Friday, August 22, 2008

Iraq Invites Russian Oil Company Back

If Iraq was an Imperialistic War for Oil, then America is the weakest imperialist nation in the history of the world.

And, if we built a functioning Democracy in Iraq, on the theory that Democracies don't war among one another, then why is Iraq openly courting our enemies in Iran, and now the burgeoning grumpy bear of Russia?


M-I-C
See our asshole where our face oughta be
K-E-Y
Why, because we are friggin' idiots.
M-O-U-S-E

From Business Week:


MOSCOW

An Iraqi Cabinet minister invited Russia's Lukoil on Wednesday to renew its bid on the vast West Qurna-2 oil field and urged Russian companies to seek roles rebuilding dilapidated power plants as Iraq searches for foreign investment to revive its oil industry and infrastructure.

"I hope Russian companies will take part in the bidding," Iraqi Electricity Minister Karim Wahid told a news conference in Moscow. "Lukoil is welcome to bid for the service contract at the second or third stage of the tender in March or September."

Lukoil signed a contract for West Qurna-2, one of the largest oil fields in the world, in 1997. Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein declared the deal void shortly before the 2003 U.S. invasion. West Qurna-2 is believed to hold 6 billion barrels in proven reserves.

Lukoil's officials have repeatedly said they continue to consider the contract valid as it was not revoked within the international legal framework. But in a recent interview with the an-Noor newspaper, Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani referred to the contract as no longer valid.

Wahid and Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko had earlier agreed to set up two working groups to develop power industry cooperation. Wahid also called on Russian companies to bid in tenders to revive the country's power plants and build new ones.

He said Iraq is eager to renew deals signed in the 1990s and early 2000s. "We are currently reviewing their technical and economic terms, but not their political component," he said.

The Iraqis are anxious to find foreign investors to help modernize their vast oil industry, which suffered from years of neglect under Saddam's rule and during the 13 years of U.N. sanctions following the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

Iraq is also anxious to reach out to partners in Russia, China and other countries to avoid relying too heavily on American and British companies. That could feed criticism that the 2003 invasion was aimed at seizing control of Iraq's oil.

Janusz Bugajski of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. said that the timing of the Iraqi announcement was interesting given sharp U.S. criticism of the Russian military action against Georgia, but that who initiated the move was unclear.

"Did someone within the U.S. suggest that Iraq reach out to Russia as a show of good will, or did Russia want to show that they are indispensable in the Middle East, that they are a player?" he said.

"Russia wants to go back into areas where it has lost influence," Bugajski said. "They might be able to say, 'We are a responsible player.' That would certainly counter their image over the past two weeks as a force that can do a lot of damage."

Increased participation by Russia in Iraq could also be a benefit for the U.S., which has sought help in reconstruction efforts.

"The only danger is if there are deals to sell off some of that infrastructure to Russia, power plants and such," Bugajski said. "That would come with greater political influence which would not fit in with our policies in the Middle East."



Hey, it's the Free Market; the Invisible Hand of Capitalism jerking us off, while the Islamofascists and their communist enablers fuck us from behind.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hugh Fitzgerald was correct. The "Light unto the muslim nations" "winning hearts and minds" fantasy reveals itself in the ugliest payback for Allied blood and treasure spent to bring democracy there.

Pastorius said...

Anonymous,
This is actually an old argument Hugh Fitzgerald and I have had.

Notice, we did not do in Iraq what we had done in Japan and Germany after WWII, where we were as merciless to their ideologies in the aftermath of the war, as we had been to their citizenry during the course of the war.

In the wake of WWII, we banned Nazism and the dangerous tenets of Shintoism from the societies of Japan and Germany. We imprisoned those who continued to preach the ideas.

We have done no such thing in Iraq.

So, how do we know whether we could have succeeded or not?

This has been among the greatest failures in the history of the USA.

We simply did not follow our own blueprint for success in war and its aftermath.

Anonymous said...

Pastorius - this has been the greatest failure not only of the US but of mankind for over 1400 years.

I honestly don't think you and Hugh are in disagreement. His argument is based on current pc standards of warfare .

Pastorius said...

Well, he didn't seem to agree with me when I floated my perspective in one of his threads. I was hit with a series of three or four 1000 word retorts explaining how ignorant I am.

:)

Anonymous said...

Ah, he does love his words, Pastorius, and I've been on his bad side more than once too. I do, however, have great admiration for his vast understanding of that horrid ideology and tribal interplay.
That he took the time to address (chastise) my comment showed he was willing to take the time to explain a perspective I was not aware of or chose not to consider. I respect that effort.

Pastorius said...

Yes, indeed. You have to respect him. He knows more than I'll ever know, and he has forgotten over twice as half as I will ever forget, or whatever kind of Bilbo Baggins crap I can spew.