R. Lee
Wrights R. Lee Wrights is a writer and political activist living in North Carolina. He is co-founder and editor-in-chief of the free speech online magazine Liberty For All and an editor at Free-Market.Net. SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS WHY AREN'T YOU A SPONSOR?
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To the victor goes
the spoils "The French have a position to protect in Iraq and so do the Russians. They want to be sure they're not shunted aside. If we do too much of that people will say it really was about oil." -- Robert E. Ebel, energy program director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies [Washington Post, April 3, 2003] All the hawks I have corresponded with throughout the entirety of Mr. Bush’s War have been united and adamant on one issue: “The invasion of Iraq, and the subsequent war for occupation, are absolutely not about the oil.” But, we see as early as the first of April the leaders of the world squabbling over who will control the mineral-rich oil fields in a Middle Eastern country that is yet to be conquered. The corpse is not even cold but already the marauders stand over the body arguing about which of them will receive its boots. In fact, the corpse is not even a corpse yet! It would appear that the vultures have gathered prematurely to haggle over who will get what.
“Most European countries, including Britain, the main U.S. ally in Iraq, want the United Nations to take command in Iraq once the war is over.” Other European leaders have joined Tony Blair in calling for key involvement by the United Nations in the reconstruction of Iraq. That is, whenever the Americans complete their demolition. Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michael was one of the hard-liners and was quoted as saying: “I don't see how we could contribute to the reconstruction without the United Nations playing a key role.” French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said: "We must stabilize Iraq and the region. The United Nations is the only international organization that can give legitimacy to this." And, Russian President Vladimir Putin was quoted by ITAR-Tass news agency saying: “The Russian foreign ministry will do everything in its power to bring the Iraqi question back into the framework of the United Nations.” Of course, the United States will have none of this UN talk and say that America, and America alone, will rebuild a war-torn product of its own making. In fact, according to the April 3, 2003 edition of the Washington Post: “The Defense Department is pressing ahead with plans to temporarily manage Iraq's oil industry after the war and to use the proceeds to rebuild the country, creating a conflict with U.S. allies in Europe and the Middle East, according to diplomats and industry experts.” French and Russian companies are not the only European entities with business interests in Iraq related to the oil industry. Of course they are all going to protest American management of post-war Iraqi oil fields. And of course the United States is going to claim that possession is nine-tenths of the law. This is the kind of skirmish that full-blown wars are made of. Oh, that’s right. We already have a war. And we all know, to the victor goes the spoils. You know, if I didn’t know better I would swear Operation Iraqi Freedom is all about the oil. Even within the United States there is disagreement as to what department should manage the budgeted post-war rebuilding funds graciously supplied by Mr. and Mrs. America. According to the April 3, 2003 issue of USA Today: “Congress waded into a feud between the Defense Department and the State Department on Thursday with a strong vote of confidence for Secretary of State Colin Powell. A war spending bill that is headed for enactment next week contains unusually blunt language that gives Powell, and explicitly not Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, control over $2.5 billion to be spent on postwar reconstruction in Iraq.” Apparently Congress had to step in because Colin and Donald have not yet learned to work and play well with others. And all this hoopla over a country that is still fighting for its life under a hot desert sun. Even worse, as these leaders of the world gather at great oak conference tables and dine on the finest fare the world has to offer, brave young soldiers in the service of their country are fed one pre-packaged meal per day while they fight and bleed and die. Too bad you can’t eat oil. Seems like everyone is arguing over who is going to get the goodies when the smoke clears from a terrible war. The hawks are still screeching that shrill cry that the war is not about the oil. And maybe, just maybe, there is a grain of truth in their battle song. Maybe the war is not ALL about the oil. But the oil is damn sure a major concern of the folks who will be in charge should the United States succeed in its mission to bring freedom(?) to the Iraqi people. In fact, it is so important to them that they are already butting heads over which buzzard gets to feast upon the fresh kill, and which will have to wait their turn and merely pick the bones of what the others leave behind. Make no mistake, beloved reader. There is one hard and fast rule of war that is as ancient as mankind itself. And anyone who believes that no one is going to get oil-rich from this war has either forgotten it or has never known this combat commandment in the first place. But every old soldier can tell you that when the final shot is fired, and the dust settles from that last mortar burst, to the victor goes the spoils. “They see nothing wrong in the rule that to the victors belong the spoils of the enemy.” -- William L. Marcy (1786–1857) |
