[Sosfbay-discuss] Anyone to help w/ media rel. re: Iraq Oil Worker's Union

Tue Jul 17 20:46:16 PDT 2007

There is a request (elaborated upon below) from the GP
of TX to do a GP-US media release re: Iraqui Oil
Worker's Union.  Given the recent forum we helped
co-sponsor on this group does anyone here wish to
participate in creating this release?  Please let me
know ASAP if so.

Green cares!

Drew

Subject: request from local for release on IOWU

-----Original Message-----
To: steers at bexargreens.org 
From: Ellen Berky <eberky at fpcarch.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 1:14 PM
Subject: Re: Clear and Present Danger

AJ et al:

After looking at gp.org to see if there were any press
releases about the Iraq Oil Workers Union, I noted
that there were no recent press releases specifically
addressed to union issues domestically or in other
countries.  There was a press release from March 
2007(scroll down for text) which referred to the
legislation which has these union folks so incensed,
but no mention of the IOWU. it seems like it is long
overdue to express solidarity with a union effort on
behalf of environmental and social progress, but if we
work fast maybe the Green Party can beat the AFL-CIO
to the punch. GP media coordinators emails are below
so maybe we could suggest to our list that they
endorse the idea to the Green Party national media
folks.  I hope you'll don't think that is too radical
a proposal.  I know San Antonio is hdq. to the
Northern Command of the US military, so someone might
think we were trying to endorse the 'terrorists',
since anyone who questions the sorry ass puppets in
Baghdad is now characterized to be part  of that
crowd.  From the Guardian:

...."Hassan Jumaa Awad al Assadi, the head of the
Iraqi oil  workers' union, was in London last week
campaigning against a new law which, he says, will
give the oil giants unprecedented rights to his
country's vast reserves.  'We will lose control over
Iraqi oil. Therefore, the social progress in Iraq will
be curtailed substantially, because the oil companies
want huge profits; they are not concerned about the  
environment, wages, or living conditions,' he warned. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2126511,00.html

Baghdad has reacted angrily to the union's campaign,
issuing arrest warrants for al Assadi and his fellow
leaders, and refusing  to recognise the 26,000-strong
confederation of workers. But a  mass protest is
planned in Basra tomorrow.....(That's today-EB)
>From the GP website:

Proposed Iraqi 'Hydrocarbon Law' Will Require
Prolonged U.S. Occupation, Say Greens
Green Party of the United States
www.gp.org

Monday, March 5, 2007

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, 
mclarty at greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, 
starlene at gp.org

Law giving U.S. oil firms control over Iraqi oil
resources fulfills an imperial dream of Bush
Administration ideologues, reveals a major motivation
for the U.S. invasion of Iraq 

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders warned that
the 
new 'hydrocarbon law' up for approval in Iraq would
lead to a prolonged, possibly permanent U.S. presence
in Iraq, with U.S. military and Iraqi civilian
casualties for years to come. 

"The Iraqi hydrocarbon law, if approved by Iraqi
lawmakers, will provide lucrative profits for U.S.
energy corporations by placing up to 2/3 of Iraqi oil
resources under foreign control," said Liz Arnone,
co-chair of the Green Party of the United States. "The
U.S. government, whether led by Democrats or
Republicans, will be committed to protecting American
energy company operations and investments in Iraq by
keeping U.S. troops there." 

Greens noted that passage of the law will aggravate
Iraqi and regional anger over the U.S. invasion, which
has cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi
civilians (as well as over 3,100 U.S. troops),
destroyed Iraqi infrastructure, and ignited a
sectarian civil war.  

"Iraqis should be allowed to decide how their
resources will be used, without the pressure of the
U.S. occupation and demands from the Bush
Administration," said Katey Culver, co-chair of the
Green Party of the United States and co-chiar of the
Green Party of Tennessee. "The hydrocarbon law amounts
to legalized pillage by a foreign country, and that's
how Iraqis will interpret it."

The Green Party has called for immediate withdrawal of
U.S. troops from Iraq and has urged Congress to cut
off funding for the war to compel President Bush to
order the safe return of American service personnel. 

"The Iraqi oil law proves that 'blood for oil' was a
major reason for the Iraq War all along.  It
demonstrates that President Bush didn't invade Iraq
because of claims about WMDs, conspiracy between
Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda, liberation and democracy
for the Iraqi people, or other reasons that have
proved fraudulent," said Green Party co-chair Jim
Coplen.  

Major points on the Iraqi hydrocarbon law and extended
U.S. military presence in Iraq: 

The Iraqi hydrocarbon law, which was drafted with the
help of BearingPoint, a U.S. consultancy firm,
provides 'production-sharing agreements' (PSAs)
allowing major Western energy companies like
ExxonMobil, Shell, ChevronTexaco, and BP to sign deals
of up to 30 years to extract Iraq's oil. The PSAs will
allow Iraq to retain legal ownership of its oil, but
will ensure major profits for non-Iraqi companies that
invest in infrastructure and operation of the wells,
pipelines and refineries. Iraq will be the only major
Middle Eastern oil producing nation whose oil
production is controlled by foreign rather than
state-owned companies. The hydrocarbon law will turn
Iraq into an oil spigot for western nations, rather
than a resource that benefits Iraqis. The drafting
process was secretive; few Iraqi officials were
allowed to read the text, until it was leaked over the
Internet. The law was approved by the Iraqi cabinet on
February 26 and now heads to the Iraqi Parliament,
which is under heavy 
pressure from the U.S. to pass it. 
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4020
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0228-05.htm
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2132574
.ece 

U.S. control over oil from the Persian Gulf region has
been a stated goal since the late 1990s of the Project
for the New American Century, a think tank whose
membership has formed the core of Bush Administration,
including Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul
Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, and Zalmay M. Khalilzad. The
Project recommended waging war on Iraq to assert such
control. 
http://www.newamericancentury.org 
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/022203A.htm 
http://www.crisispapers.org/Editorials/PNAC-Primer.htm

Michael Hirsh, in Newsweek, reports that while
Democratic and Republican presidential contenders and
Congress members are talking about timetables for
withdrawal of U.S. troops, Gen. David Petraeus'
'surge' plan will commit the U.S. to a longer
occupation that may last ten years.  According to a
Reuters report, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on
February 27 that the U.S. may maintain a military
presence in Iraq for a "prolonged period," comparable
to U.S. bases in Germany and South Korea. 
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17282867/site/newsweek/ 
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N27242217.htm 

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