lars just keep rolling in to Halliburton and others anyway. It is wonderful when a company does not have to submit a competitive bid in order to be awarded a very lucrative, non-competitive contract. But those companies are not the real reason our young men are dying every day in god-forsaken Iraq. And we all know it certainly wasn’t the Weapons of Mass Destruction either – that was a lie. In fact, the real and only reason the U.S. is in Iraq is to divide up the massive oil reserves.

After Bush War I, a 12 year sanction imposed by the United Nations ensued that implemented severe restrictions on foreign trade, oil included. But Iraq with 112 barrels of proven oil reserves and 220 billion in probable and possible oil reserves, Saddam was not going to sit around forever to sell his country’s oil so he cut deals with Russia, China, and France for oil. Despite the sanctions, even the U.S. received 37% of production during this period. And even more oil was believed to be in the western part of the country; enough oil, possibly, to make Iraq the richest oil prize in the world – potentially more oil than even Saudi Arabia. No wonder the world’s oil companies were casting longing glances at the even greater riches to be found in Iraq.

But four big oil companies had other ideas about who should be drilling and selling that oil. Afterall, the oil was close to the surface and that helped to cut down production costs. So why should the Russians, Chinese and French make money off Iraq’s oil and give some money to Saddam? Instead, two American companies; Exxon-Mobil and Chevron, one British; BP-Amoco, and Royal Dutch-Shell all vied for the oil. But they could not get it under the terms they wanted; terms that would have taken most of the profits out of Iraq and put it in their pockets instead. It couldn’t be done unless there was a war and Saddam was out of power. And the two American oil companies stood to profit the most from a U.S. led invasion and oil takeover.

Enter Texas oilman George W. Bush who saw WMD everywhere in Iraq despite all the evidence to the contrary; despite the fact that there were no terrorist ties to al Qaeda. Enter Dick Cheney CEO of Halliburton, an oil services company. Now one was president and the other vice president of the United States. Suddenly the idea of carving up Iraq’s oil under terms favorable to the two U.S. oil companies did not seem so far-fetched afterall.

When Bush War II started based on Iraq’s supposed possession of WMD and ties to al Qaeda, it was a good day for the U.S. oil industry. They knew that a win for America would be an even bigger win for them; so what if a few thousand American servicemen died. So what if Brits and other coalition servicemen died; afterall, wasn’t it all for a good cause – oil?

But to win the grand prize – Iraq’s oil – the U.S. must win against insurgents in order to provide enough stability for the U.S. oil companies to go to work. That’s why the U.S. will be there for a long time if W. has his way. But in the meantime, Cheney’s Halliburton just keeps on making money. Who needs honesty, integrity and human values when one can have oil dollars? The rich get richer and the poor get dead – oh, well. Reality can be a hard pill to swallow. Maybe a doctor or a priest should be the next president of the United States; perhaps their values would influence our foreign policy to do good things.

Noel Gibeson - info@mountvernoninstitute.org