Letter

28th February 2003

Perhaps the saddest thing about our present government, and most of the opposition, is that they insist the current policy on Iraq has nothing to do with oil. It is also very sad that they do not realise that the population of this country is reasonably well informed and don’t like to be lied to.

In 1998 a number of Washington hawks now in power, chiefly Donald Rumsfeld and Richard Pearle, wrote to President Clinton arguing for the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime saying that if this strategy was not followed “a significant portion of the world’s oil will be put at hazard”. The connection of George Bush and his associates with US oil empires is well known and the fact that he is in power, after some dubious election practices, only goes to confirm the relentless trajectory of the ruling elite in the US in pursuit of control over the world and its resources.

Any peaceful resolution of the Iraq crisis through Saddam Hussein’s co-operation with the United Nations together with ongoing monitoring and diplomacy will mean that other nations, chiefly Russia, Germany and China will benefit from access to Iraqi oil. An invasion and take-over by the US military (including putting in place a “temporary” US military government) will ensure that George Bush secures direct control over the oil reserves. So it is not in the interests of the United States to negotiate any sort of peaceful resolution to the present crisis and this seems to be confirmed by the huge and relentless build up of US forces and the willingness of George Bush and Co. to use their current wealth to bribe and bully smaller nations to assist them in their determination to overrun Iraq.

So where does this leave Tony Blair ?– hoping for a share of the proceeds? Perhaps after a relatively quick assault, with a few distortions of the truth to hide the true cost in appalling destruction, suffering and loss of life, Tony Blair will claim to be responsible for a cheaper and more reliable supply of oil or will he just say we should be proud of re-establishing democracy? So in the meantime we are told - it’s not about oil, it’s a moral question and we are about to fight a moral war.

Chair
Buxton Against the War