[Sosfbay-discuss] FW: foreign ownership of Iraq oil pretext for continuing occupation

[Andrea Dorey]

One of the guests on KPFA 94.1 fm mentioned that the controlling body  
over Iraq's oil fields will be have in its name the term "Unity," and  
I laughed to think of the "Unity" presidency now in power!

How much clearer can they make the links without disturbing the  
complacency of the dumbed down US citizenry???
Andrea

On Mar 2, 2007, at 8:27 AM, Curt Wechsler wrote:

>
>> Iraqi Oil Law Gives Cover for Corporate Profit
>> By Emad Mekay, IPS News
>> Posted on March 2, 2007, Printed on March 2, 2007
>> http://www.alternet.org/story/48605/
>> The U.S.-backed Iraqi cabinet approved a new oil law Monday that  
>> is set
> to give foreign companies the long-term contracts and safe legal  
> framework
> they have been waiting for, but which has rattled labour unions and
> international campaigners who say oil production should remain in  
> the hands
> of Iraqis.
>>
>> Independent analysts and labour groups have also criticised the  
>> process
> of drafting the law and warned that that the bill is so skewed in  
> favour of
> foreign firms that it could end up heightening political tensions  
> in the
> Arab nation and spreading instability.
>>
>> For example, it specifies that up to two-thirds of Iraq's known  
>> reserves
> would be developed by multinationals, under contracts lasting for  
> 15 to 20
> years.
>>
>> This policy would represent a u-turn for Iraq's oil industry,  
>> which has
> been in the public sector for more than three decades, and would  
> break from
> normal practice in the Middle East.
>>
>> According to local labour leaders, transferring ownership to the  
>> foreign
> companies would give a further pretext to continue the U.S.  
> occupation on
> the grounds that those companies will need protection.
>>
>> Union leaders have complained that they, along with other civil  
>> society
> groups, were left out of the drafting process despite U.S. claims  
> it has
> created a functioning democracy in Iraq.
>>
>> Under the production-sharing agreements provided for in the draft  
>> law,
> companies will not come under the jurisdiction of Iraqi courts in  
> the event
> of a dispute, nor to the general auditor.
>>
>> The ownership of the oil reserves under this draft law will remain  
>> with
> the state in form, but not in substance, critics say.
>>
>> On Feb. 8, the labour unions sent a letter in Arabic to Iraqi  
>> President
> Jalal Talbani urging him to reconsider this kind of agreement.
>>
>> "Production-sharing agreements are a relic of the 1960s," said the
> letter. "They will re-imprison the Iraqi economy and impinge on Iraq's
> sovereignty since they only preserve the interests of foreign  
> companies. We
> warn against falling into this trap."
>>
>> Ewa Jasiewicz, a researcher at PLATFORM, a British human rights and
> environmental group that monitors the oil industry, told IPS in a  
> phone
> interview from London that, "First of all, it hasn't been put  
> together in
> any kind of democratic process... It's been put through a war and an
> occupation which in itself is a grotesquely undemocratic process."
>>
>> The law was prepared by a three-member Iraqi cabinet committee,  
>> dominated
> by the Kurds and the Shiites. It is now expected to be ratified by
> parliament because the powerful faction leaders in the government have
> cleared it.
>>
>> The first draft was seen only by the committee of the Iraqi  
>> technocrat
> who penned it, nine international oil companies, the British and  
> the U.S.
> governments and the International Monetary Fund. The Iraqi  
> parliament will
> get its first glimpse next week.
>>
>> Concerns about the process are compounded because of the ongoing  
>> disputes
> in Iraq over the legitimacy of the Iraqi cabinet and the Iraqi  
> parliament,
> which have been constructed by the occupation-created governing  
> council,
> which itself was created in 2004 along sectarian lines.
>>
>> In a speech earlier this month by Hassan Juma, head of the Iraqi Oil
> Labour Union, posted on the union's website, he called on the Iraqi
> government to consult with Iraqi oil experts and "ask their opinion  
> before
> sinking Iraq into an ocean of dark injustice."
>>
>> The content of the law has also worried both international  
>> campaigners
> and local Iraqi groups who say that it puts Iraqi oil wealth firmly  
> on the
> path to full privatisation.
>>
>> "The hydrocarbon law reflects the process of readying Iraq's oil for
> privatisation," said Jasiewicz. "Drafted in secret, shaped by foreign
> powers, untransparent, undemocratic and forced through under military
> occupation."
>>
>> Jasiewicz said the law can be regarded as the economic goal of the  
>> war
> and occupation and that "it will be viewed by most Iraqis as not just
> illegitimate, but a war crime."
>>
>> But officials from the Iraqi government, who have already sent the  
>> draft
> oil law to parliament for consideration, say it represents a step  
> forward
> for the war-torn country. Under the law, oil revenues would be  
> distributed
> to all 18 provinces based on population size, and regional  
> administrations
> have the authority to negotiate contracts with international oil  
> companies.
>>
>> Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a close ally of Washington, called  
>> the
> law "another founding stone in state-building."
>>
>> "This law will guarantee for Iraqis, not just now but for future
> generations too, complete national control over this natural  
> wealth," Oil
> Minister Hussain al-Shahristani has reportedly said.
>>
>> Initial drafts of the law starting eight months ago saw squabbles  
>> between
> the Kurdish factions who control the northern part of Iraq and the
> Shiite-led regime, as they both vied for bigger shares of the  
> country's oil
> wealth, estimated at 115 billion barrels. That they have finally  
> come to a
> final agreement may be a sign of long-sought stability.
>>
>> Yet critics, including Iraqi oil professionals, engineers and  
>> technicians
> in the unions, are instead advocating for technical service contracts,
> meaning a company would come in and offer services such as building a
> refinery, laying a pipeline, or offering consultancy services, get  
> their
> fees and then leave.
>>
>> "It is a much more equitable relationship because the control of
> production, development of oil will stay with the Iraqi state," said
> Jasiewicz.
>>
>> "That is the model that Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait generally operate.
> There's no other country in the Middle East with the kind of oil  
> reserves
> that Iraq has that would consider signing a production-sharing  
> agreement,"
> she said. "It's a form of privatisation and that's why those countries
> haven't signed these because it's not in their interests."
>>
>>
>> � 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
>> View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/48605/
>
>
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