Kucinich: 'We went to war for the oil companies'

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Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who has introduced measures to impeach George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, said Thursday that oil executives who secretly met with the vice president in 2001 should be held criminally liable for pushing an illegal war.

"In March of 2001, when the Bush Administration began to have secret meetings with oil company executives from Exxon, Shell and BP, spreading maps of Iraq oil fields before them, the price of oil was $23.96 per barrel. Then there were 63 companies in 30 countries, other than the US, competing for oil contracts with Iraq," the Ohio Democrat said during a speech on the House floor.

"Today the price of oil is $135.59 per barrel, the US Army is occupying Iraq and the first Iraq oil contracts will go, without competitive bidding to, surprise, (among a very few others) Exxon, Shell and BP."

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In March 2001, two years before Iraq was invaded, Cheney met with top executives from Exxon Mobil Corp., Shell Oil Co., BP America Inc. and others on his infamous secret Energy Task Force.

Kucinich seemed to accuse participants in that meeting of plotting the invasion of Iraq. There's no indication that the participants discussed military action, although documents later released showed they did eye Iraq's oil fields.

The White House convinced the Supreme Court to let it keep secret the proceeding's of Cheney's task force, although the Washington Post later revealed most of its activities.

Kucinich basically claims that the US government went to war for the oil companies. That corporate interests have been of substantial importance is nothing new; companies such as Halliburton and Bechtel have greatly profited from the war, to name a few. Interest of the major oil corporations have been taken into account as well. Kucinich says that Cheney had secret meetings with CEOs of the biggest oil companies, which could indicate that the war on Iraq as well as the road to that war (911), could have been carefully planned in the years before the war on terrorism started.

Take it for granted that Cheney has received millions if not billions for securing the oil companies with Iraqi oil contracts.

Recently, the Iraqi government announced its proved reserves are well over 100 billion barrels of oil, thus having the world's 2nd largest oil reserves, something which has not been reported by most major outlets.

Iraq, a country so rich of oil, is not going to profit from their black gold. The Bush administration seems to have forced the Iraqi government to privatize its oil fields while the country is devastated.

We do not seem to benefit either as oil has skyrocketed to over $130/barrel, leaving only few to benefit from this war: our big corporations and corrupt politicians.

Thousands of soldiers have died, hundreds of thousands of civilians has died for what? For the rich few.

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"Our nation's soul is stained because we went to war for the oil companies and their profits. There must be accountability not only with this Administration for its secret meetings and its open illegal warfare but also for the oil company executives who were willing participants in a criminal enterprise of illegal war, the deaths of our soldiers and innocent Iraqis and the extortion of the national resources of Iraq," he said.

"We have found the weapon of mass destruction in Iraq. It is oil," Kucinich continued. "As long as the oil companies control our government Americans will continue to pay and pay, with our lives, our fortunes our sacred honor."

[edit on 29-6-2008 by Mdv2]