of petroleum skyrocketed, enraging voters back home. America currently pours billions into oil-rich Iraq, rather than siphoning Arab petroleum out. That is why the same critics who once claimed that we were thieves now deride us as dupes.

Invading Iraq was not to loot its oil treasure, but more likely to cease the recycling of its petrodollars that went to terrorists and weapons procurement. Oil revenue allowed Saddam to attack four countries. His oil money subsidized terrorists like Abu Nidal and Abu Abbas.

*Mrs. Mitterrand, the widow of the former French Prime Minister, a well known supporter of the Iraq Kurdish, and denouncing of Saddam Hussein's regime, shows up at a conference in April 2000- the conference's goal was to bring awarness to the French media of Saddam's human rights record- multiple victims of torture were brought in. However, at the conference, Mrs. Mitterrand, was soon met by ' protestors' who were in fact paid by the regime, one of them even filmed the witnesses statments against Saddam- eventually the French police caught up to the man, only to find out he was an Iraqi diplomat accedited to the Moroccan embassy in Paris. Several bombs threats were later called in.

*Remote controlled rockets used in an attack that targeted the rashid hotel in Baghdad, where Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was visiting, on Oct. 25, 2003, a US colonel was killed and 17 others were wounded, the rockets turned out to be French and delievered to Iraq ' recently.'

* Total oil a french company recieved a contract, coincedently the Iraqi army launced an offensive through the Howeize marshes in Southern Iraq from April 18-28, 1994. The offensive, was specifically linked to the oil deal with France. Thousands of marsh arabs paid the ultimite price.

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