Hi All, Greg Palast, though definitely left wing, is a great journalist, who follows up his leads and documents his stories before going to print. HeĞll throw the occassional low blow but for my money he speaks the truth.
Tom Irwin -----Original Message----- From: Phillip Wolfe To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 29/03/05 17:45 Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Secret US plans for Iraq's oil holy Mackeral! How credible are the sources? --- Keith Addison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4354269.stm > BBC NEWS | Programmes | Newsnight | Secret US plans > for Iraq's oil > > Secret US plans for Iraq's oil > > by Greg Palast > > The Bush administration made plans for war and for > Iraq's oil before > the 9/11 attacks, sparking a policy battle between > neo-cons and Big > Oil, BBC's Newsnight has revealed. > > Two years ago today - when President George Bush > announced US, > British and Allied forces would begin to bomb > Baghdad - protesters > claimed the US had a secret plan for Iraq's oil once > Saddam had been > conquered. > > In fact there were two conflicting plans, setting > off a hidden policy > war between neo-conservatives at the Pentagon, on > one side, versus a > combination of "Big Oil" executives and US State > Department > "pragmatists". > > "Big Oil" appears to have won. The latest plan, > obtained by Newsnight > from the US State Department was, we learned, > drafted with the help > of American oil industry consultants. > > Insiders told Newsnight that planning began "within > weeks" of Bush's > first taking office in 2001, long before the > September 11th attack on > the US. > > An Iraqi-born oil industry consultant, Falah > Aljibury, says he took > part in the secret meetings in California, > Washington and the Middle > East. He described a State Department plan for a > forced coup d'etat. > > Mr Aljibury himself told Newsnight that he > interviewed potential > successors to Saddam Hussein on behalf of the Bush > administration. > > Secret sell-off plan > > The industry-favoured plan was pushed aside by a > secret plan, drafted > just before the invasion in 2003, which called for > the sell-off of > all of Iraq's oil fields. The new plan was crafted > by > neo-conservatives intent on using Iraq's oil to > destroy the Opec > cartel through massive increases in production above > Opec quotas. > > The sell-off was given the green light in a secret > meeting in London > headed by Ahmed Chalabi shortly after the US entered > Baghdad, > according to Robert Ebel. > > Mr Ebel, a former Energy and CIA oil analyst, now a > fellow at the > Center for Strategic and International Studies in > Washington, told > Newsnight he flew to the London meeting at the > request of the State > Department. > > Mr Aljibury, once Ronald Reagan's "back-channel" to > Saddam, claims > that plans to sell off Iraq's oil, pushed by the > US-installed > Governing Council in 2003, helped instigate the > insurgency and > attacks on US and British occupying forces. > > "Insurgents used this, saying, 'Look, you're losing > your country, > you're losing your resources to a bunch of wealthy > billionaires who > want to take you over and make your life > miserable,'" said Mr > Aljibury from his home near San Francisco. > > "We saw an increase in the bombing of oil > facilities, pipelines, > built on the premise that privatisation is coming." > > Privatisation blocked by industry > > Philip Carroll, the former CEO of Shell Oil USA who > took control of > Iraq's oil production for the US Government a month > after the > invasion, stalled the sell-off scheme. > > Mr Carroll told us he made it clear to Paul Bremer, > the US occupation > chief who arrived in Iraq in May 2003, that: "There > was to be no > privatisation of Iraqi oil resources or facilities > while I was > involved." > > Ariel Cohen, of the neo-conservative Heritage > Foundation, told > Newsnight that an opportunity had been missed to > privatise Iraq's oil > fields. > > He advocated the plan as a means to help the US > defeat Opec, and said > America should have gone ahead with what he called a > "no-brainer" > decision. > > Mr Carroll hit back, telling Newsnight, "I would > agree with that > statement. To privatize would be a no-brainer. It > would only be > thought about by someone with no brain." > > New plans, obtained from the State Department by > Newsnight and > Harper's Magazine under the US Freedom of > Information Act, called for > creation of a state-owned oil company favoured by > the US oil > industry. It was completed in January 2004 under the > guidance of Amy > Jaffe of the James Baker Institute in Texas. > > Formerly US Secretary of State, Baker is now an > attorney representing > Exxon-Mobil and the Saudi Arabian government. > > View segments of Iraq oil plans at > www.GregPalast.com > > Questioned by Newsnight, Ms Jaffe said the oil > industry prefers state > control of Iraq's oil over a sell-off because it > fears a repeat of > Russia's energy privatisation. In the wake of the > collapse of the > Soviet Union, US oil companies were barred from > bidding for the > reserves. > > Ms Jaffe says US oil companies are not warm to any > plan that would > undermine Opec and the current high oil price: "I'm > not sure that if > I'm the chair of an American company, and you put me > on a lie > detector test, I would say high oil prices are bad > for me or my > company." > > The former Shell oil boss agrees. In Houston, he > told Newsnight: > "Many neo conservatives are people who have certain > ideological > beliefs about markets, about democracy, about this, > that and the > other. International oil companies, without > exception, are very > pragmatic commercial organizations. They don't have > a theology." > > A State Department spokesman told Newsnight they > intended "to provide > all possibilities to the Oil Ministry of Iraq and > advocate none". > > Greg Palast's film - the result of a joint > investigation by Newsnight > and Harper's Magazine - will be broadcast in Britain > at 10:30pm on > Thursday, 17 March, 2005. > > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > === message truncated === __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! 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