Killin in the Name of...?
The successes of the Iraq war have been largely overlooked. What?! Success? Yes, the war has been quite successful. So where has this success been felt? Well... mostly in Houston.
For starters, here's whats been going on with some various petroleum products:
Note the dip retail gas prices took right around the mid-term elections in 2006,
despite a relatively steady crude price... Coincidence? Consequently, I'd
expect another dip around this Presidential Election Cycle, so stock up in October &
early November. Also note how high the average price got before the actual price of crude oil started to rise.
And for more up-to-date info:
| Gasoline Prices |
In March of 2002 the average price of a gallon of unleaded fuel was about $1.20. Just days after the invasion, in March of 2003, the
average price was already at $1.72, at the time that was less than one cent below the all time high. The trend of record setting prices,
and profits, has continued ever since. While this puts a serious dent in the pocketbooks of most Americans, it is fattening the wallets
of a few. Today gas is about 72 cents more expensive per gallon than it was a year ago. The Washington-Houston
cartel has now has an uncontested deathgrip on the paychecks of most Americans. The
federal government is spending billions of taxpayer dollars on the war in Iraq, which is
the key factor in the ever-rising oil costs.
Here is the gross (as in ridiculously large, not as in "opposed to 'net'") amount of money the top 5 oil companies have earned
companies have earned since the beginning of the Iraq War, for more info regarding this, see previous blog:
Counter Courtesey of LaborLawTalk.com
Since the Iraq invasion of 2003, the price of oil, and therefore the gas we all buy at the pump has been
increasing and setting new record highs. With the price of crude rising,
it would stand to reason that the fuel companies, as well as consumers, would feel this price spike.
However, this is simply not true at all. While the average American has been paying more and more at the
pump, the net profits of the oil companies have soared to unprecedented levels. Not just unprecedented
levels for oil companies, but for any corporation. The third highest recorded quarterly profit for any U.S.
based corporation was posted by Exxon-Mobil during the second quarter of 2006 at a staggering $10,360,000,000.
The highest quarterly profit ever, $10.7 billion, was recorded by Exxon in the fourth quarter of 2005. The
2nd & 4th highest quarterly profits are also Exxon, at 10.5 billion in the 3rd quarter of 2006,
and 9.9 billion in the third quarter of 2005. Exxon also holds the top three spots for highest yearly
profits ever, all after the start of the Iraq war, $39.5 billion in 2006, $36.1 billion in 2005,
and $25.3 billion in 2004. Its not all Exxon though, the reserve value of the 5 largest oil companies has
more than doubled during the war to a mind boggling $2.36 trillion, and as one would expect, profits of these companies since
the beginning of the war has also blasted somewhere up into the stratosphere.
Here is what the Iraq War has done to Halliburton's stock:
In case you were wondering just how this meteoric rise in stock is possible, look into
their $3
million dollars in campaign contributions since 1990 and
"cost-plus
contracts." Many of Halliburton's contracts in Iraq are of this type. In a nutshell they
basically reimburse the contractor for expenses and also pay them a profit as a
set percentage of these expenditures. So the more they spend the more they make.
Did I mention these contracts were also "no bid?"
And in case you were wondering about Dick Cheney's personal stock options:
If that doesn't
paint a clear enough picture,
its a rise of about 3,281% in little over a year, or from $241,498 to over $8,000,000. Of course this is all in
addition to his "deferred annual salary" of $205,298 in 2001; $262,392 in 2002;
$278,437 in 2003; and $294,852 in 2004. Despite these millions of dollars Cheney
told "Meet the Press" in 2003 that:
“Since I left Halliburton to become George
Bush's vice president, I've severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of
all my financial interest... I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any
kind and haven't had, now, for over three years.”
I guess that $10,000,000
just slipped his mind.
Betchel & Kroll, another war-profiteering company, isn't publicly owned, so it doesn't
have "stock" prices per say, however, these figures also paint a pretty clear picture:
And lets not forget Raytheon, the company that makes most of the missiles the
Federal Government has chosen to shoot at various groups of brown peoples
the world over. They're
publicly traded, and here are their stock prices:
We were originally told that oil was not a factor in the decision to invade Iraq, as the State Department's
Iraq study group stated "does not have oil on its list of issues." This has become more and more difficult
to believe, if you choose to try, as more information surfaces.
Firstly there was W's statement to the Iraqi people upon the commencement of military action in their country, "I want to talk to the Iraqi
people.... Do not destroy oil wells." That is pretty cut & dry.
Then there was man appointed by the Bush administration to be the interim Iraqi Oil
Minister (To quote journalist Greg Palast: "It is well established that the President of
the United States may appoint the cabinet ministers of another nation if that
appointment is confirmed by the 101st Airborne."), Ahmed Chalabi is convicted
embezzler and neo-con go-to-guy, and has quite the resume. From fleeing Jordan
after a banking scandal in the 80s to organizing a failed Kurdish resistance in
the 90s and fleeing Iraq, then
becoming a lobbyist for the Iraqi National Congress and recieving $97 mil, then
allegedly misappropriating a significant amount thereof, and later being instrumental
in the passing the fraudulent intelligence regarding WMDs in Iraq, he was
just the type of shady character the Bush administration
was looking for.
His appointment was clearly an attempt to make Iraq a subjugated member of OPEC, thereby
raising prices and revenue for the Houston crowd, through decreased production.
So, as it turns out, we were fraudulently led into a war not to get Iraq's oil,
but to limit Iraq's oil production.
Before the war Iraq's oil production was around 4 million barrels a day, since
the war, its
held steady at around 2.1 million barrels per day. Everyone knows what happens
to price when supply is cut by half.
He has also been investigated in Iraq for fraud involving the exchange of Iraqi currency,
grand theft of both national and private assets, and many other criminal charges, as
well as being accused of passing sensitive U.S. information to Iran. Needless to
say, he is not very well regarded in Iraq, or by Iraqis. It was only after all
this that he was appointed as acting Oil Minister. When the permanent Oil
Minister protested IMF austerity, Chalabi was reappointed. More on the IMF at a
later date... By appointing a Houston-friendly Oil Minister the
Washington-Houston thugs were able to implement the
State & Defense Department's plan titled "Options for a Sustainable Iraqi Oil Industry." You may be
wondering what our gov't is doing writing up plans for another nation's oil, but don't worry, it wasn't
written by government officials. The 323 page document was revealed (in 2005 by BBC NewsNight)to have been
written by oil company executives and consultants in Houston well before "Mission Accomplished" was declared
in grand fashion.
So, in case you're wondering where the bulk of our taxes
are going, well, actually right now its still paying off the debt incurred during the
Reagan Administration's military buildup, but if you're concerned as to where that money
will be going for the next several decades, I think you have your answer... Therein
also lies the answer as to why our country is in a constant state of war;
Its good for business.
*All graphs and figures are linked to their original sources.
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