Oil giants flock to Iraqi auction

Largely due to the Iraqi resistance to the brutal war of agression waged by the US with what Chomsky describes as its 'junior partner': the UK (for me Britain plays Tonto to the US' Lone Ranger), the carve-up of Iraqi oil has been delayed 5 years, but thanks to the US/UK's enforcement of the Salvador option in Iraq, where their 'Special Forces' have been on a spree of mayhem and murder of any and all resistance to occupation, and the Shia ethnic cleansing of Sunnis from most of Baghdad has virtually concluded, it appears the time is ripe for the corporate theft of Iraq's natural resources, the real reason for the aggression.

As The Times reports:

"Oil giants flock to Iraqi auction:

THE world’s largest oil companies will converge on London next month for a chance to re-enter Iraq for the first time in more than three decades.

In all, 34 oil companies, including BP, Royal Dutch Shell, BG, Exxonmobil, Gazprom and Sinopec, are expected to attend a roadshow held by Iraq’s oil minister Hussein al-Shahristani when he officially kicks off the bidding for so-called technical-service agreements.

These will govern exploitation of eight of the country’s largest fields.

At the event, scheduled for October 13, bidders will be given technical data on the sites in question — six giant oilfields including Kirkuk and West Qurna and two gasfields — bidding parameters and remuneration terms.

The opening of Iraq, which sits on the world’s third-largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia and Iran, has been eagerly awaited by the industry but has been repeatedly delayed by security concerns and political infighting that has held back a crucial hydrocarbons law."

The Times calls political infighting the fact that most Iraqis are against the new oil law:

According to Assem Jihad, Iraqi oil ministry spokesman (who is he? how did he get the job?) quoted in the FT

“Europe is looking for supplies of gas from Iraq,” said Mr Jihad. “Security used to be a deterrent but now companies feel that security has improved and this will encourage others to come in.”

We now see the real reason for the famous 'surge'...and its beneficiaries: "Royal Dutch Shell is to become the first western oil company to sign a deal with the Iraqi government since the US-led invasion of 2003, agreeing a plan to capture and use gas in the Basra region that could be worth up to $4bn."

Funny how the Times didn't feel that was worth mentioning in their article...

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Following on from the article about the baby killers, Haaretz has an article informing s that the baby kille's weapon par excellence is now being sold to the second biggest child killers on earth, the Israeli Occupation Forces: "U.S. Department of Defense announced it would sell the Israel Air Force 1,000 new smart bombs, rumored to significantly enhance the IAF's military capabilities. The deal was approved amid public and secret messages from Washington, with the Americans expressing their reservations about a possible Israeli strike against the Islamic Republic's suspected nuclear sites...The U.S. Department of Defense announced it would sell the Israel Air Force 1,000 new smart bombs, rumored to significantly enhance the IAF's military capabilities. The deal was approved amid public and secret messages from Washington, with the Americans expressing their reservations about a possible Israeli strike against the Islamic Republic's suspected nuclear sites.
The Pentagon's announcement, which came on Friday, said the U.S. will provide Israel with 1,000 units of Guided Bomb Unit-39 (GBU-39) - a special weapon developed for penetrating fortified facilities located deep underground. (which was introduced int the Iraq theatre in 2006)
The $77 million shipment, which includes launchers and appurtenances, will allow the IAF to hit many more bunkers than currently possible. Although each bomb weighs 113 kilograms, its penetration capabilities equal those of a one ton bomb, according to professional literature. "

This is the bomb thats supposedly 'safe' for civilians, but which is causing more civilian casualties than ever.

Imagine this hitting a building housing women and children...


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Another video, this time about the attempts y some to bring to justice the most dastardly criminals of our age.




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And this is for the holier than thou crowd who use humanitarian intervention as an excuse to invade foreign sovereign states:

Britain blocks prosecution of Sudan's ruler

And what is the excuse do they give?

"the government says it has adopted the controversial position to save lives in the western Sudan province where the United Nations estimates that 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million others have been driven from their homes since 2003."

What a shame they didn't take their own advice before their aggression on Serbia...
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And finally an American with a bit of guts:

Rebel Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher backs Russia over Georgia

"Mr Rohrabacher claimed that unidentified intelligence sources had assured him that Georgia started the fighting that began on August 7 when Georgia's military tried to re-establish control over its breakaway, pro-Russian province of South Ossetia."

For more see here.

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