The Greatest Prize Of All, Within Reach  

Matthew Rothschild reports that the final grab for Iraq's oil is underway (they are in a hurry before Bush leaves office, I presume) - It Was Always a War for Oil: Here’s the Proof (I've written too many posts on this topic, but those of you who are new to it, check out The Control Of Oil, The Greatest Prize Of All, Iraq, Oil, Law and Order and Iraq Has The World's Largest oil Reserves).

Before Bush launched the Iraq War, I had a bumper sticker that said “No War for Oil.” I got some one-finger salutes, and I remember a guy on a motorcycle screaming at me for several hundred yards.

Meanwhile, all the on-air cheerleaders for Bush’s war disputed the assertion that it had anything to do with that dirty three-letter-word oil.

But it all comes out sooner or later. And now is later.

On Tuesday, Bush issued one of his notorious signing statements—this one on the latest Pentagon spending bill that he had just made into law. He objected to the part of the bill that barred the U.S. government from trying “to exercise United States control of
the oil resources of Iraq.”

Why did he do that?

Because from day one in Iraq, he’s been trying “to exercise United States control of the oil resources of Iraq.” As he sent our soldiers in, he warned Iraqis not to blow up pipelines or burn the oil fields. As our soldiers entered Baghdad, the only ministry they defended was the Oil Ministry.

And for years, Bush has been twisting Prime Minister Maliki’s arm to open up the oil sector to foreign bids, which Maliki finally did on Monday. “The biggest ever sale of oil assets will take place today, when the Iraqi government puts 40 billion barrels of recoverable reserves up for offer,” wrote The Guardian on Monday. “Access is being given to eight fields, representing about 40 percent” of Iraq’s reserves, it noted, adding that BP, Shell, and ExxonMobil were all expected to bid.

This reckless, costly war was always about oil. And the occupation still is. Now we have the proof.