Iraq Gold Rush for Bush Crony War Profiteers

Two important articles yesterday make plain that the Bush administration continues U.S. occupation of Iraq mainly for profit... not ideology or national security.

And by implication, U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and their families, suffer in 2007 to enrich Halliburton, oil companies, and other Bush crony war profiteers. (See Iraq War Statistics as of July 1, 2007.)

The U.K. Telegraph, in a July 4 article, Iraq draws up plans for privatisation gold rush, reports:

"The Iraqi government has begun preparing the groundwork for what could be one of the biggest privatisations of state-owned assets... Iraq's minister for industry, Fawzi Hariri, was looking... to sell off the country's non-oil assets, ranging from petrochemical plants to construction companies, hotels and airlines, as early as this month.

"The privatisation proposals could also include a massive extension of foreign participation in the oil industry... If the legislation is passed, arrangements to allow foreign oil majors to enter into production-sharing agreements with Iraq's national oil company could then make it into the memorandum...

"An executive at one of the smaller Western oil companies operating in Iraq said: '... this would give people who wanted to operate in Iraq an opportunity to get in.' The source added that Iraq's nationalised cement industry could be particularly attractive because the country's reconstruction will require a building bonanza."

And per the Los Angeles Times article Private contractors outnumber U.S. troops in Iraq:

"The number of U.S.-paid private contractors in Iraq now exceeds that of American combat troops, newly released figures show, raising fresh questions about the privatization of the war effort...

"The total number of private contractors, far higher than previously reported, shows how heavily the Bush administration has relied on corporations to carry out the occupation of Iraq... But there are also signs that even those mounting numbers may not capture the full picture. Private security contractors, who are hired to protect government officials and buildings, were not fully counted...

"The companies with the largest number of employees are foreign firms in the Middle East that subcontract to KBR, the Houston-based oil services company, according to the Central Command database... KBR is by far the largest employer of Americans, with nearly 14,000 U.S. workers."

WHY do the American people allow the Iraq War to continue? And WHERE is the leadership on Iraq promised by the Democratic-led 110th Congress?

This monstrously immoral conflict/business venture must end as soon as possible.

(Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)