Bullets for Oil

by Fulbert Navarro

What mineral is considered a mineral even if it is not one and is more precious than gold? Simple. Petroleum, otherwise known to many as OIL. Although it does not have the properties and characteristics of a mineral, it is considered as one. The black, sticky, extremely flammable substance is more precious than gold because without it, modern industries would not exist and the so-called industrial revolution never would have happened.

The events around the world revolve on these simple strands of hydrocarbons. Thousands of lives are wasted just because of man’s thirst for this mineral. Even nature is put in jeopardy because of the endless pursuit for raw petroleum. Savage imperialist countries go to extreme lengths and even ravage other countries that have this mineral in abundance. This is how precious oil is.

History unveiled

Over the past few decades, the United States of America has relentlessly performed covert special operations around the world in order to fulfill the dream of acquiring all sources of petroleum. This is evident in the involvement of the C.I.A in overthrowing Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossaddeq, who was later replaced by Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, because he tried to secure greater government control over oil production and policy of Iran. Thus, American investors acquired a major slice of Iranian oil production.

The story of Iraq is not much different.

When Iraq revived its claim over Kuwait as part of the Ottoman province in its southern border, the invasion threatened the interests of the United States of America in the Middle East. The latter shot down almost all Iraqi MIG-25 and F-1 Mirage fighters from the skies and turned Iraqi tanks into smoldering tin cans littering the vast desert area to ensure that oil will still be theirs for the taking. They pretended to be the liberators of Kuwait and, for alleged “security purposes”, they secured the oil wells within and outside Kuwait (excellent use of the Art of War in plunder). Then to finally provide “security” for the people of Kuwait, they imposed a NO FLY ZONE over Iraqi airspace and forced a ten-year oil trade embargo on the Iraqi tankers sailing the Persian Gulf.

Due to the use of chemically armed warheads in scud missiles during the Gulf War by the Iraqi military, the United Nations, following the United States’ proposal, has been visiting Iraq annually for an arms inspection. The Iraqi government has been castigated heavily for this crime but ironically, the U.S. government wasn’t even sanctioned for “experimenting” the use and application of Depleted Uranium (the green glowing stuff you find inside nuclear reactors and used fuel rods) in combat. Among the several war crimes committed by the United States in Iraq are the cold-blooded murder of 290 civilians aboard a commercial airliner (the plane was on a routine flight in a commercial corridor in Iranian airspace when the USS Vicennes shot it down on that fateful day of July 3, 1988), the mass-murder of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in Operation Desert Storm, and not to mention the contracting of the Gulf War Syndrome because of their use of chemical warfare agents.

In the early days of the air war against Iraq, American bombers and fighter jets targeted the Iraqi factories and depots where chemical and biological weapons were believed to have been stored. The commanders knew that the attacks might release poison gas into the atmosphere and that it might travel downwind towards Saudi Arabia, where hundreds of thousands of American ground troops were stationed. But it was thought a risk worth taking, nevertheless.

The air war began before dawn on January 17, with American bombers screaming across the border into Iraq. Within hours, chemical alarms sounded across Saudi Arabia.

An important early target was the Kamisiyah ammunition depot, a vast weapons depot in southern Iraq. The depot—row after row of concrete bunkers—spread across more than 50 sq km (nearly 20 sq mi) of the Iraqi desert. The depot allegedly contained Iraqi rockets that held tons of sarin, the nerve agent, and mustard gas, a blistering agent that had been widely used in World War I (1914-1918) and had killed and maimed thousands of allied troops on the battlefields of Europe. In October 1991, eight months after the war, a team of UN inspectors arrived at the ruins of Kamisiyah, where they made an alarming discovery. Strewn across the site were hundreds of damaged and destroyed rockets of the sort that were used by the Iraqis to carry chemical warheads. Also nearby was an empty crate stamped “M-48”, which is an explosive used by the U.S. military. The inspectors suspected American soldiers had blown up the depot, exposing themselves to the chemicals.

