There's a lot of money to pay for this that doesn't have to be U.S. taxpayer money, and it starts with the assets of the Iraqi people…and on a rough recollection, the oil revenues of that country could bring between $50 and $100 billion over the course of the next two or three years. … We're dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon.
AP, 8/17/06:
Iraq has doubled the money allocated for importing oil products in August and September to tackle the country's worst fuel shortage since Saddam Hussein's 2003 ouster, a senior Iraqi official said Thursday. Even though Iraq has the world's third-largest proven oil reserves, it is forced to depend on imports because of an acute shortage of refined products such as gasoline, kerosene and cooking gas. Sabotage of pipelines by insurgents, corruption and aging refineries have been blamed.
Back in May, 2004, Decter frankly explained the real reason we attacked Iraq:
"We're not in the Middle East to bring sweetness and light to the world. We're there to get something we and our friends in Europe depend on. Namely, oil."
Midge, NeoMom of JPod and NeoMom-in-Law of Iran-contra bad boy Elliot Abrams.
...Abrams' appointment by the White House on December 2, 2002 was considered highly controversial due to his involvement in the Iran-Contra Affair, over which he subsequently pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of unlawfully withholding information from Congress.
Now he's Deputy National Security Advisor. Wonderful, ain't it?
posted by Jo Fish on 08.18.06 at 06:34 PM
Comments:
Vietnam was a major exporter of rice until we got there. Then they became a net importer.
History is repeating itself, but our so-called leaders don't care about history very much. They think they're exempt from its lessons like they were exempt from the draft - because they're just better than anyone else.
All of those Iran-Contra guys should get the fuck off the stage. They sold weapons to terrorists to subsidize drug-dealing fascists. They sold weapons to Hezbollah, for crying out loud.
Take that back, they ought to be in jail. That starts with Ronnie and Ollie, all the way on down.
posted by: Tony on 08.23.06 at 03:03 PM [permalink]
