Whenever the subject of oil is raised with an American or British politician close to Bush or Blair as being the possible motive for Gulf War II, they always respond beautifully and identically. It's a performance that any Shakespearean actor would envy.
Firstly, the eyebrows rise in slight surprise, then a delicate condescending smile trembles on their lips, then the word "Oil?" is uttered as though it were a rare Mesopotamian artefect. "Oil? Of course not. Next question?" We have a John Browne over here. Not your over-the-water John Brown you understand, 'cos his name has an "e". He's also a Lord. He's a pal of a pal of mine (the latter being a choral director who speaks in exactly the same posh accent 'cos they went to the same private school together). He's the Chairman of British Petroleum. According to BBC Radio Financial News this morning, he has been discussing the post-war situation in Iraq with the British Government. Apparently there's some cunning plan that BP will generously subsidise the UK for the cost of the war even though, at present, BP has no presence in Iraq's oilfields at all. When tackled about the r�le of oil in these discussions, Lord Browne replied: "Only in passing." On hearing this as I sipped my first cup of tea of the day I also smiled in a delicate condescending way, though my eyebrows didn't rise in surprise. Keith Hudson ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ Keith Hudson, General Editor, Handlo Music, http://www.handlo.com 6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England Tel: +44 1225 312622; Fax: +44 1225 447727; mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
