Something for the Cynics

From The Independent (UK):

Iraq's massive oil reserves, the third-largest in the world, are about to be thrown open for large-scale exploitation by Western oil companies under a controversial law which is expected to come before the Iraqi parliament within days.

The US government has been involved in drawing up the law, a draft of which has been seen by The Independent on Sunday. It would give big oil companies such as BP, Shell and Exxon 30-year contracts to extract Iraqi crude and allow the first large-scale operation of foreign oil interests in the country since the industry was nationalised in 1972.

Of course, the War in Iraq is all about eliminating WMDs and spreading democracy and stuff; the huge payoff for oil companies is just an unexpected side effect. Vice President Cheney, when he was running Halliburton, argued that oil companies needed greater access to cheap oil in the Middle East. What a coincidence that Cheney has played such an instrumental role in opening up Iraqi oil fields to western interests.