[Sosfbay-discuss] Green Party supports Iraqis protesting the oil law benchmark

Thu Jul 19 16:20:32 PDT 2007

This GP-US media release relates to the earlier SJ
event that the Green Party of Santa Clara Co
co-sponsored where members of the Iraq Oil Workers
Union (IOWU) spoke.

Green is solidarity!

Drew Johnson
A County Councilor of the Green Party of Santa Clara
Co
______

Green Party supports Iraqis protesting the oil law
benchmark

Green Party of the United States
www.gp.org

Thursday, July 19, 2007

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

Greens support Iraqis protesting the oil law benchmark

    * The oil law, instead of bringing peace, will
allow US and UK energy companies to plunder Iraqi oil,
say Greens 

WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders declared their
support for the tens of thousands of Iraqis, including
labor unions, who are protesting the Iraqi oil law
'benchmark' that the Bush Administration and
supporters are seeking to impose as a condition for
reconstruction aid. 

On July 16, Iraqis took to the streets of Basra in a
demonstration organized by the Iraqi Federation of Oil
Unions against the proposed law, which would place 2/3
of Iraqi oil under foreign control, granting 30-year
contracts to US and UK energy corporations for
'development' of Iraq's oil resources. 

"The oil law is nothing more than a scheme to allow
the US and Britain to pillage Iraq's source of
wealth," said TE Smith, black Vietnam War veteran and
member of the DC Statehood Green Party. "The oil law
benchmark confirms exactly what antiwar protesters
have said all along -- that President Bush's invasion
and occupation of Iraq were largely motivated by
'blood for oil.'  Iraqis are right to fear that the
oil law will mark a return to the days of colonial
plunder by western nations." 

The Bush Administration, with bipartisan support  in
Congress and the approval of most Democratic
presidential candidates, is pressing the Iraqi
Parliament to pass the oil law. The law would overturn
Iraqi legislation passed in 1961 and 1973 to ensure
that the Iraqi people enjoyed control over and profits
from their own oil resources. 

"Democratic and Republican politicians alike want the
Iraqi oil law passed, because they care more about
profits for ExxonMobil, Shell, and ChevronTexaco than
they do about peace, democracy, and the well-being of
the Iraqi people," said Nancy Allen, member of the
Maine Green Party and the party's Peace Action
Committee (GPAX). "Democrats are talking about passage
of the oil law as a necessary step towards withdrawal
of US troops. The Green Party demands that US troops
be ordered home immediately with no such conditions,
that the US recognize that Iraqi oil belongs to the
Iraqi people, and that we as Americans seek safe and
clean alternatives to fossil fuel energy." 

The Green Party of the United States has opposed the
war on Iraq ever since President Bush announced
invasion plans in late 2002, and has called for the
impeachment of Mr. Bush and Vice President Cheney for
numerous abuses of power, including deceiving the
American people about the reasons for waging war on
Iraq. 

Greens have also sharply criticized Democratic Party
leaders and presidential candidates for supporting the
Bush Administration on the invasion and occupation,
for offering belated and vague plans for a delayed
pullout of US armed forces from Iraq, and for voting
in support of continued funding for the Iraq War. 

"The occupation of Iraq is very likely to continue
whether we elect Democrats or Republicans to the White
House and Congress in  2008," said Kat Swift,
spokesperson for the National Women's Caucus of the
Green Party. "If the Iraqi Parliament succumbs to US
pressure and passes the oil law, it'll require a
30-year commitment of US military personnel to protect
western corporate interests in Iraq. We're urging all
Americans who desire peace, stability, and justice for
the people of Iraq to contact their Representatives
and Senators and demand that the benchmark be
dropped." 

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org 
1700 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 404
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
. Green Party News Center
http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml 
. Green Party Speakers Bureau
http://www.gp.org/speakers 
. 2007 national Green Party meeting in Reading,
Pa.: video footage, blog and media coverage
http://www.gp.org/meeting2007/ 

Green Party Peace Action Committee (GPAX)
http://www.gp.org/committees/peace/ 

Oil Change International: Iraqi Oil Law
http://priceofoil.org/thepriceofoil/war-terror/iraqi-oil-law/

"Who Will Control Iraq's Oil?"
By Antonia Juhasz and Raed Jarrar, Foreign Policy
in Focus, February 22, 2007
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4020
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/02/27/who_will_control_iraqs_oil.php

'Open Letter to Michael Moore' from the Green
Party on 'Sicko,' health care reform
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2007_07_09.shtml
http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/0710-03.htm 

___________________

JamBoi: Jammy, The Sacred Cow Slayer
The Green Parties' #1 Blogger
http://dailyJam.blogspot.com

"To the brave belong all things"
Celt's invading Etrusca reply to nervous Romans around 400BC

"Live humbly, laugh often and love unconditionally" (anon)

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