For all this and all other war crimes they have committed, the US government has stood firm in not apologizing for such morbid crimes. Quoting what President George Bush in 1988, “I will never apologize for the United States of America – I don’t care what the facts are.” Indeed, they never were sorry for what they did.

The entire scenario and plot

“We must become the owners, or at any rate the controllers at the source, of at least a proportion of the oil which we require.”

Unknown to many, the Gulf War was planned as early as the 1913. This was according to the British Royal Council who agreed with Winston Churchill’s policy towards Iraq. America’s foremost ally had planned it all along. That was not said today, yesterday, or the other day but back in 1913! The American counterparts of the British just did the job of carrying out the entire plot.

During the 1970's the United States’ economy suffered bad blows due to overproduction of their goods (both military and civilian goods) their supply was higher than the demand, and in fact, it was too high that no one would buy the remaining unsold goods! The marvelous solution? WAR! The American government has cleverly come up with a formula for themselves: a country suffering from overproduction plus a war-torn country multiplied by war equals PROFIT!

There are three factors why America wants to destroy Iraq and one of those is their overproduction of goods. However, there are also two other factors. First, if they get their mitts on Iraq they will be able to get their hands on at least a portion of 25% of the world’s oil production and they will acquire the right and initiative to control oil prices, thus ruling the world secretly. Secondly, if they will ever win (which of course eventually they will, not because of the will of the Almighty but because they have better fire power) they will have all the oil fields in Iraq for themselves.

The Present

At present, a contingent of thousands of American, British and Australian soldiers and their war machines are massing up near Iraqi borders preparing for another bloody invasion. U.S. secretary of State Collin Powell tried to convince the UN Security Council that Iraq allegedly possess WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction), that Iraq had smuggled its scientists and alleged weapons out of Iraq already, and that war is the only solution towards this crisis. Our beloved president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo boastfully announced to the whole international community her strong support to any action done by the U.S. against Iraq. Just recently, the Australian Parliament kicked their Prime Minister out by giving him the vote of no confidence because of his hasty decision of sending troops and battle equipment to support the U.S. led invasion of Iraq.

Our President is quite brave enough to announce that to the whole world! Even France and Germany refused to send troops to Iraq and here is our cute little president offering all out (not to mention mindless) support on a silver platter. Meanwhile, Iraq also announced that it would defend itself against any act of aggression by any foreign-armed force and that they would fight to the last bullet. And rightly so. They should show to the whole world that no one has the right to boss any country around, especially the United States. The United States of America is not there to disarm Iraq of their alleged stash of assorted weapons and save the whole world from annihilation, or to liberate the people of Iraq from their dictator Saddam Hussein, or to liberate any country for that matter. They are there in the Middle East to rob it of their richness as they have robbed our country of its treasures! As what U.S. Brig. General William Looney had said last August 30, 1999, “If they turn on the radars, we’re going to blow up their goddamned SAM’s. They know we own their country. We own their airspace… We dictate the way they live and talk. And that’s a good thing, especially when there’s a lot of oil out there we need.”

The Future

Now you will ask, “What does this have to do with us? I’m not the one who’s going to get shot anyway!” If this is how apathetic your reaction is while you are still a student right now, how much more apathetic would you get when you leave this university?

Do you wish to wake up one morning with mysterious skin burns, skin irritations, bloodshot eyes, and difficulty in breathing? Try to imagine the whole scenario. If Saddam does indeed have a stash of “illegal weapons”, so what? America, too, has its own arsenal of “illegal weapons”. If Saddam does indeed have a stash of “illegal weapons”, what is America going to do about it? Blow it to kingdom come and make us inhale the deadly “chemical soup” that is likely to spread all over the earth? If America is that brave to wage war, why not dare Saddam and his cohorts in a fight to the last man, standing over the sand dunes of the Persian desert armed only with M-14’s and bayonets?

It is not yet too late comrades. As students, we can shout to our government at the top of our lungs to withdraw all our support to the United States of America. We can start by taking to the streets to express our indignation against such atrocities.

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