Stealing Iraq's oil

Benchmark Boogie: A Guide to the Struggle Over Iraq's Oil

"The law will rob Iraq of its main resource -- its oil. It will undermine the sovereignty of Iraq and our people." -- Faleh Abood Umara, general secretary of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions

By Antonia Juhasz, AlterNet

What does a war for oil look like? American troops going into battle with tanks waving "Exxon Mobil" and "Chevron" flags right behind? Are the flags then planted squarely in the ground and the oil beneath officially declared war bounty? Well, some members of the Bush administration and U.S. oil companies may have favored such an approach. But the device ultimately chosen to win this war for oil is only slightly more subtle: a law, to be passed by the Iraqis themselves, which would turn Iraq's oil over to foreign oil companies.

(The article is here.)