The United States and Britain launched a massive war against Iraq with no justifiable reason at all. The ostensible reason for the war turned out to be a lie as admitted by the US authorities after all the damages have been done. Paradoxically the admission of the fact did not change the course of the war and its disastrous ramifications. On the other hand, the US increased its troop levels in the ill-fated Arab country. And now Iraq, mired in a civil war, is on the verge of disintegration.
Nevertheless, it still remains a mystery why the US in the first place plunged into the war. Impervious to the deepening miseries of the people of Iraq, the US and Britain are unflinching in continuing their immoral war unmindful of the mounting opposition to it the world over.
I believe that there are some undisclosed reasons for the launching and continuation of the war despite the knowledge that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or never posed a threat to the Untied States. It was also widely recognized that Iraq had never supported terrorism, even when the US declared a “war on terror” against that country.
Now after Iraq has been laid waste and hundreds of thousands have been killed and millions wounded or rendered homeless, the US is worried about the money it spent on the war, which is estimated at more than $1 trillion.
The US administration knows that Iraq’s mineral wealth could be held a collateral to guarantee a profitable return for the money it spent on the war. It was clear more than ever this week when the US administration — particularly Vice President Dick Cheney — and the oil lobby were, reportedly, enraged because the Iraqi Parliament has gone into summer recess without passing the oil law. The lure of all of Iraq’s unexploited and as yet unknown reserves, which could amount to billions of barrels, would have prompted Bush to jump to this heinous war. Now its patience wearing thin as no end to the war is in sight, the US has demanded the Iraqi lawmakers to enact an oil law, which is in favor of the US interests. The draft bill seeks to guarantee that even if the US troops were withdrawn, the oil and natural gas wells would remain under US control. The proposed bill grants exceptional concessions to foreign oil corporations. Even the economic exploitation of the European colonial powers in the Asian and African continents over the last two centuries pales in comparison. Even the Israeli colonialists have not imposed such Shylock-like terms on the occupied Palestinian lands.
The draft bill of the oil law contains such draconian provisions as prohibiting any Iraqi company to undertake excavations for oil and natural gas while, on the contrary, Washington will have the right to decide which foreign company can operate in Iraq. The concession, which does not stipulate a production ceiling, will be valid for 35 years or in other words, until the last drop under the Iraqi soil has been sucked out.
According to Platform, an oil industry watchdog, “The law is permissive. All of Iraq’s unexploited and as yet unknown reserves, which could amount to between 100 billion and 200 billion barrels, would go to foreign companies.”
The draft bill also empowers the provincial governments to award contracts without consulting the federal government. The bill when comes to force will, undoubtedly, place the US in a position to dictate terms to OPEC against the interests of the poor countries in the world. The compensation to be paid to the local landowner has also been cut down drastically. A pressing reason why the Bush administration is trying to rush the bill through the Iraq Parliament is to show the US public, particularly when the presidential elections are near, that Bush has made a hugely profitable deal to boost the American economy.
It beggars belief that a great country such as US, which proclaims that it is driven by the noble principles of democracy and justice, could be prompted by sheer greed to launch a war against a people who had been reeling under an oppressive regime.
