Letter to the Editor.
Escalating violence in Iraq is a matter of grave concern to the world. On one day alone —19 August— 95 people were killed as a result of bomb blasts and mortar attacks in Baghdad. Scores of people have been killed in other parts of Iraq this month as the security situation in the country worsens.
This new wave of violence has been attributed to the withdrawal of American troops from Iraqi cities as part of their planned overall withdrawal from the country over the next 22 months. Of course, thousands of American soldiers will still remain in Iraq after June 2011,in heavily fortified bases as part of a bilateral agreement between the US and a so-called ‘sovereign’ Iraqi government. In other words, US occupation will continue in another guise.
The underlying reason for this continuing occupation is perhaps the real explanation for the new wave of violence. On 30 June 2009, an oil consortium helmed by
British Petroleum was awarded the contract to develop the Rumaila oil field. 32 mainly Western corporations, among them ExxonMobil and Shell, with a handful
of companies from China, India and other Asian countries are “ chasing billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic meters of gas. On offer are six oil and two gas fields.” (Editorial Crescent International August 2009).
From the outset, the Iraqi people have been opposed to this oil grab. Mass demonstrations have been held in various parts of the country against the proposed oil legislation introduced in early 2007 which favours foreign oil corporations over the Iraqi people. Oil workers have gone on strike. Oil installations have been sabotaged. The Iraqi Parliament itself has not been able to pass the law after two years of wrangling. A number of Nobel Peace Laureates have openly criticized the legislation.
The proposed law which allows foreign oil corporations to enter production-sharing agreements with the Iraqi government will undoubtedly strengthen their hold over Iraqi oil. Before the invasion and occupation of Iraq, oil was under state control. All the major exporters of oil in West Asia— Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iran— have placed the commodity under the control of the State and do not allow foreign ownership and control of what they consider a depleting national asset.
It is partly because there is so much anger and unhappiness over the oil grab which came to the fore with the 30 June contract involving the Rumaila oil field that violence has increased in Iraq in recent months. The mainstream media has not focussed upon the question of oil and the escalation of violence. It demonstrates yet again how complicit the media is when it comes to the real truth behind so-called acts of terror.
It is not just the media that has concealed the truth. President Barack Obama dare not admit that foreign control over oil is one of the reasons why there is so much turmoil in Iraq today. It shows that while Obama is willing to give some attention to the manifestations of occupation such as the US military presence in Iraq, he is not prepared to address the substance of occupation, which is control over resources.
Dr. Chandra Muzaffar,
President,
International Movement for a Just World (JUST).
22 August 2009.