Jim Hightower

Out of the question. Don’t be silly. Never was a factor.

Such are the absolutes that George W, Cheney, Rummy and other Bushites have employed whenever anyone has suggested that their real reason for invading and occupying Iraq was a crude item spelled o-i-l. But now that Bush & Company’s oil-soaked regime has only a few months to go, a new honesty and an urgency is creeping out about their true intentions.

First came the news that the Iraqi government will give no-bid contracts to Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, and a handful of other Western oil giants, allowing them to enter the rich oil fields of Iraq. They are to develop the productive capacity of the fields, which will give them a favored position for winning lucrative longterm licenses to privatize Iraq’s massive oil reserves. It’s a process that shuts out China, Russia… and even oil ventures that would be Iraqi-owned. This is Big Oil‘s fantasy come true.

But wait, the Iraqi people themselves hate the very idea of Western control of their oil wealth. How are the oil barons going to get away with this invasion of Iraq's sovereignty? Enter honest revelation number two.

For years Bush himself has been vociferously denying that his regime wants to build permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq – bases with thousands of ground troops. But – hello – there is now a rush by the White House to cut a far-reaching deal with the Iraqi government to station U.S. soldiers on dozens of military bases there indefinitely. As part of the deal, Bush is insisting that our soldiers be immune from Iraqi law, be free to fight battles without Iraqi permission, and be allowed to detain anyone in Iraq who might threaten our “interests.”

Bush has called Iraq a war for “freedom.” And now we see it – he’s using our soldiers to free Big Oil to grab all it can. What a disgrace.